Count and Noncount Nouns – Grammar & test

TEST 

Count and Noncount Nouns – Grammar & test

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• Using A vs. An
• (a)I have a pencil.
• (b) I live in an apartment.
• (c) Have a small apartment.
• (d) I live in an old building.

 

• A and an are used in front of a singular noun (e.g. pencil, apartment). They mean “one”.
• If a singular noun is modified by an adjective (e.g. small, old), “a” or “an” comes in front of the adjective, as in (c) and (d).
• “A” is used in front of words that begin with a consonant (b, c, d, f, g, etc.); a boy, a bad day, a cat, a cute baby.
• “An” is used in front of words that begin with the vowels (a, e, i, and o); an apartment, an angry man, an elephant, an empty room, etc.

 

• I have an umbrella.
• I saw an ugly picture.
• I attend a university.
• I had a unique experience.
• For words that begin with the letter “u”:
• “An” is used if the “u” is a vowel sound, as in an umbrella, an uncle, an unusual day.
• “A” is used if the “u” is a consonant sound, as in a university, a unit, a usual event.

• He will arrive in an hour.
• New Year’s Day is a holiday.
• For words that being with the letter “h”:
• “An” is used if the “h” is silent: an hour, an honor, an honest person.
• “A” is used if the “h” is pronounced: a holiday, a hotel, a high point.

COUNT AND NONCOUNT NOUNS

• A count noun:
• Can be counted with numbers: one chair, two chairs, ten chairs, etc.
• Can be preceded by a/an in the singular: a chair.
• Has a plural form of ending in –s or –es: chairs.

 

	Singular	Plural
Count noun	a chair	Ø  chairs
	one chair	two chairs
		some chairs
Noncount noun	Ø  furniture	Ø
	Some furniture	Ø

 

• A noncount noun:
• Cannot be counted with numbers.

Incorrect: one furniture  × 

• Is NOT immediately preceded by a/an.

Incorrect: a furniture     ×

• Does NOT have a plural form (no final –s)

Incorrect: furnitures      ×

 

• Noncount nouns usually refer to a whole group of things that is made up of many individual parts, a whole category made up of different varieties.

For example: “furniture” is a noncount noun; it describes a whole category of things: chairs, tables, beds, etc.

Individual parts = the whole

Chairs – tables – beds – etc.    = furniture

• Mail, fruit, and jewelry are other examples of noncount nouns that refer to a whole category made up of individual parts.
• Letters, postcards, bills, etc. = mail
• Apples, bananas. Oranges, etc. = fruit
• Rings, bracelets, necklaces, etc. = jewelry

 

Some common noncount nouns: whole groups made up of individual parts
Clothing	Homework	Grammar	Corn
Equipment	Housework	Slang	Dirt
Food	Work	Vocabulary	Flour
Fruit	Advice	Arabic	Hair
Furniture	Information	Chinese	Pepper
Jewelry	History	English	Rice
Mail	Literature	German	Salt
Money	Music	Indonesian	Sand
Scenery	Poetry	Spanish	Sugar
Stuff	Traffic	Etc.

More Noncount Nouns

• Liquids:
• Coffee
• Soup
• Milk
• Oil
• Water
• Tea
• Solids and semi-solids
• Bread
• Butter
• Cheese
• Ice
• Meat
• Beef
• Chicken
• Fish
• Chalk
• Glass
• Gold
• Iron
• Paper
• Soap
• Toothpaste
• Wood
• Gases:
• Air
• Pollution
• Smog
• Smoke

 

• Things that occur in nature:
• Weather
• Rain
• Snow
• Darkness
• Light
• Sunshine
• Thunder
• Lightning

 

• Abstractions:
• Beauty
• Courage
• Fun
• Experience
• Fun
• Generosity
• Happiness
• Health
• Help
• Honesty
• Ignorance
• Knowledge
• Luck
• Patience
• Progress
• Time
• Violence

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