Whenever I am in the car I listen to the radio. There are some good radio stations that play music I like, and others that have a lot of music I’m really not into. I like to listen to both old songs and new songs. In fact, I listen to a lot of different music, from pop to rock to classical. Some music on the radio reminds me of when I was in high school. I still like those old songs. Maybe I’m too nostalgic…
Today we’ll start a mini-series of lessons looking at countable and uncountable nouns. Do you know the difference? Have a look at the paragraph above, and then check today’s lesson.
English nouns can be divided into two categories – countable, and uncountable. Countable nouns are words that represent things we can count. For example, the word song is a countable noun. Here are some examples:
- Two songs by Lady Gaga are in that movie.
- An iPod can hold hundreds of songs.
- The Beatles had a lot of hit songs.
As you know, when there is more than one of a countable noun, we use the plural form, In most cases, that means the noun + s → One song, two songs.
Uncountable nouns are words that represent things we cannot count. For example, the word music is an uncountable noun. Here are some examples:
- Music by Lady Gaga is in that movie.
- An iPod can hold a lot of music.
- The Beatles music was very popular.
Remember, there is no plural form of an uncountable noun.
Here is a list of food nouns. For homework, try to divide the list into two groups, countable and uncountable.
apple – cake – fish – pasta – banana – carrot – mushroom- rice – butter – salt
pizza – beer – chicken – grape – pork – bread – clam – meat – cucumber – onion
If you like, use this link to send me your homework and I’ll check it for you. Tomorrow, we will look at how to talk about nouns. Stay tuned!
Comments 2
Hi Misa,
Thanks for doing that. Here are the answers to your questions:
How can I notice the word is countable or uncountable? You generally can’t unless you know the word or have a good dictionary. You may be able to tell if the word is countable or not from the context (from the sentence it is used in)
I learned when I say uncountable noun, I have to use special phrase,for example,”a cup of tea”, “a piece of bread”. How can I remember them? I remember vocabulary by writing the word or phrase in a sentence and then putting the sentence on a flash card. That always worked for me when I was studying Italian and Japanese.
Hello.
I tried to do your homework.
My answer is below.
Countable=apple,cake,fish,banana,carrot,mushroom,pizza,chicken,grape,cucumber,onion
Uncountable=pasta,butter,salt,beer,pork,bread,clam,meat,rice
How can I notice the word is countable or uncountable?
I guess when “mass noun” is written in the explanation(dictionary), the word is uncountable.
I learned when I say uncountable noun, I have to use special phrase,for example,”a cup of tea”, “a piece of bread”.
How can I remember them?
Is there any good ways to remember them?
Of bourse,you’ll give the lecture tomorrow.
I’m looking forward to reading it.