ネス外国語会話　第５回無料勉強会

1. N.E.S 5 Group Lesson
Welcome!
Today s topic is…
Countable and
Uncountable Nouns!

2. The only rule for countable/
uncountable nouns!
Countable:

You can use one/two/three + countable
nouns
Uncountable:

You cannot say one/two/three +
uncountable nouns

3. Countable Uncountable
 (a) man/men  Water
 (a) car/ cars  Salt
 (a) key /keys  Sand
 (a) house /houses  Rice
 (an) idea/ ideas  Air
 (an) accident/ accidents  Plastic
 (a) party/ parties  Paper
 (a) relative/relatives  Music
 (a) crowd/ crowds  Money
 (a) typhoon/ typhoons  Tennis
 (an) envelope/ envelopes  Ice cream
 Butter

4. You cannot use a/an + uncountable nouns
But you can say….
 A glass of water
 A piece of cheese
 A bowl of rice
 A can of oil
 A carton of milk
 A cup of coffee
 A bar of chocolate
 A stick of butter
 A scoop of ice cream
 A piece of music
 A game of tennis
 Etc…

5. a/an and some
(countable nouns)
 a/an singular countable noun
I need a new cell phone.
Would you like an apple?
 Some plural countable nouns
I need some new shoes.
Would you like some apples?

6. some
(uncountable nouns)
 Some uncountable nouns
I need some money.
Let s listen to some music.
You should wear some perfume.
Would you like some ice cream?
(or Would you like a scoop of ice cream?)

7. Many nouns are sometimes countable
and sometimes uncountable
A chicken A piece of chicken
(a whole chicken)
A cake A slice of cake
(a whole cake)
A paper (=newspaper) A piece of paper
A room There is room in my
A good time bag.
Do you have time?

8. A lot / Much / Many
 We use a lot of all types of nouns
I drank a lot of water. (uncountable)
I saw a lot of people. (countable)
 We use much uncountable nouns
How much money do you want?
There isn t much water in my cup.
We use many countable nouns

There are many people on the train.
I took many photographs.

9. We use much in questions and negative
sentences, but not usually in positive
sentences.
 Do you drink much coffee/ a lot of coffee?
 I don t drink much coffee/ a lot of coffee.
but
I drink a lot of coffee.
(Not I drink much coffee )
Do you drink much coffee?
Yes, a lot .(Not much )

10. (a) little (a) few
(a) little uncountable (a) few plural
noun: countable noun:
 (a) little water  (a) few books
 (a) little money  (a) few days
 (a) little soup  (a) few people

11. With and without a
 a little= some but not much  a few= some but not many
I speak a little Spanish. (=some I speak a few words in Spanish.
Spanish but not much) I ve got a few friends, so I m not
They have a little money, so they lonely.
will be okay. (=they have some (=I ve got some friends)
money)
 few (without a)=nearly none
 little (without a)= nearly none…
nearly nothing
There were a few people in the
park. It was nearly empty.
There was little food in the fridge. I ve got few friends. I m lonely.
It was nearly empty.
They have little money, so they
need help. (=nearly no money)

12. Much and a lot without a noun
 I saw my friend yesterday but we didn t talk
much.
 Do you watch TV much? No, not much.
 We like films, so we go to the cinema a lot.
 I don t like him very much.
 My parents are boring. They don t go out
much.
 My parents are fun. They go out a lot.