Countable nouns are those that can be counted.

We can use a / an before them in the singular and

numbers in the plural.
an orange – two oranges
They have both singular and plural forms. a pencil – four pencils
house – houses an umbrella – two umbrellas

 We form the plural of most countable nouns by adding – Some nouns don’t end in –s / –es in the plural. They
s to the noun. have irregular forms.
door – doors bird – birds

 Nouns ending in –s, –ss, –ch, –sh, –x, take –es. person people tooth teeth
fox – foxes bus – buses man men mouse mice
watch – watches class – classes
woman women louse lice
 Nouns ending in –o usually take –es. child children goose geese
tomato – tomatoes potato – potatoes foot feet ox oxen
BUT Nouns ending in vowel + o, musical
instruments and abbreviations take –s.
piano – pianos radio – radios
Some nouns have the same form in the singular and
kilo – kilos photo – photos
plural.
 Nouns ending in consonant + y change the –y to –i
and take –es. deer deer sheep sheep
cherry – cherries city – cities
aircraft aircraft fish fish
BUT Nouns ending in vowel + y take –s. species species salmon salmon
day – days monkey – monkeys
series series trout trout
 Some nouns ending in –f or –fe form their plural in –
ves.
life – lives wolf – wolves
Some nouns are always in the plural form, so they
BUT roof – roofs safe - safes are followed by a plural verb. They usually refer to:

a whole group of people of things.

arms (=weapons), people, police, clothes,
goods, stairs, contents, surroundings…

Some nouns have different forms for the masculine and things that consist of two parts.
the feminine gender. jeans, trousers, pyjamas, glasses,
binoculars, scissors, shorts, tights...
husband wife We often use a pair of and a singular verb
father mother with these nouns.
There is a pair of trousers under the bed.
son daughter
brother sister
uncle aunt Collective nouns (family, team, group, class,
audience, crew, government...) describe groups
nephew niece
of people. These nouns can go with singular and
boy girl plural verbs.
(bride)groom bride
widower widow They take a plural verb if they refer to the
host hostess members of the group individually.
waiter waitress They take a singular verb if they refer to the
steward stewardess group as a unit.
actor actress
hero heroine When a noun is used as an adjective before another
king queen noun, it is always in the singular.
prince princess a ten-pound note
duke duchess a two-day trip
 Uncountable nouns are those that can’t be  We can’t use a / an or numbers before them.
counted.
milk – a milk – ten milks
bread – two breads
 We can use some, any, little, much… before them.
 They don’t have a plural form. They are always There is some milk in the fridge.
followed by a verb in the singular.
This butter has a strange taste.

 Uncountable nouns usually refer to:

Food meat, cheese, bread, butter, fruit, fish, chocolate, flour, salt, sugar, jam, yoghurt…

Liquids water, milk, wine, oil, beer, coffee, tea, petrol…

Materials wood, gold, silver, paper, glass, iron, steel, cotton, wool, metal, plastic…

Abstract nouns love, justice, freedom, help, time, advice, beauty, honesty, anger, health…

Natural weather, heat, snow, lightning, rain, wind, thunder…

phenomena

Other nouns luggage, baggage, furniture, money, traffic, business, news, information, work…

 Many uncountable nouns can be counted if we use the following words before them:

cup, bottle, jar, glass, bowl, slice, bar, packet, piece, loaf, carton, can, pot, block, tube…

a cup of coffee a packet of butter a bar of chocolate / soap

a bottle of wine a carton of milk a can of soda
a glass of water a slice / loaf of bread a block of wood / ice
a jar of jam a lump of sugar a tube of toothpaste
a piece of cake an ice cube / a sugar cube a piece / sheet of paper
a tin of tuna a sack of flour a bowl of rice
a kilo of meat a litre of water a sachet of tea

Many of these expressions can also be used with countable nouns.

a packet of biscuits a box of chocolates a kilo of potatoes

 The expression a piece of is often used with uncountable nouns. It is used both for concrete things and for
abstract nouns.

a piece of cake a piece of advice a piece of information a piece of news

a piece of wood a piece of jewellery a piece of luggage a piece of furniture
a piece of rubbish a piece of cheese

 Some nouns can be used both as countable and uncountable nouns, but with different meanings:

Uncountable Countable
There is a lot of light in this room. Please, turn on the lights.
This bottle is made of glass. He can’t see without his glasses.
She brushes her hair every morning. He found two hairs in his soup.
This table is made of pine wood. We saw a fox in the woods.
She likes walking in the rain. How often do the rains come in Thailand?
I’ve still got some work to do. The motorway is closed due to road works.
Experience is important for this job. We had some fascinating experiences when we visited
Japan.
 Write the plural of these nouns in the right boxes.

 wife  doctor  month

 church  baby  man
 wolf  foot
 day  dress  photo
 roof  sheep 
kiss  elf  plate
 boot  strawberry  witch
-s -es -ies -ves irregular
 leaf  boy 
child  peach  half
 dish  dog  body 
person  knife  potato  country 
box
 life  bird  city
 hero  desk  match
 mouse  party

Are these nouns countable or uncountable? Write the words in the corresponding notebook.

 butter  spoon  knife 

juice  egg  money

 boy  salt

 fork  plate  gold

 packet  love 

homework  cup  traffic

 COUNTABLE
joke  rice UNCOUNTABLE  night

 year  electricity  tourist

 petrol  news

 soup  car  honey  meat

 bag  food

 job  child
 Look at the pictures and choose words from the box to
complete the expressions, as in the example.

 bottle  loaf
 carton  box
 slice  packet
 jar  tin 4
1 bar 3 

a cup of coffee bowl 2  tube

_______________ cheese  piece (x2)

5
_______________
 toothpaste
cup  glass
7
_______________
 chocolates
pair 6  jug
_______________ sunglasses  bucket
_______________ cereal
9
_______________ bread 8 10
_______________ jam 12
_______________ orange juice
_______________ biscuits 11
_______________ cake 14
13
_______________ milk
_______________ sand
_______________ chocolate
15
_______________ bread
17
_______________ wine
16 18
_______________ lemonade
_______________ beans

Complete the sentences with a, an or some.

1. I have bought _______ onions and _______ kilo of meat at the supermarket.

2. Would you like _______ orange juice?

3. Did you get _______ present for Tony? Yes, I bought him _______ anorak.

4. Samuel had _______ spaghetti and _______ slice of apple pie for lunch.

5. There is _______ money on the table.

6. I’m hungry. I’m going to make _______ sandwich. I’ll need _______ bread, _______ butter, _______ cheese

and _______ onion. Then I’ll need _______ plate and _______ knife. You need a lot of things to make _______

sandwich. Perhaps I’m not really hungry and there’s _______ chocolate in the fridge.

7. I have _______ Italian penfriend. I sent her _______ pictures of my dog. She sent me _______ book. The book

has _______ information about _______ famous museums in Rome and _______ wonderful beach in Sicily. I

think my dog needs _______ holiday.

8. Can you give _______ advice, please?

9. Last Saturday I went shopping. I bought _______ lovely trousers and _______ beautiful blouse.