 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
a pencil – four pencils
 They have both singular and plural forms.
an umbrella – two umbrellas
house – houses

 We form the plural of most countable nouns by adding  Some nouns don’t end in –s / –es in the plural.
–s to the noun. They 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
kilo – kilos photo – photos
and 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.
son daughter There is a pair of trousers under the bed.
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
 They don’t have a plural form. They are always them.
followed by a verb in the singular. There is some milk in the fridge.
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  leaf  boy  child  peach  half
 dish  dog  body  person  knife  potato  country  box
 life  bird  city  hero  desk  match  mouse  party

-s -es -ies -ves irregular

days
dishes
boots
dresses wives
doctors strawberries people
witches lives
dogs bodies sheep
churches leaves
birds cities men
heroes knives
months babies children
kisses wolves
photos countries mice
potatoes elves
roofs parties feet
matches halves
boys
peaches
desks
boxes
plates

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

 joke  rice  night  year  electricity  tourist  petrol  news

 soup  car  honey  meat  bag  food  job  child

COUNTABLE UNCOUNTABLE
spoon car butter petrol
knife bag juice news
egg job money soup
boy child salt honey
fork joke gold meat
plate love food
packet homework
cup traffic
night rice
year electricity
tourist
 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  bar  bowl  tube  piece (x2)
 cup  glass  pair  jug  bucket

4
1. a cup of coffee
1 3
2. _______________
two pieces of cheese 2
3. _______________
a tube of toothpaste
5
a box of
4. _______________ chocolates
7
a pair of
5. _______________ sunglasses 6
6. _______________
a bowl of cereal
two loaves of
7. _______________ bread
9
a jar of
8. _______________ jam
8 10
9. three glasses of orange juice
_______________ 12
a packet of
10. _______________ biscuits
11. _______________
a piece of cake 11
a carton of
12. _______________ milk 14
13
a bucket of
13. _______________ sand
two bars of
14. _______________ chocolate
a slice of
15. _______________ bread
15
16. _______________
three bottles of wine 17
17. _______________
a jug of lemonade
16 18
a tin of
18. _______________ beans

Complete the sentences with a, an or some.

some onions and _______

1. I have bought _______ a kilo of meat at the supermarket.
some orange juice?
2. Would you like _______

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

some spaghetti and _______

4. Samuel had _______ a slice of apple pie for lunch.
some money on the table.
5. There is _______

a
6. I’m hungry. I’m going to make _______ some bread, _______
sandwich. I’ll need _______ some butter, _______
some cheese
an onion. Then I’ll need _______
and _______ a a
plate and _______ knife. You need a lot of things to make

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

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

book has _______ a

some information about _______ a
famous museums in Rome and _______ wonderful beach in

a
Sicily. I think my dog needs _______ holiday.

an advice, please?
8. Can you give _______

some lovely trousers and _______

9. Last Saturday I went shopping. I bought _______ a beautiful blouse.
 Choose the correct alternative. Complete the sentences using the
masculine or feminine form of the
words in bold type.
1. The police has / have caught the bank robbers.
2. My hair is /are too long. I need a haircut. 1. Mr Jones, a widower, married Ms Thompson, a

3. Your advice was /were very valuable. Thanks a lot! __________,

widow last month.

4. Oxen is /are used to pull carts in some countries. 2. My niece loves basketball but my __________
nephew
5. Why are / is your clothes wet? doesn’t. He likes football.
6. Milk contain / contains a lot of calcium and is / are 3. Cinderella became a princess when she married
an essential part of our diet. the __________.
prince
7. My feet are / is cold. Could you turn on the heater? aunt
4. My uncle and __________ live in France and I
8. The news are / is broadcast on TV every evening at visit them every summer.
9:00 pm. 5. At the end of the film, the hero dies and the
9. Did you know that wild sheep live / lives in the
__________
heroine continues the mission.
mountains?
6. I saw a play at the theatre yesterday. Both the
10. I didn’t buy the jeans because it was / they were
actress acted awful.
leading actor and leading ________
too expensive.
7. Mr and Mrs Hill have two children, a three-year-old
11. The bread is /are over there. Could you give me
daughter
son and a six-year-old __________.
some, please?
8. There was a wedding last Sunday. The bride was
12. The information you gave me about the trip were /
groom was late.
at church on time, but the __________
was incorrect.
13. There are / is always heavy traffic in the city centre.
9. My wife is a doctor and so is Mrs Blake’s

14. Thunder come / comes after lightning because light husband

__________.

travels / travel faster than sound. 10. I like this restaurant, both waiters and
waitresses
__________ are very kind.

Choose the correct alternative.

Good evening lady / ladies and gentlemen / gentleman. Here’s the latest news /
new. There have been robbery / robberies at four different bank / banks this week /
weeks.
The fourth robbery / robberies occurred just two hours / houres ago. Three mans /
men wearing maskes / masks entered the National Bank in Green St. at 11.20 a.m.
The bank manager / manageress, Mr Simon Parker, describes his experiences /
experience to our reporter, Tom Hardy.

Mr Parker: Well, I was having my morning coffee / coffees when they entered my office. They demanded that I
give tem all the moneys / money and golds / gold which is kept in our safes / saves.
Reporter: How did your clientes / clients react when they realised what was
going on?
Mr Parker: Well, they panicked. One of them screamed for helps / help.
Reporter: Who pressed the alarm button?
Mr Parker: My secretary did. Fortunately, the police / polices arrived very
quickly, so the robber / robbers will be brought to justice /
justices.