Content

PART I COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

PART II SOME/ANY, A LOT OF/LOTS OF,MUCH/MANY, A LITTLE/A FEW

PART III EXERCISES

Part ICOUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE NOUN

1. COUNTABLE NOUN:

I eat a banana every day.I like bananas.Banana is a countable noun.

A countable noun can be singular (banana) or plural (bananas).

Countable nouns are things we can count. So we can say ‘one banana’, ‘two bananas’ etc.

Examples of nouns usually countable:• There’s a beach near here.• Ann was singing a song.• Have you got a ten-pound note?

You can use a/an with singular countable nouns.

a beach a student an umbrellaYou can not use singular countable nouns

alone ( without a/the/my etc.):• I want a banana. (not ‘I want banana’)

• There’s been an accident. (not ‘There’s been accident’)

You can use plural countable nouns alone:• I like bananas. (=bananas in general)

• Accidents can be prevented.

2. UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS:

I eat rice every day.

I like rice.

Rice is an uncountable noun.

An countable noun are has only one for (rice)Uncountable nouns are things we can not count. We can not say ‘one rice’, ‘two rices’ etc.

Examples of nouns usually uncountable :•There’s sand in my shoes.•Ann was listening to music.•Have you got any money?

You can not normally use a/an with uncountable nouns. We do not say ‘a sand’ or ‘a music’. But you can often use a…of:a bowl of rice a drop of watera piece of music a game of tennis etc.

You can use uncountable nouns alone (without the/my/some etc.):

• I eat rice every day.• There’ s blood on your shirt.• Can you hear music ?

NOTE

Some nouns are both countable and uncountable:

exercise/ exercises

time/ times

wine/ wines

fruit/ fruits

cheese/ cheeses

sport/ sports

Part IISOME/ANY, A LOT OF/LOTS OF, MUCH/MANY, A LITTLE/ A FEW

1. SOME and ANYSOME

We bought some flowers.He’s busy. He’s got some work to do.

ANYWe didn’t buy any flowers.He’s lazy. He never does any work.

some and any mean ‘a certain number or amount’. They are used with plural or uncountable nouns.

a. SOME is used:With affirmative verbs:

They bought some honey. In questions where the answer ‘yes’ is

expected:

Have you got some money? (I expect so.) In offers and requests:

Would you like some wine?

Could you do some typing for me?

b. ANY is used: With negative verbs:

I haven’t any matches. With hardly, barely, scarely (which are almost

negative):

I have hardly any spare time. With without when without any…= with no…:

He crossed the frontier without any difficulty/with no difficulty.

With questions except the types noted above:

Did you catch any fish?

2. A LOT OF/LOTS OF, MUCH/MANY, A LITTLE/ A FEW

a. We use much with uncountable nouns.

much time much luck

We use many with countable nouns.

many friends many people

b. We use a lot of / lots of with uncountable and

plural nouns:

a lot of luck lots of time

a lot of friends lots of people

c. We use much/many especially in negative sentences and questions. A lot (of) is also possible:

Do you know many people ?(or Do you know a lot of people?)

We didn’t spend much money. (or We didn’t spend a lot of money.)In positive sentences a lot of is more usual. Much is unusual in positive sentences in spoken English:

We spent a lot of money. (not ‘We spent much money’)You can use many in positive sentences, but a lot of is more usual in spoken English :

A lot of people (or Many people) drive too fast.

d. We use few with countable nouns:

few cars few countries

We use little with uncountable nouns:

little energy little money

Part III

EXERCISES

To enforce your understanding of the

grammar, we would like you to the following

exercises.