Using Noncount Nouns

Using Noncount Nouns

Many words for food are noncount nouns.

Liquids	Dry Items	Meat	Dairy Products	Vegetables	Other
beer	bread	bacon	butter	broccoli	cake
coffee	cereal	beef	cheese	cauliflower	candy
cream	flour	chicken	ice cream	corn	fruit
gravy	rice	fish	yogurt	eggplant	jam
juice	sugar	meat		lettuce	jelly
milk	toast	pork		spinach	pepper
sauce				squash	pie
soup					popcorn
tea					salt
water
wine

Many personal care items are also named by noncount nouns.

aftershave lotion
bath gel
conditioner
cream
fingernail polish
fingernail polish remover
lotion
perfume
shampoo
shaving cream
soap
toothpaste

Using

Use is there any before a noncount noun to ask if it exists:

• Is there any rice in the cupboard?


• Is there any fruit in the refrigerator?


• Is there any soap in the bathroom?

Use how much followed by a noncount noun plus is there to ask the amount of it that exists:

• How much ice cream is there?
  


• How much cereal is there?
  


• How much water is there?
  


• How much shampoo is there?

To tell the approximate amount of a noncount noun, use:

some = more than nothing
a lot of = a large amount of
a little = a small amount of
not much = a very small amount of
no/not any = nothing

• There is some ice cream in the freezer.


• There is a lot of fruit in the bowl.


• There is a little cereal in the box.


• There is not much shampoo.


• There is no water./There isn't any water.

Quantities

To tell an approximate number of plural items there are, use:

some = more than one
a few = three or four
a lot of/ lots of/ many = a large number of/plenty of/enough
not many = a small number of
too many = more than is good or necessary

• I have some tickets for the ball game.


• There are a few seats in the front row.


• A lot of people are going to the game.


• There are not many seats.


• There are too many people here.

Using

To tell the exact amount of a noncount noun, use the singular or plural of the container of the item, the weight of the item, or the number of pieces or servings of it there are:

• a can of soup - three cans of soup


• a cup of coffee - two cups of coffee


• a glass of milk - four glasses of milk


• a bowl of cereal - a few bowls of cereal


• one spoonful of sugar - two spoonfuls of sugar


• one serving of spinach  - three servings of spinach


• a piece of meat-  two pieces of meat


• a tube of toothpaste  - two tubes of toothpaste

Types of Containers bag bar bottle bowl box case cup glass jar package plate tube

Weights and Measures cup drop gallon ounce pint pound quart spoonful tablespoon teaspoon

Serving Sizes bite piece sip slice

There are many things that cannot be counted. Like all noncount nouns, words for these things do not have plural forms. Review the words in the following list:

advice	help	poverty
air	homework	rain
beauty	housework	sickness
cold	intelligence	snow
courage	kindness	strength
darkness	light	water
health	news	wealth
heat	pollution	work

• There is some housework to do.


• There is a lot of news.


• There is a little snow in the mountains.


• There is not much heat in the house.


• There is too much rain.

Do not use a, an, one, many, or any number with a noncount noun.

Singular, Plural Nouns; count nouns and noncount nouns.

Using Singular Nouns

English nouns can be divided into two categories: count nouns and noncount nouns.
A count noun is singular when there is one of the person, place, or thing it names.

When a noun is singular, use a or an before it.
Use a if it begins with a consonant sound; use an if it begins with a vowel sound.

Use a or an before a singular noun to answer the question "What... ?"

• What do you do?
  I'm a secretary.
  I'm an actor.


• What is it?
  It's a banana.
  It's an apple.


• What do you want?
  I want a house.
  I want an apartment.

Use the number one before a singular noun to answer the question "How many ... ?"

• How many cars do you have?
  We have one car.


• How many English classes are there?
  There is one class.

Use "There is . . . " before a singular noun to indicate that it exists.

• There is an accountant in my family.


• There is a library on the corner.


• There is only one bus stop on this street.

Using Plural Nouns

A count noun is plural when there is more than one of the person, place, or thing it names.
To make a singular noun plural:

• Add -s:

• one tree- three trees


• one word- four words


• one sister- two sisters

• Add -es to a few words that end in -o:

• one echo- two echoes


• one mosquito- three mosquitoes


• one tomato- four tomatoes


• one hero- four heroes


• one potato- two potatoes


• one tornado- two tornadoes

• Add -es to nouns that end in -ch, -sh, -ss, and -x:

• one beach- two beaches


• one dish- four dishes


• one dress- two dresses


• one fax- three faxes

• Add -ies to nouns that end in a consonant followed by -y, after dropping the -y.

• one city  two cities


• one country-  four countries


• one family-  two families


• one puppy-  six puppies

• Add -ves to nouns that end in -for -fe, after dropping the -for -fer.

• one calf- two calves


• one half- two halves


• one leaf- three leaves


• one knife- five knives

• Use an irregular form for certain nouns:

• 
  
  
  
  • one child- two children
  
  
  • one man- four men
  
  
  • one person- three people
  
  
  • one tooth- four teeth
  
  
  • one mouse- three mice
  
  
  • one woman- three women
  
  
  • one foot- two feet
  
  
  
  

• Use the singular form for the plural for certain nouns:

• one deer- three deer


• one sheep- four sheep


• one fish- two fish

Use are there and a plural noun in a question to ask if any exist and how many:

• Are there any cars in your driveway?


• How many cars are there?
  


• How many houses are there on this street?


• How many pages are there in this book?

Use there are followed by any number from two on up before a plural noun to tell how many of them exist:

• There are two cars in the driveway.


• There are ten houses on this street.


• There are 208 pages in this book.

Use there are before the word no when it indicates zero. No is followed by a plural noun:

• There are no cars in the driveway.


• There are no houses on this street.

Not any can be used instead of no to indicate zero:

• There are not any cars in the driveway.
  There aren't any cars in the driveway.


• There are not any houses on this street.
  There aren't any houses on this street.

Numbers:How to say- Fractions, Decimals, zero, Spoken calculations...

1 Fractions

We say fractions like this:

• 1/8 one eighth
  


• 3/7 three sevenths
  


• 2/5 two fifths
  


• 1/16  eleven sixteenths

We normally use a singular verb after fractions below 1.

• Three quarters of a ton is too much.

We use a plural noun with fractions and decimals over 1.

• one and a half hours (NOT one and a half hour)
  


• 1 -3 millimetres (NOT 1 3 millimetre)

2 Decimals

We say decimal fractions like this: 0-125  nought point one two five (NOT 0,125—nought comma one two five)

3-7  three point seven

3 nought, zero, nil etc

The figure 0 is usually called nought in British English, and zero in American English.
When we say numbers one figure at a time, 0 is often called oh (like the letter 0).

• My account number is four one three oh six.

In measurements of temperature, 0 is called zero.

• Zero degrees Centigrade is thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit.

Zero scores in team games are called nil (American zero).
Zero in tennis and similar games is called love.

4 Telephone numbers

We say each figure separately.
When the same figure comes twice, we usually say double (British English only).

• 307 4922    three oh seven four nine double two.

5 Kings and Queens

We say the numbers like this:

• Henry VIII
  


• Henry the Eighth (NOT Henry Eight)


• Louis XIV
  


• Louis the Fourteenth

6 Floors

The ground floor of a British house is the first floor of an American house;
the British first floor is the American second floor, etc.

7 and

In British English, we use and between the hundreds and the tens in a number.

• 310    three hundred and ten (US three hundred ten)
  


• 5,642    five thousand, six hundred and forty-two

Note that in writing we use commas (,) to separate thousands.

8 a and one

We can say a hundred or one hundred, a thousand or one thousand. One is more formal.

• I want to live for a hundred years.(NOT . . . for hundred years.)


• Pay Mr J Baron one thousand pounds, (on a cheque)

We only use a at the beginning of a number. Compare:

• a hundred
  


• three thousand one hundred
  

We can use a with other measurement words.

• a pint


• a foot


• a mile

9   Plurals without -s

After a number or determiner, hundred, thousand, million and dozen have no final -s. Compare:

• five hundred pounds
  


• hundreds of pounds


• several thousand times
  


• It cost thousands

Other number expressions have no -s when they are used as adjectives

• a five-pound note
  


• a three-mile walk

10 Measurements

We use be in measurements.

• She's five feet eight (inches tall).
  


• I'm sixty-eight kilos.
  


• What shoe size are you?

In an informal style, we often use foot instead of feet when we talk about people's heights.

• My father's six foot two.

11 Money

• 1p    one penny or a penny
  


• 5p    five pence


• £3.75    three pounds seventy-five

When we use sums of money as adjectives, we use singular forms.

• a five pound note (NOT a five-pounds note)

12 Adjectives

When expressions of measurement, amount and quantity are used as adjectives, they are normally singular.

• a ten-mile walk (NOT a ten-miles walk)
  


• six two-hour lessons
  


• a three-month-old baby

We can use possessives in expressions of time.

• a week's holiday
  


• four days' journey

13 there are . ..

When we count the number of people in a group, we often use the structure there are + number + of+ pronoun.

• There are only seven of us here today.


• There were twelve of us in my family.
  (NOT We were twelve . . .)

14   Spoken calculations

Common ways of calculating are:

• 2 + 2=4
  two and two is/are four (informal)
  two plus two equals four (formal)


• 7-4=3
  four from seven is three (informal)
  seven minus four equals three (formal)


• 3x4 = 12
  three fours are twelve (informal)
  three multiplied by four equals twelve (formal)


• 9 / 3=3
  nine divided by three equals three

non-progressive verbs

1 Some verbs are never used in progressive forms.

• I like this music. (NOT I'm liking this music.)

Other verbs are not used in progressive forms when they have certain meanings.

• I see what you mean. (NOT I'm seeing what you mean.)


• I'm seeing the doctor at ten o 'clock.

Many of these 'non-progressive' verbs refer to mental activities (for example know, think, believe).
Some others refer to the senses (for example smell, taste).

2 The most important 'non-progressive' verbs are:

• like
  


• dislike
  


• love
  


• hate
  


• prefer
  


• want
  


• wish
  


• surprise
  


• impress
  


• please


• believe
  


• feel


• imagine
  


• know
  


• mean
  


• realize
  


• recognize
  


• remember
  


• suppose
  


• think


• understand


• hear
  


• see


• smell


• sound
  


• taste


• weigh ( = 'have weight')


• belong to
  


• contain
  


• depend on
  


• include
  


• matter
  


• need
  


• owe
  


• own
  


• possess


• appear
  


• seem
  


• be

We often use can with see, hear, feel, taste and smell to give a 'progressive' meaning.

Negative questions:Structure, Meaning, Polite requests

1 Structure

auxiliary verb + n't + subject...

• Doesn't she understand?


• Haven't you booked your holiday yet?

auxiliary verb + subject + not...

• Does she not understand?


• Have you not booked your holiday yet?

The forms with not are formal.

2 Meaning

When we ask a negative question, we often expect the answer yes.

• Didn't you go and see Helen yesterday? How is she?

Negative questions are common in exclamations and invitations.

• Isn't it a lovely day!


• Won't you come in for a minute?

We can use negative questions to show that we are surprised that something has not happened, or is not happening.

• Hasn't the postman come yet?


• Aren't you supposed to be working ?

3 Polite requests

We do not usually use negative questions to ask people to do things for us.

• Can you help me? (ordinary question: used for a request)


• You can't help me, can you? (negative statement + question tag: common in spoken requests)


• Can't you help me⁹ (negative question: has a critical meaning — like Why can't you help me?)

4 yes and no

We answer negative questions like this.

• Haven't you written to Mary?
  ' Yes ' ( = I have written to her.)
  No ' ( = I haven't written to her.)


• Didn't the postman come?'
  Yes.' ( = He came.)
  No ' ( = He didn't come.)

names and titles

We can use names and titles when we talk about people, and when we talk to them. There are differences.

1   Talking about people

When we talk about people, we can name them in four ways.

a   First name.

This is informal. We use first names mostly to talk about friends and children.

• Where's Peter? He said he'd be here at three.
  


• How's Maud getting on at school?

b   First name + surname.

This can be formal or informal.

• Isn't that Peter Connolly, the actor?
  


• We 're going on holiday with Mary and Daniel Sinclair

c   Title (Mr, Mrs etc) + surname.

This is more formal. We talk like this about people we do not know, or when we want to show respect or be polite.

• Can I speak to Mr Lewis, please?


• We've got a new teacher called Mrs Campbell


• Ask Miss Andrews to come in, please.


• Dear Ms Sanders, . . .

d   Surname only

We often use just the surname to talk about public figures — politicians, sportsmen and sportswomen, writers and so on.

• I don't think Eliot s a very good dramatist.
  


• The women's marathon was won by Waitz

We sometimes use surnames alone for employees (especially male employees), and for members of all-male groups (for example footballers, soldiers, schoolboys).

• Tell Patterson to come and see me at once.


• Let's put Billows in goal and move Carter up.

2   Talking to people

When we talk to people, we can name them in two ways.

a   First name

This is usually friendly and informal.

• Hello, Pamela How are you'?

b   Title + surname.

This is more formal or respectful.

• Good morning, Mr Williamson

Note that we do not usually use both the first name and the surname of people we are talking to.
It would be unusual to say 'Hello, Peter Matthews, for example.

Note also that we do not normally use Mr, Mrs, Miss or Ms alone.
If you want to speak to a stranger, for example, just say Excuse me, not Excuse me, Mr or Excuse me, Mrs

3 Titles

Mr( = Mister) is not usually written in full, and the others cannot be.

Ms is used to refer to women who do not wish to have to say whether they are married or not.

Dr is used as a title for doctors (medical and other).

Professor (abbreviated Prof) is used only for certain high-ranking university teachers.

Note that the wives and husbands of doctors and professors do not share their partners' titles.
We do not say, for example, Mrs Dr Smith. Sir and madam are used mostly by shop assistants.

Some employees call their male employers sir, and some schoolchildren call their male teachers sir.
(Female teachers are often called miss.)
Dear Sir and Dear Madam are ways of beginning letters. In other situations sir and madam are unusual.

• Excuse me. Could you tell me the time? (NOT Excuse me, sir, . . .)