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Unit 70 · Articles and nouns

Countable and uncountable 2

Study

A

Many nouns are sometimes countable, and sometimes uncountable. Usually there is a difference in meaning. Compare:

Countable Uncountable
Did you hear **a noise** just now? (= a specific noise) I can't work here. There's too much **noise**. (= noise in general)
I bought **a paper** to read. (= a newspaper) I need **some paper** to write on. (= material for writing on)
There's **a hair** in my soup! (= one single hair) You've got very long **hair**. (not hairs) (= all the hair on your head)
This is **a nice room**. (= a room in a house) You can't sit here. There isn't **room**. (= space)
I had some interesting **experiences** while I was travelling. (= things that happened to me) I was offered the job because I had a lot of **experience**. (not experiences) (= experience of that type of job)
Enjoy your trip. Have a great **time**! I can't wait. I don't have **time**.

Coffee / tea / juice / beer etc. (drinks) are normally uncountable:

›

I don't like coffee very much.

But you can say a coffee (= a cup of coffee), two coffees (= two cups) etc. :

›

Two coffees and an orange juice, please.

B

These nouns are usually uncountable:

accommodation behaviour damage luck permission traffic
advice bread furniture luggage progress weather
baggage chaos information news scenery work

We do not normally use a / an with these nouns:

›

I'm going to buy some bread. or … a loaf of bread. (not a bread)

›

Enjoy your holiday! I hope you have good weather. (not a good weather)

These nouns are not usually plural (so we do not say 'breads', 'furnitures' etc.):

›

Where are you going to put all your furniture? (not furnitures)

›

Let me know if you need more information. (not informations)

News is uncountable, not plural:

›

The news was unexpected. (not The news were)

Travel (noun) means 'travelling in general' (uncountable). We do not say 'a travel' to mean a trip or a journey:

›

They spend a lot of money on travel.

›

We had a very good trip / journey. (not a good travel)

Compare these countable and uncountable nouns:

Countable Uncountable
I'm looking for **a job**. I'm looking for **work**. (not a work)
What a beautiful **view**! What beautiful **scenery**!
It's a nice **day** today. It's nice **weather** today.
We had a lot of **bags**. We had a lot of **baggage / luggage**.
These **chairs** are mine. This **furniture** is mine.
That's a good **suggestion**. That's good **advice**.
There were a lot of **cars**. There was a lot of **traffic**.

Exercises (4)

0/4 exercises checked
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70.1

Which is correct?

  1. 1
    The engine is making . What is it?example
  2. 2
    We live near a busy road so .
  3. 3
    comes from the sun.
  4. 4
    I thought there was somebody in the house because there was on inside.
  5. 5
    I was in a hurry this morning. I didn't have for breakfast.
  6. 6
    We really enjoyed our holiday. We had .
  7. 7
    Can I have , please?
  8. 8
    Be careful. The window has been broken and there's on the floor.
  9. 9
    We stayed at a hotel. We had .
  10. 10
    We have a big garage. There's for two cars.
70.2

Which is correct?

  1. 1
    Did you have when you were away?example
  2. 2
    We were very unfortunate. We had .
  3. 3
    Our from Paris to Moscow by train was very tiring.
  4. 4
    When the fire alarm rang, there was .
  5. 5
    Bad news make people happy.
  6. 6
    There's in this part of the country.
  7. 7
    I like my job, but it's .
  8. 8
    I want to print some documents, but the printer is out of .
  9. 9
    The trip took a long time. There was .
  10. 10
    Your too long. You should have cut.
70.3

Complete the sentences using the following words. Use the plural (-s) where necessary.

advicechairdamageexperiencefurniturehairluggagepermissionprogress
  1. 1
    We didn't have much – just two small bags.example
  2. 2
    We have no , not even a bed or a table.
  3. 3
    There is room for everybody to sit down. There are plenty of .
  4. 4
    Who is that woman with short ? Do you know her?
  5. 5
    Carla's English is better than it was. She's made good .
  6. 6
    If you want to take pictures here, you need to ask for .
  7. 7
    I didn't know what I should do, so I asked Chris for .
  8. 8
    I don't think Dan should get the job. He doesn't have enough .
  9. 9
    Kate has done many interesting things. She could write a book about her .
  10. 10
    The caused by the storm will cost a lot to repair.
70.4

What do you say in these situations? Use the word in brackets in your sentence.

  1. 1
    Your friends have just arrived at the station. You can't see any cases or bags. You ask: (luggage) .example
  2. 2
    You go to a tourist office. You want to know about places to visit in the town. (information) I'd like .
  3. 3
    You are a student. You want your teacher to advise you about which courses to do. You say: (advice) Can you give ?
  4. 4
    You applied for a job and you've just heard that you were successful. You call Tom and say: (good news) Hi, Tom. I . I got the job!
  5. 5
    You are at the top of a mountain. You can see a very long way. It's beautiful. You say: (view) It , isn't it?
  6. 6
    You look out of the window. The weather is horrible: cold, wet and windy. You say: (weather) What !