Countable and uncountable nouns in English

 

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There are two categories of nouns in English: countable nouns and uncountable nouns in English. They must be distinguished because their use is different.

Countable nouns

Countable nouns refer to distinct elements, things that we can count. In front of a countable noun, we can use a number, the indefinite articles a/an, the defined article the, some (in the plural), or a possessive or demonstrative adjective. They can be used either in the singular or plural, usually with a final -s:

• a car → two cars
• an orange → three oranges
• one girl → two girls
• a friend → four friends

These names can be counted, so they are countable.

However, there are spelling irregularities as well as exceptions and invariable words (which do not change to the plural) – for more details see the lesson on plurals.

• man → men
• woman → women
• baby → babies
• tooth → teeth
• child → children
• kiss → kisses
• knife → knives
• mouse → mice
• tomato → tomatoes
• sheep → sheep
• deer → deer
• aircraft → aircraft

Uncountable nouns

The uncountable nouns represent global things, which cannot be counted. They may not be preceded by a number or a year. They require a verb in the singular. Often, uncountable nouns do not have a plural.

• I hate milk. 

Milk cannot be counted, so it is an uncountable noun. You can’t say: I hate the milk

The uncountable nouns are generally:

• Materials, substances or food too small or too fluid to be counted one by one (liquid, powder, gas): coffee, flour, butter, blood, gold, cheese, bread, honey, air, milk, rice, sugar, tea, water, soap, jam, paint
• Human feelings or qualities: beauty, fear, anger, love
• Abstract concepts, ideas or qualities: information, knowledge, luck, safety, money, evidence, weather, advice, transport
• Nouns formed from verbs or adjectives: reading, youth 
• colours: red, yellow, etc…
• The names of sports and games: football, billiards, chess, darts…

⚠️ These nouns are invariable and always followed by a verb in the singular:

• Her hair is black. 

How to quantify uncountable nouns

To indicate a quantity of elements, or to isolate a unit from a set represented by an uncountable noun, it is sometimes necessary to use expressions or measures that make it possible to count them more or less precisely (also called “enumerator”): some, a lot of, a bit of, a cup of, a bag of, a handful of, a pinch of…

• a bag of flour 
• a bowl of soup 
• a cup of tea 
• a game of tennis 
• a glimmer of hope 
• a handful of almonds 
• a kilo of rice 
• a loaf of bread 
• a lump of sugar 
• a means of transport 
• a piece of advice 
• a piece of cake 
• a piece of fruit 
• a piece of furniture 
• a pinch of salt 
• a sheet of paper 
• a slice of bread 
• a spoonful of jam 
• some advice 

⚠️ Some singular uncountable nouns are not used with a enumerator. It may be that:

• Some nouns formed from verbs: advertising, skating…
• Some disease names: AIDS, flu, measles…
• Abstract values: business, happiness, justice, poverty, unemployment, weather…
• Names in -ics: athletics, economics, electronics, mathematics, mechanics, physics, politics…

⚠️ The article ‘a’ is sometimes found in front of some uncountable nouns, in some expressions in particular:

• I’m in a hurry 
• What a relief! 
• What a shame! 

An uncountable singular can be replaced by a countable noun, which can be completely different:

Uncountable nouns	Countable nouns
accomodation	a room, a flat
advertising	an advertisement
fishing	a good catch
homework	an exercise
progress	a breakthrough
travel	a trip, a journey
work	a job

Compare:

• He’s looking for work (in general)
• He’s looking for a job (something specific)

⚠️ The word hair is normally uncountable in English, so it is used in the singular. It can also become countable only when it refers to one hair:

• She has long blond hair. 
• I washed my hair yesterday. 
• I found a hair in my soup! 

Plural uncountable nouns 

Some uncountable names are always in the plural:: clothes, contents, customs, goods, looks, morals, oats, stairs, jeans, pyjamas, shorts, trousers, tights, binoculars, glasses, pliers, scales, scissors…

They always match with a plural verb!

• Where are the binoculars? 
• Those stairs don’t look very safe.

If you want to talk about one or more specific objects, you must use a enumerator:

• two flights of stairs 
• I need three pair of jeans 
• a pair of scissors 

Plural uncountable nouns with a collective meaning

Nouns like clergy, police, poultry, cattle… have a collective meaning: contrary to their appearance, they are true plurals and they always require a verb in the plural, with the personal pronoun they:

• Cattle are fed with grass 
• The police are coming 

Category change

Some countable nouns can be used as uncountable nouns: they change their meaning and function:

• Give me a glass of wine.  (the container)
• Look out for broken glass.  (the material)
• I’ve got two chickens in my garden. (birds)
• I’ve had chicken for lunch. (meat)

 

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How to use the preposition by in english grammar

 

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We use the preposition by to talk about a means or method used to do something:

• I did it by mistake. 
• Contact me by email. 
• I want to pay by cheque. 

⚠️ It is said to be pay cash or pay in cash (and not by cash)

We also use by to tell by which means of transport someone travels:

• He always goes to work by bus. 
• She likes to travel by plane. 

We can also use by bike, by ship, by train, by road, by air, by rail…

⚠️ We say on foot and not by foot.

By is used to make sentences on the passive:

• He was killed by an elephant.
• They were invited by Paul. 
• She was bitten by a dog.
• The car was fixed by the mechanic.
• This house was built by my father. 

By allows you to talk about an action with a goal (with a verb + ing):

• You can stay healthy by drinking a lot of water. 
• By pressing this button, you turn off the computer.

To talk about the author of a work:

• I’m reading a book by Stephen King. 
• It’s a film by James Cameron.
• That’s a nice song by Bruno Mars. 

To describe a person:

• He’s an engineer by trade.
• By nature, she’s very nervous.

To express a difference, a deviation:

• She won by five points.
• The bullet missed me by inches.

To indicate the times of day:

• We travelled by night and rested by day.

By is sometimes used to indicate proximity:

• The bank is by the bakery. 
• There’s a good restaurant by the lake. 
• My parents live by the sea.
• She was standing by me. 

By indicates a time limit:

• My son must be in bed by 10 o’clock. 
• I’ll be there by nine. 
• The letter must be sent by September 15. 

By indicates a conformity with something:

• He must play by the rules.
• The elephant is an animal protected by law.
• By my watch it’s 9 o’clock.
• By my calculations, it’s too late. 

By is used in calculation, measurement and quantity expressions:

• Divide/ multiply 10 by 2.
• My bed is 2 metres by 4.
• This fabric is sold by the meter. 
• She’s selling cakes by the thousands.
• The company decided to cut prices by 50%.

To give his opinion:

• If that’s okay by you, I’d like to leave now.
• That’s fine by me.

To say ‘next to another thing’:

• The two girls were sitting side by side on a bench. 

To say that we did something on our own:

• The dog opened the door by itself.
• I stayed at home by myself. 

By the way:

• By the way, are you coming tonight?

We use by to express the frequency:

• The babysitter is usually paid by the hour.
• Climate change is deteriorating by the day. 

To indicate a gradual process:

• He ate all the cakes one by one. 
• House prices are climbing day by day.
• The instruction manual details the process step by step. 

 

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Wishes and regrets with ‘I wish‘ and ‘If only…‘

 

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To express wishes and regrets in English, you can use the wish + preterite or if only + preterite formulas:

1 – Wish

Wish is used to express wish or regret in the present or past. Wish is followed by a preposition with a subject and a verb.

The verb wish is used to express wish or regret in the present or past tense. Wish is followed by a proposal with a subject and a verb:

• I wish I knew the truth.

To express regret in the present

Wish + prerrit (modal) expresses a regret about the present. The desired thing has no chance of being realized. It may concern the speaker or another person:

• I wish I was rich. 
• I wish you didn’t get so upset about her. 

⚠️ If we use the verb be, we can use was or were, were being of a more sustained register:

• I wish I was rich. /I wish I were rich.
• I wish he wasn’t so bossy. 

To express regret in the past

Finally, we can also express regret about an event in the past. In this case, we use wish + past perfect:

• I wish we had never come here. 
• I wish he had told me the truth. 
• I wish you hadn’t done that. 

To express a request or irritation

To express a request indirectly, to express a feeling of irritation or to talk about an event that has a chance of being realized, we use wish + would:

• I wish you would taik to me more often. 
• I wish somebody would answer the phone. 

To express a forecast or a wish:

Wish followed by the verb + to is similar to the verb ‘to want’ or ‘would like’, with an idea of forecasting in the future:

• They wish to have five children. 
• We wish to stay for four nights. 

You can also use ‘wish’ with a name to wish for an event:

⚠️ ‘I wish to‘ can have the meaning of ‘ I want to‘ but it’s very formal and not used very often:

2 – If only

If only + preterite allows you to express wishes in relation to an unreal situation:

• If only I had a car. 
• If only you came to see me more often. 
• If only I could speak Spanish! 
• If only you had told me before! 

With the verb be, we sometimes use the form were to all persons (mainly in writing):

• If only I were / was richer. 
• If only I weren’t / wasn’t so tall. 

To express regrets about a past situation, it’s necessary to use the perfect past instead of the priest:

• If only they had come. 

3 – Little tip !

One can also express regret or reproach with should have + past participle:

• We should have taken the bus.

 

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Indefinite pronouns

 

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English indefinite pronouns (somebody, something…)

Indefinite pronouns are used in English to refer to unspecified objects, places or people (hence the term “indefinite”), whether in the plural or singular.

Here is the list of indefinite pronouns in English :

Indefinite pronouns	Examples
SINGULAR
another	Give me another example.
anybody/ anyone	Does anybody know a good place to eat?
anything	My dad always told me that anything is possible.
each	He shook the hand of each candidate
either	Either day suits me.
enough	He’s got enough money.
everybody/ everyone	Everybody enjoyed the concert.
everything	I gave him everything.
less	We have less than three hours left.
little	Give me just a little.
much	Much of it true.
neither	Neither road goes to New York
nobody/ no-one	I have nobody to talk to.
nothing	There was nothing we could do.
one	One of the girls was left behind.
other	He works as hard as any other student.
somebody/ someone	There is somebody at the door.
something	He saw something in the garden.
you	You can’t learn this song in two minutes.
PLURAL
both	I liked them both very much.
few	They have few books.
fewer	Fewer women wear hats these days.
many	Many are called, but few are chosen.
others	I’m sure that others have done this before.
several	I have several friends in Paris.
they	They say that smoking is bad for health.
SINGULAR / PLURAL
all	I saw them all.
any	Do you have any gum?
more	Show me more.
most	Most cameras are made in Japan.
none	None of us speak Spanish.
some	Can I have some? / We’ll need some.
such	You’re such a bad liar.

How to make a simple negative sentences in English

 

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Study the following examples and see the difference:

• I like vegetables. 
• I do not like vegetables. 

I like vegetables is an affirmative sentence, I do not like vegetables is a negative sentence.

How to make a negative sentence in English?

There are three ways:

1 – In a sentence with the verb ‘to be‘ conjugated to the present tense, just add ‘not‘ after ‘to be‘:

• I am from Japan. 
• I am not from Japan. 
• You are a student. 
• You are not a student. 
• He is a teacher. 
• He is not a teacher. 

It’s possible to shorten all forms in the present tense of the verb to be (except I am): she/he/it is not becomes isn’t, and you/we/they are not becomes aren’t:

• You are not a student. = You aren’t a student.
• He is not a teacher. = He isn’t a teacher.

2 – In a sentence with an auxiliary verb:

An auxiliary verb or modal helps the main verb to make a complete sentence. It can be can, must, may, have, should, could, will and would:

• I can play the guitar. 
• She will go to school. 
• We have eaten a lot. 

To transform these sentences to the negative form, simply add not after the auxiliary and before the verb:

• I can not play the guitar. 
• She will not go to school. 
• We have not eaten a lot. 

It’s possible to shorten all auxiliaries and modals except may:

• I can not play the guitar. = I can’t play the guitar. 
• She will not go to school. = She won’t go to school. 
• We have not eaten a lot. = We haven’t eaten a lot.

3 – In the sentences with all the other verbs:

You must use ‘do not’ just after the subject when it is I, we, you, you, they or ‘does not’ just after the subject when it is he, she, or it:

• I speak Spanish. 
• I do not speak Spanish. 
• She wants an ice cream. 
• She does not wants an ice cream. 
• We live in Germany. 
• We do not live in Germany. 

Do not and Does not can be shortened: do not becomes don’t, and does not becomes doesn’t:

• I do not speak Spanish. = I don’t speak Spanish.
• She does not want an ice cream. = She doesn’t want an ice cream. 
• We do not live in Germany. = We don’t live in Germany. 

👉 Contractions (isn’t, aren’t, doesn’t…) are mainly used orally. They do not change the meaning of the sentence.

 

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Some, any and no in English

 

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Some, any and no are quantifiers: they indicate a certain quantity or indefinite quantity. They can also be determinants or pronouns. Other undefined quantifiers are a little more precise (see this lesson here).

SOME

Some is used in affirmative sentences. It indicates that the name it determines has a real existence:

• I would like some sugar with my coffee.
• There’s some pizza in the oven. 

Some can be used in a questioning sentence, one then expects a positive answer – or if one wants to convince the interlocutor to give a positive answer:

• Would you like some tea? 
• Would you like some more information? 
• Could you give me some water? 
• Could you lend me some money? 

⚠️ Some + name can also be used to translate ‘a certain…’ or something vague:

• Some woman is asking for you. 
• Some people are driving really dangerously. 

⚠️ Some + number = ‘about’ or ‘around’

• He lives some three kilometres frome here. 

⚠️ Some can be used to express appreciation:

• He’s some singer! 
• That’s some beer! 

ANY

Any is used in negative sentences to indicate that the name it determines has no (or perhaps no) real existence:

• He doesn’t have any friend. 
• There aren’t any eggs in the fridge. 
• I didn’t buy any. 

It is also used in interrogative sentences, when it is not known whether the element to which it refers has a real existence or not.

• Do you have any family around? 
• Have you seen any horses in this park? 
• Did we get any mail today? 

Any can be used to make generalizations:

• Any student can do that. 

NO

No equals to not any. It’s used in sentences with a negative meaning, but with a positive verb:

• They have no alcohol here. 
• There are no wolves here. 

Some expressions with no:

• No problem 
• No comment 
• No vacancies 
• No entry 

Compund words with SOME-, ANY-, NO-

• somebody, anybody
• someone, anyone 
• something, anything 
• somewhere, anywhere 
• nowhere 
• nobody, no one 
• nothing 

REMEMBER

⚠️ Compare the following sentences:

• Did you buy some bread?  (we are waiting for a positive answer)
• Did you buy any bread?  (we have no idea of the answer.)

⚠️ With a count in the singular, some and any do not refer to quantity but underline the indefinite character of the name:

• We’ll meet again some day. 
• Any car will be better than this one! 

⚠️ After some and any, the name may be implied, if it is obvious:

• ‘I bought too many cakes. would you like some?’ ‘No, I don’t want any.’ 

 

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Each, Every and all

 

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Each, every and all refer to the whole set of something when they are put in front of a name:

EACH

Each is usually followed by a singular name: each element of the set is considered separately, one by one.

• Each pupil has a task to prepare the school trip. 
• He shook the hand of each candidate. 

⚠ Each can be used after a quantity or price:

• We had five cookies each. They cost 3$ each. 

EVERY

Every is followed by a singular name indicates that each element is part of a set:

• Every pupil is going on the trip. 
• Every room has a TV. 

⚠ Every becomes everyone of + a name or additional personal pronoun.

• Everyone of us is going to have fun. 

⚠ Every also expresses frequency:

• every two days 
• every day
• every time
• every five minutes 

The idea of recurrence is expressed with ‘every other‘:

• I take a shower every other day. 
• I visit him every other week-end.
• He goes to Japan every other month. 
• Every other cake is bad. 

Every allows you to compose many words:

• Everyone
• Everything
• Everywhere 

ALL

All is followed by a singular or plural name with or without a determinant. It refers to a set of elements that constitute a whole:

• All children like candies. 
• All the soldiers must wear a uniform. 
• All the boys were laughing. 

If you want to make a negative sentence with all, you have to add not before:

• Not all our friends live in London.

All can express the duration:

• It rained all day.
• He speaks all the time.
• I spent all night looking for you. 

⚠ In pronominal use, each and all are followed by of and a name or a complementary personal pronoun:

• Each of them has to bring a packed lunch. 
• We are leaving: all of us are excited. 

 

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Reflexive pronouns in English (myself, herself…)

 

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A reflexive pronoun is a pronoun that refers to a person already mentioned (the word reflected is used in the sense of reflection, like a mirror, not in the sense of reflecting on something… understood?).

Here is the list of reflexive pronouns:

• myself
• yourself
• himself
• herlsef
• itself
• ourselves
• yourselves
• themeselves

⚠️oneself is an impersonal form, mostly used in dictionaries.

Here are some verbs frequently used with reflexive pronouns:

• to clean oneself
• to burn oneself
• to cut oneself
• to help oneself
• to talk to oneself
• to wash oneself
• to look at oneself
• to defend oneself
• to dry oneself
• to introduce oneself
• to enjoy oneself
• to see oneself
• to behave oneself

They are always placed after the verb. A few examples:

• Tina was looking at herself in the mirror. 
• Be careful! You’re going to hurt yourself. 
• The computer turns itself off. 

⚠️ Depending on where it is placed, the meaning of the sentence is different:

• He cut himself. 
• He cut himself a piece of cake. 
• He cut the cake himself. 

Reflected pronouns can have an insistence value:

• Do it yourself. 
• I’ll open it myself. 

⚠️ By + reflexive pronoun reinforces the idea of insistence:

• I was by myself (ou on my own) when it happened. 
• Can you manage by yourself? 
• He can’t do that by himself. 

⚠️ In English, we do not use reflexive pronouns after certain verbs. These are mainly verbs about personal care and movement:

• to worry 
• to concentrate 
• to dress 
• to fight 
• to relax 
• to shave 
• to wake up 
• to feel 
• to hide 
• to get ready 
• to get up 
• to sit down 
• to meet
• to adapt 
• to complain 
• to remember 
• to shower 
• to lie down 

⚠️ After a preposition of place (on, about, near…), a complementary personal pronoun is used and not a reflexive pronoun:

• I haven’t got any money on myself me. 
• She put her bag near herself her. 

⚠️ Reflected pronouns can be used as the object of a preposition:

• He made a cup of coffee just for himself. 
• He was talking to himself. 
• They had to cook for themselves. 

⚠️ Reflected pronouns are used to emphasize the person or thing you are talking about, especially if you are talking about someone known (but it is not mandatory to use a reflected pronoun):

• I met the King himself. 
• Madonna herself sang at the festival. 
• The President himself announced the news. 

⚠️ Sometimes a thoughtful pronoun can be used to say ‘also’:

• Sarah was pretty drunk last night. I was pretty drunk myself.

⚠️ Do not confuse reflexive pronouns with reciprocal pronouns that serve to show a reciprocal relationship (each other and one another)! Each other and one another are interchangeable, although in principle each other is used more commonly than one another.

• We love each other. 
• We’ve known each other (= one another) for ten years. 

 

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How to use so, too, either, neither in english grammar

 

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Me too and so + auxiliary + subject

To answer affirmatively, most often we use so + auxiliary + subject. Orally, we can also say “Me too” (but this is more familiar):

• “I’m tired.” “Me too. / So am I”. 
• “She can play the piano.” “So can he!”. 
• “We have visited London.” “So have we.” 

In the present tense and the preterite, there’s no auxiliary in the affirmative starting sentence. We then use the auxiliaries of these two tenses: do (present tense) and did (past tense):

• “My brother loves coffee.” “So do I!” 
• “Paul ate a cookie.” “So did she!”

Me neither

When the starting sentence is negative, we use the structure neither + auxiliary + subject. Orally, we can also say “Me neither” (but that’s more familiar).

• “I’ve never been to Italy.” “Me neither. / Neither have I.” 
• “We shouldn’t smoke” “Neither should I.” 
• “Sarah isn’t very fat.” “Neither is her mother.” 

How to reply negatively or positively

• “I love pizzas.” “I don’t.” 

When the sentence is negative, the affirmative form is used in the contradiction answer. Remember to emphasize the ‘I’ orally!

• “I’m not tired.” “I am.” 

An equivalent of ‘yes, it’s true’ ‘yes/no, indeed’

When the sentence is affirmative and there is no auxiliary, we use the affirmative form and the auxiliary do:

• “They succeeded.” “So they did.” 

When the sentence is negative and there is for example the auxiliary have (or another one), we answer with the negative form and the same auxiliary:

• “They haven’t reached a compromise.” “So they haven’t.” 

⚠️ We can also say: (Yes) you’re right. / (Yes,) that’s true. / (No,) indeed.

⚠️ Do not confuse the order of the auxiliary!

Compare the following two sentences:

• “I succeeded”. So did he.” → He also succeeded.
• “He succeeded. ” “So he did.” → He finally succeeded.

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How to use short answers in English (me too, me neither…)

 

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ME TOO

Look at the following examples:

• “I’m tired.” “Me too / So am I”. (Orally, ‘me too’ can be said but is more familiar.)
• “She can play the piano.” “So can he!”. 
• “We have visited London.” “So have we.” 

In the present and in the past, there is no auxiliary in the affirmative starting sentence. The auxiliaries of these two times are then used: do (in the present) and did (in the past).

• “My brother loves coffee.” “So do I!” 
• “Paul ate a cookie.” “So did she!” 

NEITHER

When the starting sentence is negative, the neither + auxiliary + subject structure is used:

• “I’ve never been to Italy.” “Neither have I.” 
• “We shouldn’t smoke” “Neither should I.”
• “Sarah isn’t very fat.” “Neither is her mother.” 

Orally, we can also say ‘Me neither’ (but it’s more familiar).

I DON’T / I AM

Look at the following example:

• “I love pizzas.” “I don’t.” 

When the sentence is negative, the affirmative form is used in the contradiction response. Remember to focus on the ‘I’ when speaking!

• “I’m not tired.” “I am.” 

HOW TO SAY ‘YES, IT’S TRUE’, ‘YES / NO INDEED’

When the sentence is affirmative and there is no auxiliary, the affirmative form and the auxiliary do are used:

• “They succeeded.” “So they did.” 

When the sentence is negative and there is for example the auxiliary have (or another auxiliary), the negative form is answered with the same auxiliary.

• “They haven’t reached a compromise.” “So they haven’t.” 

⚠️ We can also say: (Yes) you’re right. / (Yes,) that’s true. / (No,) indeed.

⚠️ Do not confuse the order of the auxiliary!

Compare the following two sentences:

• “I succeeded”. So did he.” 
• “He succeeded. ” “So he did.” 

 

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