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COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

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Podemos separar los nombres en dos grupos:

los contables y los incontables.

Los contables son aquellos nombres de cosas, gente, etc que nosotros podemos contar.

Por ejemplo nosotros podemos decir: one pencil, two pencils, three pencils... Entonces decimos que pencil es contable.

Incontable es todo aquello que nosotros no podemos contar. Por ejemplo nosotros no podemos decir: one rice, two rices, three rices... Entonces decimos que rice es incontable.

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Además muchos nombres pueden ser contables e incontables a la vez dependiendo de la función que desempeñen y del contexto:�

Por ejemplo: �There are two lambs. (Hay dos corderos)�We like lamb. (Nos gusta la carne de cordero)

Pero también podemos contar cosas incontables usando, por ejemplo: glass, bottle, litre, etc...�

Por ejemplo: �A glass of water�Three cartons of milk�A loaf of bread

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En esta tabla puedes ver las principales diferencias entre contables e incontables:

CONTABLES

INCONTABLES

tienen plural: egg- eggs

no tienen plural: rice no puede ser rices

delante de singular contable podemos usar a o an :�a house / an apple

no podemos usar a o an : no podemos decir a milk. Deben ir precedidos, si quieren individualizarse, de alguna palabra con valor partitivo como a carton of milk.

podemos usar números delante de un contable: two eggs

no podemos usar números delante de un incontable: no podemos decir two rices

many se usa para nombres plurales contables�How many students were there?�There are too many people.

much se usa para nombres singulares no contables�How much milk is in the fridge?�There is too much information.

Usamos few o a few para expresar una idea de cantidad reducida o media:

few biscuits o a few biscuits (pocas galletas o unas cuantas galletas)

Usamos little o a little para expresar una idea de cantidad reducida o media:

little milk o a little milk (poca leche o un poco de leche)

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NOUNS

COUNTABLE

UNCOUNTABLE

SINGULAR

PLURAL

JUST

SINGULAR

A

✓ ✗ ?

AN

✓ ✗ ?

SOME

✓

ANY

✗ ?

SOME

✓

ANY

✗ ?

There’s A pencil.

There isn’t A pencil.

Is there A pencil?

There’s AN elephant.

There isn’t AN elephant.

Is there AN elephant?

There are SOME pencils.

Are there ANY elephants?

There aren’t ANY pencils.

There’s SOME water.

Is there ANY water?

There isn’t ANY water.

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QUANTIFIERS

COUNTABLE

UNCOUNTABLE

PLURAL

SINGULAR

A LOT OF

MANY

✓

MANY

✗ ?

There are A LOT OF insects.

There are MANY insects.

How MANY insects are there?

Are there MANY insects?

There aren’t MANY insects.

A LOT OF

MUCH

✓

MUCH

✗ ?

There’s A LOT OF traffic.

There’s MUCH traffic.

How MUCH traffic is there?

Is there MUCH traffic?

There isn’t MUCH traffic.

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There are A LOT OF insects.

There aren’t MANY insects.

There aren’t ANY insects.

There are NO insects.

How MANY insects are there?

Are there ANY insects?

Are there MANY insects?

There’s A LOT OF traffic.

There isn’t MUCH traffic.

There isn’t ANY traffic.

There’s NO traffic.

How MUCH traffic is there?

Is there ANY traffic?

Is there MUCH traffic?

COUNTABLE

UNCOUNTABLE

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Are they countables or uncountables?

Write C for countables and U for uncountables.

TEA

FRUIT

SHOP

MILK

SUGAR

CRISPS

JUICE

PASTA

BEER

CARROT

CHOCOLATE

CHEESE

BREAD

TELEPHONE

WATER

BURGER

RICE

RIVER

C

U

C

U

U

C

U

U

U

C

C

C

C

U

U

U

U

U

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​

​

​

​

​

There was .......... money in the bag.

​

​

​

​

​

There was .......... bread in the basket.

​

​

​

​

​

There wasn’t .......... clock on the table.

​

​

​

​

​

There wasn’t .......... juice.

​

​

​

​

​

There weren’t .......... bananas.

​

​

​

​

​

There was ..........

egg.

​

​

​

​

There were .......... books under the books.

​

​

​

​

​

There was .......... apple on the books.

​

​

​

​

​

There wasn’t .......... junk food.

​

​

​

​

​

There was .......... fruit on the table.

​

​

​

​

​

There wasn’t .......... orange.

​

​

​

​

​

There weren’t .......... oranges

Write a, an / some, any

some

any

a

an

some

any

some

any

some

an

any

an

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Complete the sentences with a, an / some, any

We don't have ice cream.

Do we need bottle of wine?

You can have orange.

There's milk on the table.

There isn't pasta.

I had cereal for breakfast.

Would you like apple?

There is cheese.

Have we got coffee?

We can make cake.

There aren’t tomatoes.

We need rice.

some

a

any

an

any

some

an

some

any

a

any

some

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Enter a, an, some or any in each of the boxes

John: I am going to go shopping now. What do we need?

Mary: We need apples and melon.

          We don't have bread,

so could you get bread, too?

John: How about cheese? Do we have cheese?

Mary: Yes. There is cheese in the fridge,

but we need milk.

Can you get bottle of milk as well?

John: How about vegetables?

Mary: Oh yes. Can you get head of cabbage

and potatoes?

John: Sure.

some

a

any

some

any

some

some

a

a

some

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Choose the correct answer.

  • There is ____ apple on the plate. (a, an, the, any)
  • There are ____ books on the shelf. (the, a, an, some)
  • I've got ____ nice shoes. (a, any, some, much)
  • Is ____ pen in the box? (the, any, many, much)
  • 'What's this?‘

'It's ____ umbrella.' (a, an, any, some)

  • There's ____ milk in this cup. (some, a, the, any)
  • Have you got ____ bananas? (a, some, much, any)
  • We haven't got ____ cheese in the fridge. (some, any, no, these)
  • Can you see ____ people in the street? (much, a, some, any)
  • Bob is hungry. Give him ____ eggs. (any, an, much, some)
  • Are there ____ books on your shelf? (many, much, some, the)
  • 'Are there ____ apples on the plate?‘ (any, a lot of, an, much)

'Yes, there are ____ .' (any, some, an, much)

an

some

some

the

an

some

any

any

any

some

many

any

some

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  • They've got ____ butter, but they haven't got ____ rolls.

(some / any, any / some, a / some, a / any)

  • There isn't ____ pen in this box, but there are ____ pencils.

(any / a, any / some, a / some, a / any)

  • Do you like ____ milk? Here is ____ in this jug.

(any / one, a / one, some / any, any / some)

  • Can you see ____ bank in this street? I can only see ____ post office.

(0 / some, any / some, a / a, a / any)

  • There aren't ____ cars in the garage, but there are ____ motorbikes.

(some / any, any / any, any / some. some / some)

  • 'Have you got ____ free time?' � 'No, I haven't got ____ .'

(a / any, a / some, any / some, any / any)

  • We've got ____ chairs, but we haven't got____ table.

(some / any, any / some, many / a, any / a)

some

any

some

a

any

some

a

a

any

some

any

any

many

a

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