the time for grammar is here

countable vs uncountable nouns

 plural nouns

•  more than one noun!

 COUNTABLE NOUNS
•  Countable nouns:
–  nouns you can count
–  you can point at the noun and say, “One! Two!
Three! Four! Five!”

many cows some cows three cows one cow

several cows millions of cows a cow
 COUNTABLE NOUNS
•  Some nouns exist only in the plural form.
•  They can be counted but are always “plural”
–  pants, scissors, shorts, pajamas, clothes,
binoculars
 COUNTABLE NOUNS
•  How can a noun be made plural?
–  add “s” (most nouns)
•  moms
•  cows
•  fingers
•  teachers
–  add “es” (to nouns ending in “sh, ch, x”)
•  wishes
•  matches
•  foxes
 COUNTABLE NOUNS
•  Other random rules:
–  Nouns ending in “y” à change the “y” to “i” and
add “es” (pennyàpennies; mommyàmommies)
–  Nouns ending in “ay, ey, oy, uy” à add s
(dayàdays; monkeyàmonkeys; toyàtoys)
–  Nouns ending with consonant+o…add
“es” (potatoes)
–  Nouns ending with “fe” (wife, knife)àchange to
“ves” (wives, knives)
 COUNTABLE NOUNS
Some nouns, when they become plural, are
“highly irregular”:

•  man •  men
•  child •  children
•  mouse •  mice
•  tooth •  teeth
•  foot •  feet
•  person •  people
 countable nouns
In Odysseus’s speech, identify which of the
underlined words are countable nouns.
 UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
•  Uncountable nouns:
–  nouns you can not count
–  you cannot point at an uncountable noun and
say, “One! Two! Three! Four! Five!”
–  Describe: games, a mass, natural substance, food,
an abstract idea, emotions, disease, subject in
school/field of study
 UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
•  a mass: clothing, equipment, furniture,
garbage, homework, jewelry, luggage,
machinery, money, traffic, transportation
•  natural substance: air, blood, coal, cotton,
hair, heat, ice, iron, rain, silver, water, wood,
snow
•  food: bacon, beef, bread, coffee, milk, rice,
sugar
 UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
•  Ideas: love, hope, happiness, advice, courage,
education, fun, health, honesty, information,
knowledge, success
•  Games: baseball, basketball, football, golf
•  Diseases: arthritis, AIDS, cancer
•  Subjects: English, science, biology, math
 UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
•  Once in a while, you will find nouns that are
both countable and uncountable:
–  life (Life is precious. / She has a boring life. )
–  chocolate (Chocolate is unhealthy. / I ate a
chocolate.).
 UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
•  coffee •  cups of coffee
•  bacon •  pieces of bacon
•  furniture •  pieces of furniture
•  clothing •  pieces of clothing
•  luggage •  pieces of luggage
•  sugar •  cups of sugar
•  tennis •  games of tennis
•  blood •  liters of blood
•  air •  lots of air
 uncountable nouns
In Odysseus’s speech, identify which of the
underlined words are uncountable nouns.
 QUANTITY WORDS
•  Which words can we use with countable
nouns and uncountable nouns? To describe
in general?
 Singular nouns
•  Each •  Another
–  Each baseball –  Another baseball
–  Each student –  Another student
–  Each kiss –  Another kiss
•  Every
–  Every baseball
–  Every student
–  Every kiss
Plural vs. Uncountable
•  tasty cheeseburgers •  blood
 Plural nouns Uncountable nouns
For example…tasty cheeseburgers For example…meat

several tasty cheeseburgers a great deal of meat

a large number of tasty cheeseburgers a large amount of meat

many tasty cheeseburgers much meat

a few tasty cheeseburgers a little meat

very few tasty cheeseburgers very little meat

fewer tasty cheeseburgers less meat

quantity words (measure words)
In Odysseus’s speech, make a list of measure
words that precede the uncountable nouns