Look at these examples to see how to use countable and uncountable nouns in a sentence.
I'm making a cup of tea.
There's some money on the table.
Have we got any bread?
How many chairs do we need?
How much milk have we got?
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
- Grammar test 1
Read the explanation to learn more.
Grammar explanation
Nouns can be countable or uncountable. Countable nouns can be counted, e.g. an apple, two apples, three apples, etc. Uncountable nouns cannot be counted, e.g. air, rice, water, etc. When you learn a new noun, you should check if it is countable or uncountable and note how it is used in a sentence.
Countable nouns
For positive sentences we can use a/an for singular nouns or some for plurals.
There's a man at the door.
I have some friends in New York.
For negatives we can use a/an for singular nouns or any for plurals.
I don't have a dog.
There aren't any seats.
Uncountable nouns
Here are some examples of uncountable nouns:
| bread | rice | coffee | information |
| money | advice | luggage | furniture |
We use some with uncountable nouns in positive sentences and any with negatives.
There's some milk in the fridge.
There isn't any coffee.
Questions
In questions we use a/an, any or how many with countable nouns.
Is there an email address to write to?
Are there any chairs?
How many chairs are there?
And we use any or how much with uncountable nouns.
Is there any sugar?
How much orange juice is there?
But when we are offering something or asking for something, we normally use some.
Do you want some chocolate?
Can we have some more chairs, please?
We also use some in a question when we think the answer will be 'yes'.
Have you got some new glasses?
Other expressions of quantity
A lot of (or lots of) can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns.
There are lots of apples on the trees.
There is a lot of snow on the road.
Notice that we don't usually use many or much in positive sentences. We use a lot of instead.
They have a lot of money.
However, in negative sentences we use not many with countable nouns and not much with uncountable nouns.
There are a lot of carrots but there aren't many potatoes.
There's lots of juice but there isn't much water.
Go to Countable and uncountable nouns 2 to learn more.
Try this exercise to test your grammar again.
- Grammar test 2
Hello Claudia,
Generally speaking, not any means zero, while not much means that there is a small amount. Both are grammatically possible; which is needed or preferred will depend on the context.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Marcos,
It is grammatically possible to say a chicken here, but some chicken is much more common when we are referring to food rather than thinking of the animal.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Alaa El Baddini,
Advice is an uncountable noun and we don't use it with number of.
You can say pieces of advice, and then a number of pieces of advice is possible.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello englishuser,
Fruit and nut can be used as uncountable or countable nouns.
We use fruit in an uncountable sense when we are talking about a quantity of fruit which is not easily counted. This could be many pieces of fruit, for example, or one piece of a larger item. Thus we might say this to a guest: Would you like some fruit?
We use fruits as a countable noun to usually mean types of fruit. Thus, we might say this: I can buy many different fruits at my local market.
Nuts is generally used as a countable noun.
A positive or affirmative sentence is one which is not a question or a negative:
You can have some juice is a correct sentence. It is an offer with the meaning If you want juice then it's OK.
You can have any juice is not correct as an offer as we would not use any in an affirmative sentence of this kind.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team