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 Ninel_Georgia,
We typically use 'any' in questions, but it's also OK to use 'some' if you expect people to say 'yes', or if you want to encourage them to say 'yes'.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Saeomd93,
The negative verb is still needed. It's possible to use any in affirmative sentences with the meaning 'it doesn't matter which one':
When we use an affirmative verb, we use no to mean not any:
Note that a plural noun and a plural verb is used in both cases.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Pola,
It really depends what you want to say and what the context is.
If you are just talking about information in general, then more information is perfectly fine:
If you want to talk about a single thing then you can use a piece of information:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Fajar Wibisana,
We do not use 'some' for singular countable nouns.
'Some' has a very general meaning. It could refer to a large number/amount or a small number/amount. It can be used with both uncountable nouns and plural countable nouns.
'Many' has a more specific meaning. It tells us that the number of items was large. 'Many' can only be used with plural countable nouns; the equivalent for uncountable nouns would be 'much'. Generally, however, we use 'much' and 'many' in negative sentences or questions. 'A lot of' is more common in affirmative sentences.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team