Intermediate grammar · Unit 70 · B1

Countable and uncountable 2

Articles and nouns

Many nouns can be countable or uncountable with a change of meaning, and a group of common nouns (advice, furniture, information, luggage, news, weather and others) is uncountable in English even when it is countable in other languages.

Go to the exercises

A Nouns that are sometimes countable, sometimes uncountable

Many nouns can be either, and the meaning usually changes:

Countable Uncountable
a noise = one particular noise noise = noise in general
a paper = a newspaper paper = the material you write on
a hair = one single hair hair = all the hair on your head (not hairs)
a room = a room in a building room = space
experiences = things that happened to you experience = what you know from doing something (not experiences)
a time = an occasion or a period you enjoyed or endured time = minutes and hours available

Drinks such as tea, coffee, juice, beer are normally uncountable. However, a coffee means a cup of coffee, and two teas means two cups of tea.

  • Did you hear a bang outside?
  • I can't sleep with all this noise.
  • Could you pick up a paper on your way home?
  • Have you got any paper? I need to write down this number.
  • There's a hair in my salad.
  • Your hair looks nice. Have you had it cut?
  • They've given us a lovely room with a sea view.
  • Is there room for one more in the car?
  • We had some strange experiences in Iceland.
  • She got the job because she has plenty of experience.
  • Have a lovely time in Spain!
  • Sorry, I haven't got time to stop.
  • I'm not keen on coffee.
  • Two teas and a hot chocolate, please.

B Nouns that are usually uncountable

These nouns are usually uncountable:

accommodation, advice, baggage, behaviour, bread, chaos, damage, furniture, information, luck, luggage, news, permission, progress, scenery, traffic, weather, work

So we do not normally use a/an with them, and we do not make them plural. Nobody has ever bought a furniture, however full the van.

News is uncountable, not plural: The news is good, not the news are.

Travel means travelling in general. It is uncountable. For one particular trip, say a trip or a journey, not a travel.

Countable Uncountable
I'm looking for a job. I'm looking for work.
What a lovely view! What lovely scenery!
It's a lovely day. It's lovely weather.
We had three suitcases. We had a lot of luggage.
These tables are ours. This furniture is ours.
That's a good suggestion. That's good advice.
There were lots of lorries. There was a lot of traffic.
  • Can you get some bread on your way back?
  • Can you get a loaf of bread on your way back?
  • Have a great holiday! I hope you get good weather.
  • Where are we going to put all this furniture?
  • Ring the office if you need any more information.
  • The news was a shock to everybody.
  • They spend a fortune on travel.
  • We had a long journey home.

Exercises

70.1 Which is correct?

  1. 1a The washing machine is making ___ . What's wrong with it? (strange noise / a strange noise)

    a strange noise

    The washing machine is making a strange noise. What's wrong with it?

  2. 1b Our flat is above a pub, so there's ___ at weekends. (a lot of noise / a lot of noises)

  3. 2a Plants need ___ to grow. (light / a light)

  4. 2b I knew somebody was still in the office because ___ was on upstairs. (light / a light)

  5. 3a I overslept, so I didn't have ___ for a shower. (time / a time)

  6. 3b Thanks for inviting us. We had ___ . (lovely time / a lovely time)

  7. 4a Could I have ___ , please? (glass of lemonade / a glass of lemonade)

  8. 4b Mind your feet. Somebody dropped a bottle and there's ___ all over the floor. (broken glass / a broken glass)

  9. 5a We stayed at a guest house in Tenby. We had ___ . (very small room / a very small room)

  10. 5b The van is quite big. There's ___ for a sofa in the back. (room / a room)

70.2 Which is correct? Write the correct choice in each gap.

  1. Did you have good weather in Scotland? (good weather / a good weather)

    Did you have good weather in Scotland?

  2. Everything went wrong for us. We had . (terrible luck / a terrible luck)

  3. Our from Penzance to Inverness took two whole days. (travel / journey)

  4. When the power went off at the concert, there was . (total chaos / a total chaos)

  5. Good news travel as fast as bad news. (don't / doesn't)

  6. You'll see if you take the coast road. (some wonderful scenery / a wonderful scenery)

  7. Looking after twins is . (exhausting work / an exhausting work)

  8. Can you bring me some more for the printer? (paper / papers)

  9. Sorry we're late. There was on the ring road. (heavy traffic / a heavy traffic)

  10. Your hair getting long. Are you going to have cut? (is / are) (it / them)

70.3 Complete each sentence with one of these words. Use the plural where necessary.

advicechairdamageexperienceexperiencefurniturehairluggagepermissionprogress

  1. We're travelling light. We haven't got much luggage, only a rucksack each.

    We're travelling light. We haven't got much luggage, only a rucksack each.

  2. We've just moved in and we've got no yet, not even a sofa.

  3. Don't worry about seats for the party. We've got plenty of .

  4. Who's the man with the curly grey ? Is he your new neighbour?

  5. Ryan couldn't swim at all last summer, but he's made a lot of .

  6. You can't just park in the school grounds. You need from the head teacher.

  7. I wasn't sure whether to take the job, so I asked my uncle for some .

  8. I don't think they'll give Martin the manager's job. He hasn't got enough .

  9. My gran was a nurse in the war. She often talks about her .

  10. The caused by the flood will take months to repair.

70.4 What do you say in each situation? Use the word in brackets in your sentence.

  1. You are meeting your cousins off the train. They are not carrying any suitcases or bags.

    (luggage) Have you got ...?

    Have you got any luggage?

    Have you got any luggage?

  2. You are at the railway station enquiry desk. You want to know about trains to Newcastle.

    (information) I'd like ...

  3. You are thinking of buying a used car. Your friend is a mechanic, and you want her opinion on what to look for.

    (advice) Can you give ...?

  4. You have just heard that you passed your final exams. You phone your sister.

    (good news) Hi, it's me. I've ... I passed!

  5. You are standing at the top of a hill in the Lake District. You can see for miles, and it is beautiful.

    (view) It ..., isn't it?

  6. You open the curtains. It is grey, cold and pouring with rain.

    (weather) What ...!

See also