You Can Count on Me: Countable Nouns.

Hopefully this blog will prevent you from making one of the most common mistakes that I come across with English leaners: getting adjectives of quantity wrong.

Examples of adjectives of quantity are: much, many, few, fewer, less, all, every, enough, some, both, each, a lot.

Let's look at some common mistakes here:

1.Using "few" with uncountable nouns:

• Incorrect: "I have few water in the bottle."

• Correct: "I have little water in the bottle."

2. Confusing "much" and "many":

• Incorrect: "How many time do we have left?"

• Correct: "How much time do we have left?"

3. Misplacing "all" and "every":

• Incorrect: "I eat every pizza on the plate."

• Correct: "I eat all the pizza on the plate."

4. Misplacing "both" and "each":

• Incorrect: "Each of the brothers have different opinions."

• Correct: "Both of the brothers have different opinions."

5. Incorrect Use of "fewer" and "less":

• Incorrect: "I have less books than you."

• Correct: "I have fewer books than you."

6. Confusing "some" and "any":

• Incorrect: "I don't have some money right now."

• Correct: "I don't have any money right now."

7. Confusing "a little" and "a few":

• Incorrect: "I need a little coins for the parking meter."

• Correct: "I need a few coins for the parking meter."

8. Misplacing "each" and "every":

• Incorrect: "He takes each day a long walk."

• Correct: "He takes a long walk every day."

To understand how to not make these mistakes, we must understand which nouns are countable and uncountable. We must also understand which adjectives work with which type of noun.

Countable or Uncountable?

In English grammar, countable nouns are individual people, animals, places, things, or ideas which can be counted.

If you can count a noun using your fingers, it is a countable noun. For example, we can't say "one money, two money, three money" which makes it uncountable. But we can say "one coin, two coins, three coins" which makes 'coins' a countable noun.

We can't say "one air, two air, three air" which makes it uncountable. But we can say, "one balloon, two balloons, three balloons", which makes 'balloons' a countable noun.

Some common examples of uncountable nouns: money, air, water, sand, dust.

Some common examples of countable nouns: books, chairs, bottles, grains, particles.

Which adjective should I use?

So, using the information above, have a go. Answers are at the bottom (try not to look).

1. I ate too _______ food last night.

2. You charged me __________ money this time. (less or fewer?)

3. I concentrated harder so I made _________ errors. (less or fewer?)

4. I have too _________ books; I need to sell __________.

5. I like a ____________ sugar on my porridge.

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Answers

1. I ate too much food last night. (food is uncountable)

2. You charged me less money this time. (money is uncountable)

3. I concentrated harder so I made fewer errors. (errors are countable)

4. I have too many books; I need to sell some. (books are countable)

5. I like a little sugar on my porridge. (sugar is uncountable)