Chapter 19 Count and

Non-Count Nouns;
Some and Any
ESOL 19
Miramar Community College

Count & Non-count Nouns

Count nouns are separate things you can count.

Singular: a/one
One orange

An orange

Plural: -s
Three oranges

Count and Non-Count Nouns

To make Plural Nouns

We add:
-s to most nouns
-es to nouns that end in s, ss, z, ch, sh,
and x

Non-count Nouns
Non-count nouns are things that are difficult to count
(e.g. liquids, masses).

I love rice.
Coffee helps me wake up in the morning.

Examples of Non-count Nouns

air
advice
baggage
bread
equipment
furniture
garbage
information
knowledge
luggage

money
news
pasta
research
spaghetti
travel
work
homework
transportation

Count and Non-Count Nouns

What do you usually have for

breakfast?
Example:
I usually have cereal and apple juice.
I eat toast and eggs for breakfast every morning.

Count and Non-Count Nouns

What do you usually have for breakfast?

Pair and Share
2 minutes talk to your partner about
what you eat for breakfast every morning

Quantifiers
To count non-count nouns, we can add quantifiers.

A cup of coffee
A piece of rice

A bottle of lemonade
A slice of bread

Two slices of bread

Count and Non-Count Nouns

Other Quantifiers
Used to help us describe non-count nouns:
A bag of
A bowl of
A slice of

A bottle of
A glass of
A cup of

How would you count this?

A bowl of cereal

How would you count this?

A carton of yogurt

A cup of yogurt

How would you count this?

A bag of sugar

How would you count this?

Two glasses of wine

Some/Any
We use some and any when you are talking about a
general amount of something (both count & non-count).

I ate some salad for lunch.

Did you eat any food today?
I didnt eat any vegetables today.

We use some in affirmative statements.

We use any in negative statements and questions.

Some or any?
some coffee this morning.
I drank ______

Some or Any
Did you drink ______
any coffee this morning?

Some or Any?
I didnt drink ________
any coffee this morning.

Some or Any?
Did you buy ______
any milk at the store?

Some or Any?
I didnt buy _______
any milk at the store.

Some or Any
I will buy _______
some milk when I go to the supermarket.

Beware!
Count and Non-count are grammar terms, but they
are not always logical.

Example:
I eat a lot of rice and beans.
rice = non-count
beans = count

Rice is very small and is a non-count noun. Beans are

also very small, but they are count nouns.

Fruit & Food

Use fruit and food as non-count nouns when you
mean fruit and food in general.

Examples:
He eats a lot of fruit.
She bought a lot of food for the party.

Fruit & Food

Use fruit and food as count nouns when you mean
specific kinds of fruit or categories of food.

Examples:
Oranges and lemons are fruits that contain vitamin C.
Foods that contain a lot of cholesterol are not good for
you.

Candy
When you talk about candy in general, it is non-count.
Example:
Candy is not good for your health.

When you consider individual pieces of candy, you can

use the plural form.

Example:
There are three candies on the table.

1
Add ___ (pea) to the soup. Then put in some ___ (salt).
Add peas to the soup. Then put in some salt.

2
Do you like to eat ___ (fruit)?
Do you like to eat fruit?

3
Oranges, grapefruits, and lemons are ___ (fruit) that
have a lot of vitamin C.

Oranges, grapefruits, and lemons are fruits that have a

lot of vitamin C.

4
Lets go shopping. Theres no ___ (food) in the house.
Lets go shopping. Theres no food in the house.

5
Fish and beans are ___ (food) that contain protein.
Fish and beans are foods that contain protein.