COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

1. COUNTABLE NOUNS- are those which can be counted and can form the plural. E.g.: a box; two boxes a chair; two chairs

2. UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS- are those that cannot be counted and that do not have a plural form. Groups of uncountable nouns include:

Food : rice, oil, sugar, salt Drinks and liquids : water, wine, bear, juice Sports: football, rugby Languages: Italian, Romanian Materials: concrete, iron, glass Abstract nouns: love, freedom, peace Diseases: malaria, flu Natural phenomena: rain, snow, fog Other nouns: money, time, furniture, luggage, accommodation, traffic, advice,

Work, knowledge; police; news, trousers; scissors; information

!!!!!There are some nouns that can be both countable and uncountable:Paper= hartieA paper= ziar

Wood= lemnA wood= o padure

Coffee= cafeaA coffee= o ceasca de cafea

Work= muncaA work of art= opera de arta

Glass= sticlaA glass= un pahar

Iron= fierAn iron= fier de calcat

!!!!!There are some nouns which have plural form and a verb used in the singular, and vice versa:The police are coming. My trousers are big.The scissors are sharp.The news is interesting.

!!!!!!If we refer to a specific amount with certain uncountable nouns, we can use a piece of a bit of a slice of, etc: :

a bit of cheese; a blob of paint; a bunch of flowers; a cup of coffee; a drop of water; a glass of orange juice;a loaf of bread; a lump of sugar; a piece of paper; a pile of rubbish; a pool of blood; a portion of chicken; a slice of bread; a spot of rain; a touch of flu

Quantifiers:

1. a few- not many but enough- it is used with countable nouns2. few- almost none- used with countable3. many- used with countable nouns in interrogative and negative sentences 4. how many - for countable, only in interrogative and negative sentences5. a lot/ lots of –used with both countable and uncountable nouns in affirmative sentences6. some- the same7. any- the same but it is used only in negative and interrogative sentences8. a little- not much but enough- used for uncountable nouns9. little- almost none- used for uncountable nouns10. much- used with uncountable nouns in interrogative and negative sentences 11. how much - for uncountable, only in interrogative and negative sentences

Subject-verb agreement: