Grammar in focus
Form
| Countable | Uncountable |
|---|---|
| can be counted: one apple, two apples | cannot be counted: water, rice, advice |
| has a plural (-s): book → books | no plural, no a / an |
| a / an, some, any, many, a few | some, any, much, a little |
| verb: singular or plural | verb: always singular (The news is good.) |
Common uncountable nouns
water, milk, bread, rice, money, advice, information, news, furniture, luggage, homework, weather, traffic, music, hair, scenery, equipment.
Use
- To count an uncountable noun, use a unit: a glass of water, a slice of bread, a piece of advice, a sheet of paper, a bar of soap, a carton of milk.
- Questions: How many + countable (How many eggs?) · How much + uncountable (How much water?).
Watch out
an advice→ a piece of advice.informations→ information.furnitures→ furniture.The news are good→ The news is good.Her hairs are long→ Her hair is long.
En español
Contables se pueden contar y tienen plural (apple → apples). Incontables no (water, advice, information): usan unidades (a piece of advice) y verbo en singular. Ojo: advice, news, furniture, information son incontables en inglés.
US vs UK
This book teaches American English. These are the differences you will notice with British English on this topic.
Advice is uncountable in both varieties.
Advice es incontable en ambas variedades.
Math (US) vs maths (UK), both uncountable.
Math (EE. UU.) vs maths (Reino Unido).
Candy (US) is usually uncountable; sweets (UK) is plural.
Candy (EE. UU.) suele ser incontable; sweets es plural.
Exam practice
- Five parts, like a certification exam: multiple choice, open cloze, error identification, sentence transformation and US vs UK.
- Typed answers accept American spelling and contractions (don't = do not).
- Every item has feedback in English and Spanish. Items and options change order on every attempt.
- Only Exam mode saves your score to your progress. You pass with 70%.
Practice mode
No timer. Check each part as you go and read the feedback.
Exam mode
25 minutes. Feedback at the end. Your best score is saved.