English Chit Chat. Countable and Uncountable Nouns Video

The grammar of countable and uncountable nouns.

This video describes how to quantify nouns with lots of examples. A shopping list is made for the ingredients to cook lasagna.

If you like this video, please click 'like' and subscribe to my Youtube channel.

Here's the script of the video:

Let's start my looking at these nouns. Which ones are countable and which ones are uncountable? These nouns are countable.Notice that each of these nouns take the plural s. We often talk about countable nouns in the plural, for example: I like doughnuts and Do you have any eggs? Countable nouns take the article in the singular, for example, an egg and a banana. These nouns are uncountable. It would be difficult or impossible to count these things. These nouns do not take the plural s, nor an article. We often add another noun to count these nouns, such as a bar or piece of chocolate. A spoonful of sugar. A loaf or slice of bread. A cup of coffee. A grain or bowl of rice. We can also measure these nouns, for example, one grams of sugar. 200 millilitres of coffee. With money we usually talk about countable units of currency, such as ten dollars and 50 cents.

Let's look at how we quantify nouns. For apples we might ask 'How many apples are there?' 

There are a lot of apples.

There are a few apples.

There are some apples.

There aren't many apples.

There aren't any apples.

We can say the number amount of countable nouns. There is an orange. The are two oranges. For milk we might ask 'How much milk is there?'

There is a lot of milk. Note: we would never say there is much milk.

There is a little milk.

There is some milk.

There isn't much milk.

There isn't any milk.

As an example I'm going to make some lasagna. It's my favourite food from Italy, but I'm not sure if I have all the ingredients.To make lasagna I need a lot of beef, a few onions, some garlic, a lot of tomatoes, one carrot, a lot of milk, a little flour, some cheese, a lot of butter and a lot of pasta sheets. Let's check the fridge. I think I'll need to make a shopping list. I have a lot chicken, but I don't have any beef. I should buy a lot of beef. I only have one onion, so I should buy one more onion. I have some garlic, but I don't have many tomatoes, so I should buy a lot of tomatoes. I have a lot of carrots, but I only have a little milk, so I should buy a lot of milk. I have flour and pasta sheets in the cupboard, so I don't need to buy any more. I have some cheese, but I don't have any butter, so I should buy some butter. That will give me all the ingredients I need to make lasagna. Now tell your partner what food is in your fridge at home. Be sure to use the correct grammar we have learnt in this video.