We say, countable nouns are those things we can count ; uncountable nouns are those nouns we cannot count. Therefore, there are so many things in life that we human even intelligence can deal with , also they are some things we human / robot cannot count. Let take a look at some of the facts.
1.Countable Nouns
Singular plural
a horse some horses
a ball some balls
Singular plural
a horse some horses
a ball some balls
2.Uncountable Nouns
We cannot count them
We cannot add s , ies , es to make their plural e.g petrol , palm oil , kerosene , cream etc.
We cannot use indefinite articles a or an to make their plural, e.g gari , rice , water , etc
Singular and Plural with Uncountable Nouns
We make singular and plural of uncountable nouns by changing them into items of measurement / weight , etc. into gallons ,bags , bowels , packets.
Singular Plural
a bowel of rice some bowels of rice
a bag of gari some bowel of gar
Countable Nouns
Quantifies few and a few
Few and a few are used for now we can count.
e.g few mangoes a few chairs
few books a few books
Now we say, few means 'not many' so one cannot give it out (Negative)
e.g I have just few oranges.
A few means a small number and one can give some out.
e.g she has a few oranges.
This means the number is considered and probably, she can give some out.
Uncountable Nouns
From the above examples ,' little' means not much and probably one cannot give out any (negative)
e.g I have little tea left. means the quantity is not much and can't give any out.
'a little' means there is some (positive)
e.g Victor has a little tea left. This means, Victor has some tea left and can give out some.
'a lot of ' is used in affirmative sentences.
e.g they have a lot of meat left.
Exercise 1
Fill in the spaces with the correct unit of measurement.
e .g a cup of water -------------- measurement unit is cup
1. a ___cup___ of tea -------------- measurement unit is cup
2. a ___litter___ of water -------------- measurement unit is litter
3. a __bowel____ of rice -------------- measurement unit is bowel
4. a ____litter____ of petrol -------------- measurement unit is litter
Now do these
Fill in the spaces with the correct unit of measurement.
1. a ________ of sugar
2. a ________ of sand
3. a _________ of oil
4. a ___________ of kerosene
Exercise 2
Write the following in their plurals
Singular plural
a box some boxes
1. a book ----------------- some books
2. a bowel of beans ------------ some bowels of rice
3. Emem threw a piece of sand ----------- Emem threw some pieces of sand
4. a thief ----------------------------------- some thieves
Now do these
Write the following in their plurals
1. a lady -------------
2. a class -----------
3. I ate a slice of bread -------------
4. a chief ---------------
Exercise 3
fill in the blanks with either few / little
1. a _few_cake
2. a _____few_ soap
3. a____little___water
4. a ___little__ oil
5. a___few_____boxes
Note: all the short sentences with few are those things we can count while little are things we cannot count.
Please if you have questions, put them in the comments box.
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