What’s in it? (Food&Drink-Countables&Uncountables)
By 01/07/2011 10:19:00
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This lesson focuses on Countable and Uncountable nouns, in the context of food and drink items. Nouns in English can be objects or people. Some objects can be counted easily, while others need to be measured. Countables and Uncountables are particularly noticeable when talking about food and drink.
- What’s in an oxtail soup? It has oxtail, carrots, tomatoes, potatoes, green onions, salt and pepper.
- Gado-gado has all kind of vegetables, like water spinach, cabbage, long beans, bean sprouts, etc. It is served with some peanut sauce.
- Can I have a little bit of chilli sauce with it? WRONG: Can I have a chilli sauce with it?
- I like some milk with my coffee. WRONG: I like a milk with my coffee.
Countable Nouns are things (objects) that we can easily physically count. They are easy to recognize because we can have one, two, three, or more. These are: eggs, potatoes, tomatoes, apples, oranges, bananas, etc.
Countable nouns can be singular or plural.
Example: I love oranges, We need 4 potatoes.
We can use the words a few and many with countables.
Example: I have many apples in the refrigerator, I have a few apples left to make the pie.
Uncountable Nouns are things (objects) that are difficult to divide into separate elements – they need to be measured. These are: milk, sugar, rice, salt, pepper, chocolate, bread, water spinach, etc. Uncountable nouns are treated as singular, so we use singular verbs. However, we don’t ever use ‘a/an’ with uncountable nouns.
Example: There is milk in this dish, The water is hot.
We can use the words a little and much with uncountables.
Example: We need to put a little salt on the vegetables, I don’t have much coke left.
Notes: We can change uncountable nouns into plural with some helping words: ‘something of’
- A can of beans/fruit => Two cans of...
- A bottle of milk/coke/beer.. => Three bottles of...
- A slice of cake => Several slices of...
For both countables and uncountables, we can use the words a lot, some and any.
We need to put some salt and pepper to make it taste better.
Do we have any rice or eggs?
There’s a lot of wine left.(Smart Up Your Live)
- What’s in an oxtail soup? It has oxtail, carrots, tomatoes, potatoes, green onions, salt and pepper.
- Gado-gado has all kind of vegetables, like water spinach, cabbage, long beans, bean sprouts, etc. It is served with some peanut sauce.
- Can I have a little bit of chilli sauce with it? WRONG: Can I have a chilli sauce with it?
- I like some milk with my coffee. WRONG: I like a milk with my coffee.
Countable Nouns are things (objects) that we can easily physically count. They are easy to recognize because we can have one, two, three, or more. These are: eggs, potatoes, tomatoes, apples, oranges, bananas, etc.
Countable nouns can be singular or plural.
Example: I love oranges, We need 4 potatoes.
We can use the words a few and many with countables.
Example: I have many apples in the refrigerator, I have a few apples left to make the pie.
Uncountable Nouns are things (objects) that are difficult to divide into separate elements – they need to be measured. These are: milk, sugar, rice, salt, pepper, chocolate, bread, water spinach, etc. Uncountable nouns are treated as singular, so we use singular verbs. However, we don’t ever use ‘a/an’ with uncountable nouns.
Example: There is milk in this dish, The water is hot.
We can use the words a little and much with uncountables.
Example: We need to put a little salt on the vegetables, I don’t have much coke left.
Notes: We can change uncountable nouns into plural with some helping words: ‘something of’
- A can of beans/fruit => Two cans of...
- A bottle of milk/coke/beer.. => Three bottles of...
- A slice of cake => Several slices of...
For both countables and uncountables, we can use the words a lot, some and any.
We need to put some salt and pepper to make it taste better.
Do we have any rice or eggs?
There’s a lot of wine left.(Smart Up Your Live)
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