Hello. My name is Emma, and in today's video I'm going to
teach you about countable and uncountable nouns. We can also call these "count
nouns" and "non-count nouns". So, let's begin by first
talking about: What is a noun? So, a noun is a word
that is a person... It can be a person, so: "Emma", that's
a noun; "teacher", that's a noun. It can be a place. "Russia" is a noun. "School" is a noun. It can be an animal; a dog. "Dog" is a noun. The word "cat" is a noun. It can also be a thing. This marker... The word "marker" is a noun. Okay? And it can also be a feeling. "Happiness" is a noun. So, a noun is a person, a place,
a thing, an object, an animal. There are many things
that are nouns. What a noun is not is it's not an action,
like a verb; it's not a description, like an adjective; and it's not a preposition,
like the word "on" or "off". Okay? A noun is, like I've said
before, one of these things. So, in English... Well, actually, first
let's do something. Let's underline the nouns just to
make sure we have this concept. So, my first sentence is:
"Canada is a large country." So let's underline
the nouns, here. Well, "Canada" is a place, so we know "Canada"
is a noun; "is" is a verb; "large" - this is a description; "country". "Country" is a place;
this is also a noun. "My teacher is funny". "Teacher" is a person, so this is a noun;
"funny" is a description, it's an adjective, it's not a noun. "The dog", so we have "dog" is an animal;
"cats", "cats" are nouns; and we have the word, here, "friends". The word "friend"
is also a noun. Okay? So, these are all nouns. So, in English, we have two types of nouns; we
have countable nouns and we have uncountable nouns. It's important to know if a noun is countable
or uncountable, because this is going to tell us if we use words, like: "a" in front of the
word, and it will also tell us which words we cannot use with these words. So... And whether or not we need to add an "s"
to the end of the noun if there's more than one. So, in this video, we are going to talk about countable
nouns with many examples and uncountable nouns. So, let's look at
countable nouns first. Okay, so we're going to start
with countable nouns first. So, the first thing you need to know with a
countable noun is when we have a countable noun, we need to put an "a"
or an "an" in front of it. So, for example: "I have a dog. I have a computer. I have a lamp. I have a chair." So, notice I'm putting "a"
in front of all of these. If the noun starts with a vowel sound, so
for example: "a" is a vowel, "e", "i", "o", "u" - these are all vowels. And if it starts with a vowel
sound, then we use "an". "I have an apple. I have an egg. I have an ant." Okay? So, we use this if the first... The first sound of
the word is a vowel. So, the second thing you need to know is that
with countable nouns a lot of the time we can count them. Okay? So we can often... A countable noun is something
you can count, or... Usually it's something, or an animal, or,
you know, a place - it's something you can count. So, for example:
"I have a book." This is one book. "I have two books.",
"I have three books." So, this... You can count books and
it's a countable noun. "I have two chairs. I have five dresses." These are all countable nouns. When we have more than one countable noun,
so for example, here we have one, here we have two. If we have more than one-so two, three,
four, five, six-we need to add an "s". This shows us that there
is more than one. And also notice that we don't need
this in front of the noun anymore. So, we cannot say: "a books", because the "s"
means there's more than one, so this would not match.
Okay. What else do we need? So, we need an "s" or an "es" if we have more
than one of this type of object or noun. Here's another example: "I have one
sister.", "I have three sisters." So, notice here, you can count the number of
sisters I have, and so I've added an "s". Now, we have some exceptions. For example, the word "moose". You can count the number of
moose, but we never add an "s". It's... It's a strange exception. In English, you'll notice we
have a lot of exceptions. We break rules a lot of times
in English and that's okay. It's the same with "fish". You can count the number
of fish, but we don't... You change this word if
there's more than one. I can't say: "I
have five fishes." Okay? I would say: "I have five fish." So, sometimes there are exceptions
with count nouns or countable nouns. Now let's look at: What is an uncountable
noun, and how is it different? Okay, so we've talked about countable nouns;
now we're going to talk about uncountable nouns or we can call
them non-count nouns. Okay? So that means the same thing. An uncountable noun is a noun where you
do not use "a" or "an" in front of it. Okay? So, for example, an uncountable
noun is "happiness". I do not say: "a happiness". Okay, so that's no. So, we do not use "a" or "an". We also don't add "s" or "es". Okay? And the reason we don't add "s" or "es" is
because the idea of uncountable is you can't count it. Now, there are many exceptions to this, but
in general, an uncountable noun is something you can't really count. So I want you to think, for
example, of happiness. Can you count happiness? Can you say: "One happiness, two
happiness; my friend has five happiness"? You can't really count it. It's the same with words, like:
"sadness" or with, you know, "stress". These are things that are abstract and
they're things you can't really count. Okay? So, because of that, we do not add
"s" or "es" to uncountable words. Another thing you'll find with uncountable
words, and this is where it kind of gets a bit tricky, is a lot of uncountable
nouns are actually categories. So, for example: "furniture"
is an uncountable noun. In English, you don't
count furniture. So, you would... You would not add an "s" to the word
"furniture"; it's always the same. "I have furniture at my house." I do not say: "I
have a furniture." No. In English, you can't do that. You say: "I have furniture." There is no "a" or "an". It's the same with
the word "clothes". "Clothes" never changes;
it always stays the same. I cannot say: "I
have a clothes." I cannot say: "I
have four clothes." Okay? In English, we can't do this, and
this is because these are categories. It's the same with "money". And a lot of students get really frustrated
with this, because in their language, you can count these things. So, I understand that and I understand, you
know, languages are very different, but in English you cannot count these
things in the same way. They're considered categories. So, in English, I cannot
say: "I have five money." And I also don't add
an "s" to "money". It always stays the same. I can say: "I have a lot of money" or "I have
no money", but I can't actually put a number in front of money. So, what can you do is... We're looking at categories, there, but within
each category there are things you can count. So, for example: "furniture" is uncountable,
but tables, chairs, desks, refrigerators, ovens - these are all
things we can count. So, "furniture" does not have an "s", but
these other words do within the category. "Clothes", again, we never change it; it always
is the same, but types of clothes we can have as countable. So, we can have five
dresses, you know, 10 socks. So, you can count
a lot of clothes. With "money", we don't... Like I said, we don't add an
"s", but we can count coins. Okay? So we can count coins. "I have five coins. I have seven bills." So, within the category, you can count, but
the category itself we cannot put an "s" on that because it is
an uncountable noun. A lot of the times different types of food and
different types of drinks are also uncountable. So, for example: "milk". We do not count milk. In English, we can't
say: "I have one milk. I have six milk." What we can do is we can add a container to
this word or we can add an amount, so that's okay. So, what we can say is:
"I have a glass of milk." Okay? Or: "I have five glasses of milk.",
"I have two cups of milk." So, "milk" itself never changes, but
the quantity or the amount can. It's the same with,
for example, "juice". "I have eight cups of juice",
but "juice" itself... The word "juice", we can
never say "juices". Okay? So that... It doesn't change because
it's an uncountable noun. And we'll look at more examples of
this in full sentences in a moment. "Mustard" or "ketchup",
these are more examples. We do not say: "I have
10 or 20 mustards." No. We can't count this, so we always keep it the
same; or we can add a container or a quantity. "I have five bottles
of mustard." Okay? So... And it's the same with
these words, too. "I have 10 pieces of furniture." So, we can put a quantity in front, but the
actual word itself is an uncountable noun. So, let's look at more
examples of this. Okay, so we're going to do a little bit of
practice; but before we begin, I want to again say that there are many, many exceptions to
what I am saying, meaning usually this is... What I'm telling you is the truth or what
I'm telling you is accurate, but every so often there are some words that are
not going to follow these rules. Okay? So, when you come across these words, just
remember: Don't get frustrated; English is not a perfect language and not everything
follows the rules, but we're trying our best. So, let's look at some of these nouns and
I want you to tell me: Are they countable or uncountable? The first one is "English". English is a thing, it's
a language, it's a noun. Can we count English? Okay? Would we say: "I
have a English"? Can I say: "Englishes"? No. So, "English" is uncountable. Okay? It never changes; it
always stays the same. You can say: "I like English." There is no "a" in
front of "English". What about "student"? Can you count student? Teachers do this all the time; they count
the number of students in their class. "There are 10 students in my class",
so "students" is countable. So, if I want to
count students... Maybe there are five students,
so I could put a five here. And if there's more than one, what do
I have to do with a countable noun? We add an "s": "students". What about this word: "bottle"? Okay? Like, a bottle of water. Can you count bottles? Yes, you can. So, we consider
"bottles" countable. "I have one bottle.",
"I have five bottles." Okay? So, in this case, imagine I have
one, I can say: "I have a bottle." It's a countable noun. "Water". Can we count water? "Water" is considered
uncountable. Okay? Now, you might be yelling at your
computer, saying: "But I can count water! I can!" And you might have water, here,
and say: "Look, this is a water." But this is actually not a water;
this is a bottle of water. "Water" itself we don't count. We count water in bottles,
or in litres, or in jugs. So, "water" itself
is uncountable. We do not add an "s". Okay. It is uncountable. But "bottle" or "a bottle of
water" is something we can count. "Cellphone". Can we count cellphones? Cellphones are countable;
they are a countable noun. So, if we have more
than one cellphone... If we have two cellphones, we're
very lucky - we can add an "s". What about "shoe"? "Shoe", we can
actually say "shoes". Shoes are countable. "I have shoes." Okay? I have... "I have one shoe. Here are two shoes, three shoes,
four shoes", so we can count shoes. We often talk about "a pair of shoes", but
we can also count shoes individually. What about "sadness"? Can you count sadness? Can you say: "Oh, that man, he's really
sad - look, he has 100 sadnesses"? No. We cannot count sadness;
it's a feeling. It's something we
can't really count. This is uncountable,
so we do not add "a". Okay. I can say: "I have sadness";
there's no "a" in front of it. Last one we're going to
look at here: "coffee". So, coffee... Remember food... Or food and drinks are
often uncountable. We can talk about a cup of coffee,
but we're counting the cup. Coffee itself we
consider uncountable. So, usually we don't
say "coffees". Okay, but again, there's always
exceptions and sometimes people use... You know, they might go to a
restaurant and actually... They might say: "I'll have a coffee",
so you might actually hear that. It's going against the grammar rule, but
people are starting to say things like that. I don't want to confuse you more, but in terms
of the grammar rule, "coffee" is uncountable. Okay? So now let's look at a couple other words we
use which are important when we're learning about countable and uncountable. Okay, so we've talked about
countable and uncountable nouns. Now, there are some words we use with only
countable nouns and other words we use only with uncountable nouns. So, right now we're going to
learn about "many" and "much". So, let's start with "many"
because it's a little easier. "Many" is used with countable
nouns, and it means a lot. So, for example: "I
have a lot of friends. I have many friends." So, it's when we're not
giving a specific number. "I have five friends" I can say, but I
can also say: "I have many friends." Maybe I have 10 dogs. That's not true,
but imagine that. That's a lot of dogs, so I
can say: "I have many dogs." We use "many" for
countable nouns. A way to remember is, like I said before,
you use "an" or "a" with countable nouns, and "many" has "an" in it. That's a little memory trick. Okay? So if you want to remember: "many" - oh, "an",
"an"; we use "an" for countable nouns - we use "many" for countable nouns. "Much" is used for
uncountable nouns. So, "much" means the same thing. Okay? It means a lot, and we use
"much" for uncountable. So, for example: "money". I told you before money is uncountable, so
we could say: "I don't have much money. I don't have much furniture. I don't have much coffee." Okay? So, "much" is used with
uncountable nouns. Now, a lot of students get really stressed
about this, and they say: "'Much', 'many', 'count', 'uncountable' -
ugh, this is terrible. I don't remember any of it." Here is the trick. This is good to learn, but if you don't know
and you're really stressed, you can use "a lot" for both countable
and uncountable nouns. Okay? So: "I don't have
a lot of money. I don't have a lot of friends.",
"I have a lot of friends. I have a lot of money." Okay? So, if you don't know, use this. So, we've learned a lot today about countable
and uncountable nouns, and this is something that requires a lot of practice. Okay? So, I invite you to come check out our website
at www.engvid.com, and there you can actually do a quiz where you can practice identifying
countable and uncountable nouns, and using these in sentences. So, I highly recommend
you take our quiz. I also recommend you subscribe to my channel,
because there are a lot more resources on all sorts of different topics, related to
grammar, vocabulary, writing, reading, and many more. So, thank you for watching,
and until next time, take care.
