Countable Nouns Plural
Countable Nouns, Plural
Count Nouns
Nouns can be categorized into countable (count) nouns and uncountable (uncount) nouns.
We can count countable nouns. They can take plural forms and follow a number. Cuckoo is a countable noun (a cuckoo clock, one cuckoo clock, two cuckoo clocks, three Cuckoo clocks).
Uncount Nouns
Air and snow however, are uncountable nouns; they do not take a plural form. They do not follow a cardinal number. And they cannot be counted, per se. See COUNT AND UNCOUNT NOUNS
In a previous lesson we looked at singular, count nouns
Here we examine plural countable nouns. See SINGULAR COUNT NOUNS.
Some Positive Present Tense Sentence Structures with Plural Count Nouns
There are refers to people and things (plural count nouns, or PCN) that are present or exist at the moment.
| two/three/a few There arefew/several/some Subject + are + many/a lot of/lots of + PCN Subject + verb-1 (s) hundred of/millions of enough/too many |
Note:
2. There are no people here. = There aren’t any people here.
Examples:
• I see three, blue, spotted eggs in the nest.
• Our districts has some ghost towns.
• There are too many cars in this city. There’s too much traffic.
• The tourists dine in a few restaurants on the island.
• They have few good restaurants in this city.
• There are no trees here; only shrubs and scrub.
Plural Count Nouns in Negative Sentences
| There aren’t any/enough Subject + am/is/are + not + many/a lot of + PCN Subject + don’t/doesn’t + verb-1 too many |
Examples:
• Our school doesn’t offer many different language courses — mostly English.
• There aren’t any Irish pubs here! I can’t believe it!
• Local hospitals don’t have enough doctors and nurses. There’s a shortage of medical professionals in local hospitals.
Colloquial or “bad English”: I don’t have no children. Mrs. Gooseberry ain’t got too many customers these days. Captain Edward ain’t got no crew members left.
Questions involving Plural Count Nouns
| Are there + any/a few/enough Do/Does + subject + verb-1+ lots of/a lot of+ PCN(s) Are + subject many/too many |
How many + PCN + are there?
Examples:
• Does your city have any professional sports teams? —> Yes, we’ve got a cricket and a rugby team.
• Are there many cane toads here? —> Oh, yeah. Billions. They’re all over the place.
• How many friends do you have? That depends. I either have hundreds…Or I don’t have any (I have none)
What Would You Say? How would you respond?
1. It’s the middle of a summer night…but you have trouble sleeping. Why?
2. Velma wants to move to a new city. But first what does she ask her friend who is already living there?
3. Mickey enters a department store. What does he ask a sales clerk/shop assistant?
Answer the following questions
Or respond to the following statements with true or false, that’s true, that’s false/not true, I agree, I disagree, yes, no, yes and no, in the middle, some, most, maybe, usually, sometimes, in a way, or it depends. Say why and give examples. Make corrections if necessary.
1. How many private language, computer and test-preparation schools are there in your town/city? Describe them.
2. Are there many international students at your local university? Who are they? Where do they come from? What are they studying? What happens when they graduate?
3. There are too many college graduates, and not enough registered nurses, electronics technicians, electricians, carpenters, mechanists, mechanics and other skilled workers
4. Are there many self-employed and freelance workers where you live? What do they do?
5. Where are there lots of good jobs? Which industries or sectors offer good jobs?
6. There aren’t that many children, but there lots of middle-aged and old people.
7. In bookstores, you can find plenty of self-helps and personal development books. I see a lot of personal development books in the bookstore.
8. There aren’t any single men and women in town; they are all married.
9. We don’t have many original residents in the neighborhood anymore. Everyone was born elsewhere. Everyone comes from other places.
10. There aren’t any good programs on TV nowadays (TV programs were better when I was a child).
11. Are there different languages spoken in your city? What are they? Are there different dialects?
12. My town has some old, abandoned mansions.
