Ch 6 · Lesson 9English · Chapter 6 · Lesson 9 · Grammar primer
How much water? A glass of water
How many with things you can count, how much with things you cannot. And how to count them anyway: a cup of tea, two glasses of water.
The short version
Count the uncountable with a unit: a cup of tea
, .
Why?Hide
To count something uncountable, put a countable unit in front and join them with of: a cup of tea, a glass of water, a piece of advice. The plural goes on the unit, never on the noun: two cups of tea.
How many or how much?
| Question | With | Example |
|---|---|---|
| countable | ? | |
| uncountable | ? | |
, |
Many goes with countable nouns, much with uncountable ones:
, . A lot of works with
both. More on the quantifiers page.
Counting the uncountable: a cup of tea
To count an uncountable noun, put a countable unit in front and join them with of. The plural goes on the unit.
- jug
Bread, cheese, water, juice and fruit are uncountable, so they take some, or a unit with of: a jug of water, a bottle of juice, a bowl of fruit. A cake is countable.
| One | Two or more |
|---|---|
| |
| |
| |
| |
loaf | loaves |
A piece of works almost everywhere: a piece of advice, a piece of
news, a piece of cake. A bit of is more casual:
.
Going further: Countable or uncountable? and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
Practice
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8-question session
One question at a time, mixed across the exercises in this lesson. Miss one and it comes back round before the end.
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