Nouns, articles & quantity · CEFR A2 · Everyday
Countable & uncountable — English nouns and articles
Some things cannot be counted one by one — water, advice, luggage.
The shape
many + countable · much + uncountable
Stop saying "informations" and "furnitures".
In Hindi
कुछ चीज़ें गिनी नहीं जातीं — पानी, सलाह, सामान।
CoCap explains every structure in both languages, because a rule you understand in Hindi is a rule you can use in English.
The mistake to fix first
The sentence Indian-English speakers actually produce, and the reason it is wrong.
| Commonly said | Correct English |
|---|---|
He gave me many advices. | He gave me a lot of advice. "Advice" is uncountable and has no plural. |
Countable & uncountable examples
Easiest first. Every sentence is authored, with the Hindi it comes from.
I need some milk.
मुझे थोड़ा दूध चाहिए।
I like sweet things.
मुझे मीठा पसंद है।
I like vegetables.
मुझे सब्ज़ियाँ पसंद हैं।
I need some information.
मुझे कुछ जानकारी चाहिए।
I need some advice.
मुझे थोड़ी सलाह चाहिए।
I have a lot of luggage.
मेरे पास बहुत सामान है।
I want a new job.
मुझे नई नौकरी चाहिए।
We should save water.
हमें पानी बचाना चाहिए।
Easy to confuse with
Close enough to be mixed up with this one. Knowing the difference is most of knowing either.
- much / many / a lot ofA2Say "a lot" without picking the wrong word
- a piece of / a bottle ofA2Count things that cannot be counted
- PluralsA1Say more than one without hesitating
Questions people ask
- What is the countable & uncountable used for?
- Some things cannot be counted one by one — water, advice, luggage. In practice: stop saying "informations" and "furnitures".
- How do you form the countable & uncountable?
- many + countable · much + uncountable.
- What is the most common mistake with the countable & uncountable?
- Saying “He gave me many advices.” instead of “He gave me a lot of advice.”. "Advice" is uncountable and has no plural.
Where countable & uncountable fits
Where this structure sits in the ladder, and what surrounds it.
Countable & uncountable is a CEFR A2 structure — the everyday band — and it belongs to nouns, articles & quantity. CoCap’s syllabus files every structure this way so you can learn in order instead of jumping between whatever a search happened to return.
Reading it is not the same as saying it.
CoCap turns this page into practice: Hindi sentence in, English sentence out, corrected one thing at a time. Free, no card.
Practise the countable & uncountable →