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Grammar 6 Pupil Book: Page 13
Grammar: Countable and Uncountable Nouns Aim • Refine the children’s knowledge of nouns, and introduce the concept of countable and uncountable nouns. • These are also known as count nouns and non-count (or mass) nouns. Introduction • Revise proper nouns and common nouns: ––Proper nouns start with a capital letter and are the names given to particular people, places and dates. ––Common nouns are the names of everyday things and often have the articles a, an or the in front of them. • Ask the children what kinds of common nouns they know. They should be familiar with collective nouns (the names for groups of people, animals or things), concrete nouns (things we can see, hear, smell, taste or touch) and abstract nouns (the names for things like ideas, feelings, actions, qualities and events). See pages 6 to 8 for more information. • The class should also know about possessive nouns (proper and common nouns ending in ‹’s›, which show possession and act as adjectives). • Revise the actions for proper, common, concrete and abstract nouns and remind the class that the colour for nouns is black. • Ask the children to call out different nouns and say what type they are. Main Point • Most nouns have a singular and plural form. Call out some regular plurals and ask the children how they would spell them: girls, dogs, foxes, dishes, potatoes, pianos, boys, berries. (See page 8 for when and how to add the suffixes ‹-s›, ‹-es› and ‹-ies›.) • Now call out some irregular plurals (men, women, children, mice, sheep, wolves, wives, cacti) and compare them to their singular forms (man, woman, child, mouse, sheep, wolf, wife, cactus). • Explain that nouns like these, which can be counted, that can have a or an in front of them and have a plural form, are called countable nouns. • Now ask the children to imagine they are going on a picnic: what would they take? They might like some bread and butter, some honey and jam, or some cheese. Ask the children what is different about these nouns and explain that: ––We do not usually count them or talk about them in the plural; we do not ask someone if they would like a bread or buy two jams at the supermarket. Instead, we use general descriptions like some, a lot of or more, and if we want to express a specific quantity, we use noun phrases like a loaf of bread or a jar of jam. ––Nor do we ask how many? as we would with countable nouns, but how much? instead. This is because, in English, these things are thought of as a single idea or as something that is too hard to divide.
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Countable and Uncountable Nouns
Nouns
Most nouns are countable and have a singular and plural form. Other nouns have no plural because, in English, they are thought of as a single idea, or as one large thing that is hard to divide. These are called uncountable nouns.
Choose three countable nouns and three uncountable nouns from the picnic and write them on the lines below. Remember that uncountable nouns are never used with ‘a’ or ‘an’. ble
Counta
le
ntab Uncou
a
an
the
some
the
some
We use noun phrases like ‘a handful of rice’ or ‘two bags of flour’ to show the quantity of an uncountable noun. Choose some uncountable nouns from the picnic to complete these phrases.
two slices of
a jug of a spoonful of a cup of
a loaf of five bottles of
three pieces of
a jar of
‘Much’ describes uncountable nouns and ‘many’ describes countable nouns. Which nouns from the picnic would go with these questions?
How much?
How many?
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• Point out that some words can be countable or uncountable: for example, you might bring two cakes and a big roast chicken to the picnic (countable), then sit down and eat some chicken and cake (uncountable). • Ask for suggestions of uncountable nouns and discuss them with the class. Possible words include rice, sugar, pasta, flour, milk, food, rain, snow, thunder, lightning, weather, gold, silver, money, luggage, traffic, furniture, music. Activity Page • The children write inside the outlined word Nouns, using a black pencil. • They then choose suitable nouns from the picture to write on the lines or in the jug and notepad (Countable: ant, apple, banana, basket, blanket, bottle, cake, chicken, cup, dish, egg, flask, fork, grape, jar, knife, napkin, orange, plate, spoon, sandwich; Uncountable: bread, butter, cake, cheese, chicken, coffee/soup/tea, fruit, grass, honey, jam, lemonade, mustard, pepper, salt, water. Quantities: a jug of lemonade/water; two slices of bread/cake/cheese/chicken; a loaf of bread; a spoonful of honey/jam/mustard/pepper/salt; five bottles of lemonade/mustard/water; a cup of coffee/soup/tea/ lemonade/water; three pieces of bread/cake/cheese/ chicken/fruit; a jar of coffee/honey/jam/mustard). Extension Activity • The children write some sentences on a separate sheet of paper, using much with some suitable uncountable nouns and many with some countable nouns. Rounding Off • Go over the activity page and extension activity with the children, checking their answers.
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