COUNTABLES x UNCOUNTABLES summary_Vince 21, Hewings 50,51,52, Tryml 37, 52,53
I. Basic information
C
Singular and plural form
IS/ARE
a/an, three
a lot of/lots of, a great many,
few, a few, many
UC
Only one form (singular or plural)
IS or ARE
some, a bit of, a piece of, a drop of, a bowl of,
…
a lot of/lots of, a great deal of,
little, a little, much
IA. COUNTABLES
1. -y/-ies = party/parties, baby/babies, country/countries
-y/-ys = boy/boys, day/days, donkey/donkeys
-o/-oes = potato/potatoes, hero/heroes, tomato/tomatoes
-o/-os = photo/photos, kilo/kilos, disco/discos
2. Compounds:
passer-by/passers-by, runner-up/runners-up
mother-in-law/mothers-in-law
3. Irregular plural
man/men, woman/women, child/children
ox/oxen
penny/pennies-pence
tooth/teeth, foot/feet, goose/geese
mouse/mice, louse/lice
IB. UNCOUNTABLES
Substances
water, air, plastic
Abstract ideas
life, fun, freedom
Human feelings
happiness, anger, hope, respect
Groups of items
furniture, luggage
other words
knowledge, information, money, traffic, homework, work, ...
AGREEMENT BETWEEN SUBJECT AND VERB
(+ see Tryml 53)
1. accommodation, advice, behaviour, cash, furniture, homework, housework, information, luggage,
baggage, rubbish, traffic, weather, research, progress, equipment, litter, money, permission,
scenery, travel, etc. = only singular form IS (does not exist in plural)
2. billiards, darts, dominos, draughts, bowls (≅pétangue), ninepins (=bowling) = sports
3. measles, German measles, mumps, rabies = illnesses
4. economics, statistics, mathematics, ethics, physics = sciences
5. news
= plural form but it is singular  IS
6. glasses, trousers, goods, jeans, clothes, belongings, congratulations, earnings, outskirts, premises,
savings, thanks, surroundings  ARE (do not exist in singular form, for counting them use
three bits of, two pieces of, one pair of jeans,…)
Group nouns
7. army, audience, crowd, company, crew, data, family, generation, media, population, press, public,
staff, team, …  IS/ARE
names of specific organizations - the BBC, the Bank of England, IBM, Sony,..
(in formal/academic writing  IS)
8. police, people, cattle - only ARE !!!
9. Measurements, amounts, quantities  IS/ARE
About three metres separates/separate the runners in first and second places.
The fifty pounds he gave me was/were soon spent.
10. Some phrases
Meat pie and peas is Tom’s favourite at the moment. Fish and chips is a favourite English lunch.
11. any of/each of/ either of/ neither of  IS/ARE (IS in formal written English)
I don’t think any of them know/knows where the money is hidden.
12. the majority of/ a number of/ a lot of/ plenty of/some of + plural ARE
A number of refugees have been turned back at the border.
13. the majority of/ a lot of/ plenty of/some of/all of/any of/ none of + uncountable  IS
14. the number of
 IS
The number of books in the library has risen to over two million.
15. each/ every/everybody/everyone/anybody/somebody, ...  IS
Every room has its own bathroom.
16. either-or/neither-nor
Either the station or the cinema is a good place to meet.
Neither the President nor his representatives are to attend the meeting.
TRICKY AND CONFUSING
Politics is popular at this university. (science)
Her politics are bordering on the fascist. (political beliefs)
Statistics was always my worst subject. (science)
Statistics are able to prove anything you want them to. (numerical information)
Change of meaning
(+see Tryml 52)
C
a paper
a chicken
a coffee
a business
a hair
a toast
a work
an experience
one tea
dozens of cheeses
a stone
UC
paper
chicken
coffee
business
hair
toast
work
experience
tea
cheese
stone