Lesson 4 of 46

Countable and uncountable nouns

Stop adding -s or "a" to words like advice, information, and feedback.

The rules

1.Countable nouns can be counted (one book, two books). Use a/an, many, few, fewer.
2.Uncountable nouns have no plural and no a/an: advice, information, feedback, furniture, equipment, luggage, news, homework, knowledge.
3.Use much, little, less, some, or "a piece of" with uncountable nouns: "some advice", "a piece of advice".

Incorrect: ~~He gave me many informations.~~

Correct: He gave me a lot of information.

"Information" never takes -s.

Incorrect: ~~I need an advice.~~

Correct: I need some advice.

Or "a piece of advice".

Incorrect: ~~There are less people today.~~

Correct: There are fewer people today.

Fewer for countable, less for uncountable.

Watch out: The news, the equipment, and the furniture all take singular verbs: "The news is good."

1. Can you give me some ___?

2. There are ___ students in the room than yesterday.

3. The news ___ good.

Paste any text and see exactly what to fix, with the rule explained.