Nouns and Quantity Expressions

14.1 Nouns and Quantity Expressions

Count and Noncount Nouns

Count Nouns Noncount Nouns

A, AN, THE, COUNT NONCOUNT NUMBER, or Ø NOUN VERB THE or Ø NOUN VERB

An The juice in the refrigerator. The egg has 70 calories. is One Ø Juice sweet.

The eggs have 280 calories. Four

Ø Eggs have a lot of protein.

Count Nouns • Count nouns can be counted. They have both singular and plural forms. one egg four eggs • A, an, the, a number (one, two, …), or Ø (no article) can come before count nouns. • The plural of a count noun is usually formed by adding -s or -es to the singular form. See 14.4 for the spelling of nouns ending in -s or -es. • Some count nouns have irregular plural forms. See 14.5 for a list of common irregular plural nouns. Noncount Nouns • Noncount nouns cannot be counted. They do not have plural forms. • The or Ø (no article) can come before noncount nouns. A, an, or a number cannot come before them.

Plural Count Nouns Noncount Nouns

QUANTITY COUNT QUANTITY NONCOUNT EXPRESSION NOUN EXPRESSION NOUN

many a great deal of several There are apples in the bag. We have a little food. a few little few

There aren’t many eggs in the basket. We don’t have much milk.

Plural Count Nouns or Noncount Nouns Questions with How Many and How Much

QUANTITY COUNT COUNT EXPRESSION NOUN HOW MANY NOUN

a lot of How many sandwiches should I buy? There are some apples on the tree. no nonCOUNT There aren’t any grapes in the bowl. HOW MUCH NOUN How much sugar do you want? QUANTITY nonCOUNT EXPRESSION NOUN

a lot of There is some food in the bag. no There isn't any milk in the cup.