IELTS grammar. Lesson 2: Countable and uncountable nouns.

Is it correct to say many advices? To give the right answer (not correct) you should be familiar with countable and uncountable nouns. This topic often comes up in English speech and writing. So it is a very good idea to revise what are countable and uncountable nouns and how to use them in order to avoid some common mistakes in IELTS.

This lesson consists of theory section + exercises. Complete both parts of the lesson to make sure that you will have no problems with countable & uncountable nouns on your IELTS exam.

Hide theory

Countable nouns stand for things we can count with numbers (apples, books, pieces etc).

And uncountable nouns are for things we cannot count (water, food, money, advice, safety, time, knowledge, love, traffic etc).

Rules to use countable and uncountable nouns in IELTS.

Countable nouns can be used

  • in both plural and singular forms
  • with phrases many / a lot of / a few / number of

Uncountable nouns are used

  • only in the singular form
  • only with a singular verb (is, was)
  • with phrases much / a lot of / some / amount of / a little

You can never use uncountable nouns with

  • a number (five advices - an advice, three furnitures - a furniture). But you can use a piece of instead (a piece of advice, a piece of furniture)
  • phrases many / a few / number of (many foods - a lot of food, a few knowledges - some knowledge)


Practice. Choose the correct sentence in each pair:

  1. I don't have many time to wait you!
    I don't have much time to wait you!

  2. Food was really delicious in that restaurant.
    Food were really delicious in that restaurant.

  3. So many people is wasting their time on playing computer games!
    So many people are wasting their time on playing computer games!

  4. A big number of people are wasting their time on playing computer games!
    A big number of people is wasting their time on playing computer games!

  5. There are many problems with your plan.
    There are much problem with your plan.

  6. The old pond was full of fish.
    The old pond was full of fishes.

  7. Although a lot of people are obsessed with cash, I think that money are not the most important thing in our life.
    Although a lot of people are obsessed with cash, I think that money is not the most important thing in our life.

  8. The number of cars on the roads is increasing.
    The number of cars on the roads are increasing.

  9. There are a lot of different furnitures being sold.
    There are a lot of different furniture being sold.

  10. A little electricity is produced by wind power stations.
    A few electricity is produced by wind power stations.

  11. There are so much animals on our planet!
    There are so many animals on our planet!

  12. This news rejoiced everyone.
    These news rejoiced everyone.