Countable and uncountable nouns

Countable nouns are things that we can count, for example: a pen. We can have one, two, three or more pens. Other countable nouns are: dog, baby, animal, person, bottle, box, bell, cup, chair, bag, cat, cake, school, plate and a photograph.

In Grammar Box 1 you will see some rules about countable nouns.

Uncountable nouns are things or concepts that we cannot count. These nouns cannot be used with a number. You can see some examples in the following box.

Review Grammar Box 2 to learn some rules about uncountable nouns.

There is, There are

We use there is and there are to say that something exists. We use there is for singular and there are for plural.

Revise the following Grammar Boxes for the structure of there is and there are.

We use some to express an undefined quantity, meaning that there are more than one of something, but you are not sure how many exactly. Some is always used in afirmative form: there is some/there are some.

It can be used with countable and uncountable nouns. See Grammar Box 6 for examples.

We use any to express zero quantity, meaning that there is nothing of something. Any is always used in negative form: there is not (there isn’t)/there are not (there aren’t). Look at Grammar Box 7.

Quantifiers: how much, how many, some, any, few, little

A quantifier is a word or phrase which is used before a noun to indicate the amount or quantity. Quantifiers can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns. Look at the following grammar boxes for information about quantifiers.

Fuente: Secretaría de Educación Pública. (2015). Lengua adicional al español I. Ciudad de México.