Interlingua HN by Rubén Estrada

Countable and Noncountable Nouns

Countable nouns use the indefinite article a/an before the word (noun). For example:

A banana

An apple

A pear

An avocado

A lemon

An orange

A grape

An egg

A goes before a consonant

An goes before a vowel

Uncountable nouns can be counted when they are put in portions or placed in containers. For example:

You can say: 1 (a/one) bottle of mineral water.

1 cup of coffee

1 slice of bread

1 piece of fruit

1 bowl of rice

1 spoon of beans

1 can of diet soda

1 granola bar

1/2 pound of meat

1 glass of water

1 gram of sodium

A carton of eggs

A dozen of eggs

A pack juices

A six pack of coke

Quantifiers

some/any/no

These are used to refer to noncountable nouns. Examples:

(+)

1. I just had some rice and beans for breakfast.

2. I only had some coke for lunch.

3. I drank some coffee before sleeping.

(-)

1. I didn't have any rice or beans for breakfast.

2. I didn't have any coke for lunch.

3. I didn't drink any coffee before sleeping.

Using no as quantifier

I had no rice or beans today.

I had no coke for lunch.

A lot of for noncountable nouns

A lot of can be used for countable and noncountable nouns. Example:

There is a lot of noise in the classroom.
There is a lot of water in here.
Lenin drank a lot of wine yesterday.

A lot of for countable nouns

Cindy ate a lot of candies in the birthday.
Carmen had a lot of cookies.
Sebastian fried a lot of fries.

A few

A few is used with noncountable nouns. Examples:

I had only a few rice in my plate.
Jenna ate a few beans in the morning