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  • Hello I'm Emma from mmmEnglish!

  • In this lesson we're focusing on English nouns. Why?

  • Because so many of the mistakes that you're making in English

  • are related to the way that you use nouns.

  • Starting from the top, there are two types of English noun

  • countable and uncountable English nouns.

  • Now, you might be thinking

  • "yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah... Whatever it doesn't really matter!"

  • But actually, it does matter.

  • It really really does, for a whole lot of reasons!

  • Like, how to use articles correctly.

  • How to use 'much' and 'many', 'so' and 'such',

  • 'some' and 'any' or 'a little' and 'a few'.

  • These words all depend on the type of noun

  • and learning and understanding more about countable and uncountable nouns

  • and how they're used differently

  • will dramatically improve your English grammar!

  • I guarantee you that some of the mistakes that you're making in English

  • are because you are treating an uncountable noun like a countable noun,

  • or a countable noun like an uncountable noun!

  • Now, I've made a 'cheat sheet' to help you understand these rules

  • and I'm going to tell you how to download it at the end of this lesson.

  • In this video we're focusing on uncountable nouns

  • but you can check out another video on countable nouns right there.

  • Okay! So, the kitchen is a great place

  • to start talking about countable and uncountable nouns.

  • It's been a while since mmmEnglish has been in the kitchen,

  • so I'm very excited to be back here!

  • The easiest way to remember uncountable nouns

  • is to think about nouns that are difficult to count.

  • Things like liquids, water, or wine.

  • Gases the air,

  • or powders like flour.

  • Or things like electricity, money or abstract nouns like

  • happiness, motivation and luck.

  • Now, all of these nouns, if you think about it, are difficult to count.

  • Uncountable nouns have only one form.

  • They can't be plural.

  • You can't use 'a' or 'an' with uncountable nouns

  • because they can't be counted.

  • You can't use numbers with them at all.

  • We can't say "I need a milk" or "give me 3 monies".

  • But you can use some with uncountable nouns

  • and that just means 'an amount', but not a specific amount.

  • "Can you get some rice from the supermarket for me?"

  • We can also use uncountable nouns without 'some'.

  • "Can you get rice from the supermarket for me?"

  • (That's) perfectly okay as well!

  • For example, to make pancakes I need to make, I need to have some flour.

  • I need to have some sugar, some water

  • and maybe even some maple syrup.

  • All of these nouns are uncountable

  • but we do need a way to quantify these nouns,

  • especially when you're cooking in the kitchen.

  • We need to know how much to use!

  • And that's easy to do when you're talking about countable nouns,

  • like 'a lemon' or 'an apple'

  • but with uncountable nouns

  • you need another countable noun to help you quantify

  • your uncountable noun.

  • A packet of rice,

  • a cup of oil,

  • a can of coconut milk,

  • 2 litres of water, for example.

  • And all of a sudden, all of these things can become countable!

  • Notice how I was using an article with all of those nouns?

  • Now, this is all great in the kitchen but what about outside of the kitchen,

  • with nouns like information or happiness or money, luggage, advice!

  • It's the same idea! A piece of information,

  • a moment of happiness,

  • a bit of luck or a bit of money,

  • two pieces of luggage or

  • I've got three pieces of advice for you!

  • Let's recap on uncountable nouns for a moment.

  • They have only one form.

  • They're never plural.

  • You can't use articles like 'a' or 'an' with them

  • and can't use numbers.

  • You can't say 'an information' or 'two luggages'

  • or 'three advices'.

  • Okay? Fabulous!

  • Don't forget that you can download this worksheet

  • to help you practice using uncountable nouns correctly.

  • Now, there are some uncountable nouns that you'll

  • see being used as plural nouns.

  • Eeeek!

  • But before you freak out,

  • these exceptions are related to the context

  • and just for a moment this is going to get a little bit confusing.

  • But be patient, stay calm!

  • I'm going to help you to understand right now!

  • Let's use coffee as an example!

  • I've got some instant coffee here,

  • some coffee beans and of course,

  • a delicious cup of coffee.

  • Now, the liquid is uncountable

  • and so is the powder that's in instant coffee.

  • Now, you can count the beans but that's less common.

  • So, we need some other countable nouns

  • to tell us some more information about the noun.

  • A jar, a packet or a kilogram a cup.

  • But you might hear someone say

  • "I'll have a coffee with two sugars please."

  • Huh?

  • Coffee and sugar are both uncountable!

  • How can that be?

  • Well simply, the context will tell us that

  • it means a cup of coffee

  • and two teaspoons of sugar.

  • The same if someone said "We'll take three waters."

  • It means three bottles of water or three glasses of water.

  • So, how do you know if a noun is countable or uncountable?

  • It's easy!

  • In the dictionary when you look up this word

  • you'll see [U] or a [C] next to that noun.

  • It will tell you if it's countable or uncountable

  • and instantly, you'll know how you can use this noun,

  • especially once you download the worksheet that's going to help you.

  • It's really important because remember there's lots of different words

  • that you can use in English

  • with uncountable nouns that you can't use with countable nouns.

  • There's a little water in my cup.

  • There's a few waters in my cup.

  • There's too much information.

  • There's too many informations.

  • So, it's really important that you're using the correct

  • English word with these nouns.

  • Now, before I finish

  • I want to tell you some of the biggest mistakes

  • that I see with uncountable nouns in English.

  • Advice, knowledge,

  • information, news,

  • luggage, equipment

  • and furniture

  • These are all uncountable nouns.

  • They have only one form.

  • So, that's it for this lesson!

  • I hope that you're feeling a little more confident

  • with uncountable nouns now.

  • Remember that you can watch the countable nouns

  • lesson, right here!

  • Make sure that you subscribe to my channel,

  • so that you never miss a lesson!

  • There's a couple more lessons in this playlist

  • that you might enjoy too!

  • That's it for now, but I will see you again very soon!

  • Bye!

Hello I'm Emma from mmmEnglish!

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