| Count Nouns | Non-Count Nouns |
| A man with a cowboy hat wants to talk with you. The man doesn't seem very friendly. | Water leaked down through four floors. The water came from a water heater. |
| An elephant became upset and attacked the handlers. The elephant was shot and killed by police. | Rice spilled all over the floor. The rice wasn't very good anyway. |
| This/That man took my iPhone. I'm sure of it. | This/That water tastes strange. |
| These/Those men attacked me in the parking lot. | This/That rice smells bad. |
| Are there any
logs in the basement? No, we don't have any. Yes, we have some. |
Is there any
wood left? No, we don't have any. Yes, we have some. |
| Many people came to the party. | A lot of sand was still left. |
| A few eggs are left. | A little water is left. |
| Some people were unhappy with the service. | Some gas leaked into the water tank. |
| There are too many flies in our house. | There is too much smoke coming from the oven. |
| There are no logs in the basement. | There is no lumber left. |
| Do we have
enough plates? No, we don't have enough. |
Do we have
enough butter? Yes, we have enough. |
| Every customer will receive a coupon. | |
| Tag this notice to each computer. |
Counting mass nouns with counters:
…two
cups of anything: tea, water, milk, flower,
rice, oil, beans, molasses, chocolate chips
…three
pounds/slices of meat
…four
glasses/cartons/gallons/bottles of
juice/milk
…two gallons/buckets/bottles of
water
…three bottles/cases of wine/beer
…two
rolls of aluminum foil/paper
towels/toilet paper
…four
slices of cheese/cake/pie/pizza/bread
…three
panes of glass
…two tubes of
toothpaste
...a stick of butter/gum
...three
loaves of bread; ...one
loaf of bread
...a
jar of mayonnaise/pickles/peanut
butter
...five
cans/bowls of soup
...two
heads of cabbage/lettuce
...two
pinches of salt/pepper
...three
tablespoons/teaspoons of
oil/salt/pepper/vanilla
