Countable & Uncountable nouns (1)

可数名词和不可数名词(1)


Nouns can be countable or uncountable. When you learn a new noun you should make a note of whether it is countable or uncountable as we use different words with countables and uncountables.

名词分可数名词和不可数名词,当你学习一个新的名词的时候,你需要记住它是可数的还是不可数的,因为他们的用法是不同的。

Countable nouns 可数名词

• There is a cat in the garden.
• There are some birds in the trees.

For positive sentences we can use a/an or some (with a plural verb form) 肯定句里,我们要用a/an 或者some(跟动词的复数形式)。

• There isn’t a dog in the garden.
• There aren’t any birds in the tree.

For negatives we can use a/an or any (with a plural verb form). 否定句里,我们用a/an或者any(跟动词的复数形式)

• Is there an orange on the tree?
• Are there any chairs in the garden?
• How many chairs are there?

In questions we use a/an, any or how many. 在问句里,我们用 a、an、any或者how many。

 

Uncountable nouns 不可数名词

• There is some milk on the floor.

Uncountable nouns have no plural. The verb form is singular and we use some. 不可数名词没有复数形式,动词形式是单数的,用some修饰。

• Is there any sugar?
• How much wine is there?

In questions we can use any or how much. 在问句里,我们用any和how much。

 

Other expressions of quantity 其他关于数量的表达

• There are a lot of apples on the trees.
• There is a lot of snow on the road.

A lot of can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns. “A lot of”可以同时用于可数名词和不可数名词

Bill Gates has much money.

Notice that we don’t usually use ‘much’ or ‘many’ in positive sentences. We use ‘a lot of’. 请注意,我们通常不用much或者many在肯定句里。

• Bill Gates has a lot of money.
• There’s a lot of beer but there isn’t much wine.
• There are a lot of carrots but there aren’t many potatoes.

We use not many with countable nouns and not much with uncountable nouns.
我们用not many+可数名词和not much+不可数名词

Some nouns can be both countable and uncountable, depending on how they are used, and some nouns are commonly confused. These are covered in another section.

有些名词可以既是可数的,也是不可数的,这取决于何时用它们,一些名词经常让人感到混淆,我们在下一章再详细讲。