English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate » Unit 85: Countable and uncountable nouns with different meanings

Word List
  • arts
  • chocolate
  • cloth
  • coffee
  • experience
  • fish
  • glass
  • glasses
  • hair
  • health
  • iron
  • material
  • means
  • onion
  • paper
  • people
  • pepper
  • potato
  • salt
  • stuff
  • tea
  • time
  • work
  • art
Exercises

85.1 ‣ Would you normally expect to find these things in most people’s houses, flats, garages or gardens? In which room or place? Answer for both meanings (countable and uncountable).

  1. an iron / iron
  2. a cloth / cloth
    _____
  3. a fish / fish
    _____
  4. glass / a glass
    _____
  5. a wood / wood
    _____
  6. pepper / a pepper
    _____
  7. paper / a paper
    _____

85.2 ‣ Which question would you ask? Could I have/borrow a(n) …? or Could I have/borrow some …?

  1. cake
  2. iron
    _____
  3. pepper
    _____
  4. chocolate
    _____
  5. paper
    _____
  6. rubber
    _____
  7. glass
    _____

85.3 ‣ Complete the answers using the word in brackets. Use a(n) or theif the meaning is countable.

  1. Oh dear! I’ve spilt water on the floor! (cloth) Never mind.
  2. How did you get that puncture in your car tyre? (glass) I drove
  3. (child) Daddy, what are car tyres made of? (rubber)
  4. Have you worked in a primary school before? (experience)
  5. I wonder who won the general election in Sweden? (paper)
  6. (child) Mum, what’s the Mona Lisa? (work)
  7. What’s your favourite ice-cream flavour? (chocolate)

85.4 ‣ What is the difference between (a) and (b) in each pair? Check in a dictionary if you’re not sure.

  1. a) She was always a great lover of the arts.
    b) Are you an art lover?
    a) Arts here means
    b) Art here means _____
  2. a) (road sign) PLANT AND HEAVY MACHINERY CROSSING
    b) I’ve bought you a house plant.
    a) Plant there means _____
    b) A Plant there means _____
  3. a) There was a lot of damage to the car as a result of the accident.
    b) The film star won $500,000 in damages because the story in the newspaper was untrue.
    a) Damage here means _____
    b) Damages here means _____
  4. a) I’ve had some bad times at the dentist’s!
    b) How many times have you been to the dentist’s this year?
    a) Times here means _____
    b) Times here means _____
Answer Key
A ‣ Countable and uncountable nouns

When we use a countable noun we are thinking of specific things that can be counted (e.g. two glasses). When we use an uncountable noun we are thinking of stuff or material or the idea of a thing in general (e.g. this door is made of glass).

stuff/materialsthings
glassa glass / glasses
clotha cloth
fisha fish
worka work

Be careful - there's broken glass on the road. I need a cloth to wipe the table.

We had fish for dinner.

Hamlet is one of Shakespeare's most famous works.

Here are some more nouns that can be used in both ways with different meanings.

countableuncountable
There's a black hair in my soup; it must be yours!She has beautiful red hair.
Did you buy a paper this morning? [a newspaper]The printer has run out of paper.
They are campaigning to help indigenous peoples of South America.I love meeting people from different countries. [individuals]
Can I borrow your iron? My shirt is a bit creased. [instrument]People used to think ships made of iron would sink. [metal]
I had some interesting experiences during my trip to Latin America. [things that happened to me]She has little work experience. [knowledge or skill obtained from doing something]
The city has a yearly arts festival. [music, theatre, etc.]
He studied arts not sciences at uni. [subjects such as languages or history; always plural and without the]		Have you been to the modern art museum? It's wonderful. [usually refers to painting, drawing and sculpture]
I've seen that film three times. [occasions]
We had some good times at university. [experiences]		Time passes very slowly if you have a boring job. [clock time, calendar time]

B ‣ Food

The names of food items often have a different meaning depending on whether they are used as countable or uncountable nouns (see fish above).

coffee/tea → a coffee and two teas

potato → Just two potatoes, please!

Would you like some chocolate? → Would you like a chocolate?

salt and pepper → a pepper

a hot dog with onion → an onion

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