NI1 - Lesson 8: The use of the articles and countable/uncountable nouns

The use of the article we saw in class is simples as we explained it:

• indefinite article: A car (singular): just one   ----   SOME cars (plural): a few cars
• definite article: THE  car (singular): that specific car  ----  THE cars (plural): those cars

Apart from this general rule, we have to take into account some uses:

• We use THE with :
• places in plural: the Nederlands, the USA, the Arab Emirates, the Alps, the Canary Islands, the Himalayas, etc.
• with specific countries: the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom
• with rivers and seas/oceans: the River Thames; the Pacific Ocean
• We DON'T use THE with certain places such as lakes, mounts: Mount Everest, Lake Victoria

About COUNTABLE and UNCOUNTABLE nouns we have to take into account that the uncountable nouns are always in singular: you say the sugar, some sugar but NOT 3 sugars. Have a look this chart which could help you to understand the problem about countable and uncountable nouns and how to use the quantifiers.
Here you are a chart to help you with quantifiers:

quantifiers	COUNTABLE* = plural	UNCOUNTABLE=singular
SOME	Some people are worried	I need some sugar
ANY (?)	Did you see any books on the shelf?	Did you need any sugar for the recipe?
ANY (-)	I didn't take any photos	I didn't have any time
NO	I have no photos in my bedroom	I have no time to miss
A FEW	There will be a few friends for dinner	XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
A LITTLE	XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX	I have a little time
MUCH	XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX	I don't have much time
MANY	I don't have many friends	XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
HOW MUCH	XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX	How much sugar do you need?
HOW MANY	How many children do you have?	XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
A LOT OF	I have a lot of friends	I have a lot of time
ENOUGH	I have enough friends	I don't have enough money

*When the countable noun is singular you use the indfinite article A+singular or the definite article THE+singular; e.g. a car the car.

Here you are some exercises to practise:  exercise 1 (done in class)     exercise 2 with a list of exercises about quantifiers and countable/uncountable nouns   exercise 3 another list of exercises

 If you are interested to know something about Canada, here you are some videos:

• An introduction with photos: click here
• Something about the country: click here