Elementary Grammar

Elementary · Grammar Reference

Unit 8 — Count/uncount · some/any · would like

Count and uncount nouns · some/any/a lot of · would like · How much/many

8.1 Count and uncount nouns

There are countable nouns. These can be singular or plural.

a book → two books an egg → six eggs

There are uncountable nouns.

bread rice

📌 Note

Some nouns are both.
We'd like three ice creams, please. Do you like ice cream?

8.2 some, any and a lot of

We use some in positive sentences with uncount nouns and plural nouns.


There is	some	bread on the table.
There are	a lot of	oranges on the table.

We use some in questions when we ask for things and offer things.

Can I have some coffee, please?Would you like some grapes?

We use any in questions and negative sentences with uncount nouns and plural nouns.

	any / a lot of
Is there	any	water?	I don't know if there is any water.
Does she have	any	children?	I don't know if she has any children.
We haven't got	a lot of	rice.
There aren't	any	people.

8.3 would like

Would is the same in all persons.

We use would like in offers and requests.

Positive

Subject		Object
I / He/She / We/You/They	'd like	a cup of coffee.	'd = would

Yes / No questions and short answers

Auxiliary	Subject	Verb	Short answers
Would	you / he/she/they	like a biscuit?	Yes, please. / No, thank you.

8.4 How much…? and How many…?

We use How much…? with uncount nouns.

How much rice is there? There isn't much rice.

We use How many…? with plural count nouns.

How many apples are there? There aren't many apples.