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Countable nouns with a/an and some

Countable nouns with a/an and some

1- Countable nouns may be singular or plural:

2- Before a singular countable noun we can use  a/an :

1. Have a nice day !
2. Can I have an ice-cream ?  

3- We can't use countable nouns alone ( = without the, a, an, my, etc ) :

1. He never wears a tie.
2. What a stupid answer !  
3. I've got an umbrella.  

4-We use a/an …  to say what kind of thing or person we speak about :

• That's a horrible colour.  

5-  In the plural we use the word alone :

• Those are lovely flowers.

6- Compare the singular and the plural:

7- We say :

1. Jack has a long nose. ( not 'the' long nose )
2. Lily has small hands. ( not 'the' small hands )  

8- We use a/an before a job :

1. Simon is a lorry-driver.
2. How about being a lawyer ?  

9- We can use some with  countable nouns in the plural:

1. Some = a few, a number of, a pair of => I have read some interesting books.
2. We don't use some when speaking about things in general => I love apples.
3. We can make sentences with or without some, the meaning won't change. 
• There are ( some ) bottles of good wine in the cellar.
1. Some = some but not all => Some women are afraid of mice. ( but not all women ! )

Of course we can use some with uncountable nouns : there is some water on the floor.

Exercise : Complete with a/an/some or - (= nothing).