Countable nouns with a/an and some

Countable nouns with a/an and some

A. Countable nouns can be singular or plural:

a dog a child the evening this party an umbrella dogs some children the evenings these parties

two umbrellas

B. Before singular countable nouns you can use a/an:

* Goodbye! Have a nice evening.

* Do you need an umbrella?

You cannot use singular countable nouns alone (without a/the/my etc.):

* She never wears a hat. (not 'She never wears hat')

* Be careful of the dog. (not 'Be careful of dog')

* What a beautiful day!

* I've got a headache.

C. We use a/an ... to say what kind of thing or person something/somebody is:

* A dog is an animal.

* I'm an optimist.

* Tim's father is a doctor.

* Are you a good driver?

* Jill is a really nice person.

* What a lovely dress!

We say that somebody has a long nose/a nice face/a strong heart etc.:

* Jack has got a long nose. (not 'the long nose')

In sentences like these, we use plural nouns alone (not with 'some'):

* Dogs are animals.

* Most of my friends are students.

* Jill's parents are really nice people.

* What awful shoes!

* Jack has got blue eyes. (not 'the blue eyes')

Remember to use a/an when you say what somebody's job is:

* Sandra is a nurse. (not 'Sandra is nurse')

* Would you like to be an English teacher?

D. You can use some with plural countable nouns. We use some in two ways:

i) Some = a number of/a few of/a pair of:

* I've seen some good films recently. (not 'I've seen good films')

* Some friends of mine are coming to stay at the weekend.

* I need some new sunglasses, (= a new pair of sunglasses)

Do not use some when you are talking about things in general (see also Unit 74):

* I love bananas. (not 'some bananas')

* My aunt is a writer. She writes books. (not 'some books')

Sometimes you can make sentences with or without some (with no difference in meaning):

* There are (some) eggs in the fridge if you're hungry.

ii) Some = some but not all

* Some children learn very quickly. (but not all children)

* Some police officers in Britain carry guns, but most of them don't.