Tag: countable vs uncountable

The post on countability has been the seventh most viewed post at our site. More nearly 95,000 people have seen it and hopefully used it. While the post is great for intermediate students of English, it is very theoretical. This post aims to be more practical and for a bit lower level of students. Here I would like to teach the usage of HOW MUCH and HOW MANY using as few words as possible.

To achieve this there are two games and a mind map. I hope you will find the post useful and practical.

In this mind map I try to explain the usage as graphically as possible. I always first ask the students to look at the mind map and then I try to elicit what it tries to teach. Only if this fails (and it happens very seldom) I explain the mind map myself.

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Once your students understand the concept, it is time to move to the usage. In the following two games they are asked to choose the correct form: either HOW MUCH or HOW MANY. Both of the games are in Flash and therefore they will play only on some mobile devices. However, the games will work perfectly on all desktops.

The second game is called En Garde and your task is to answer correctly and then inflict as much damage to your opponent as possible. Enjoy.

How much and How many – Penalty – full screen

The first game is called Penalty ShootOut. If you choose the correct answer you are given a chance to kick a penalty. Good luck

How much and How many – Penalty – full screen Macmillan publishing house runs a competition Love English Awards and as this site has been nominated, you can vote for us here. Thank you for your support.

If you like the two games above and you would like to share them on your blog or use them in a classroom without an internet connection, you can do this. You can download all the files here:
The games How much and How many

In this post, I try to explain what countable and uncountable nouns are. When I speak with native speakers of English they often tell me that the concept of countability in English is absolutely natural. “You simply know which noun is countable and which is not.” However, this natural feeling is nearly impossible to teach.

Based on my experience I have created the following mind map where I try to set some rules to help the learners of English. The rules given here are in no way foolproof but I hope they will help a bit.

In this post you will find the mind map and three game to revise the concept of countability.

Countable or Uncountable – mind map

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Games to practise countability

Now it is time to test your knowledge in games. The first one is absolutely new. You play the Tetris games and after 4 pieces you have to write whether the noun is Countable (C), Uncountable (U) or Both (B). USE ONLY CAPITAL LETTERS!!!

Countable and uncountable nouns – Tetris game

The second game is incredibly popular in my classes. It is called On Target and you should shoot the bad ducks. You can shoot one of the bottles on the side to get some bonus. The game is in Flash and will play only on desktop computers that have the Flash plugin activated.

Countable and Uncountable – On Target game

The third game is called Penalty Shootout. In this game you should choose the correct answer and then try to score a goal. Good luck.
As the game is in Flash, it will only play on desktop computers with Flash add on activated.

Countability – Penalty game

You can find more activities and explanations on this topic at Countable and Uncountable Games.

You can learn the usage of the words HOW MUCH and How MANY here.