Surprisingly, one of the most problematic areas of IELTS is the misuse of countable and uncountable nouns. Here is a little quiz for you; choose the correct alternative.

1:

a) I have too many works to do.
b) I have too much work to do.

2:

a) My living room furniture is mostly Italian
b) My living room furniture are mostly Italian.

3:

a) After employing this new technique, we will make a huge progress.
b) After employing this new technique, we will make huge progress.

4:

a) My kitchen equipment works fine. There is no need to replace it.
b) My kitchen equipments work fine. There is no need to replace them.

5:

a) The vocabulary you need for IELTS should be enough.
b) The vocabularies you need for IELTS should be enough.

6:

a) Travels make people understand other cultures.
b) Travel makes people understand other cultures.

7:

a) I try to eat a little food every day because I’m on a diet.
b) I try to eat a few foods every day because I’m on a diet.

Remember

Some uncountable nouns have got a countable version too, but their meaning or usage is different. For example, the word “time” is generally uncountable when it is related to minutes, hours, etc. However, the countable version, i.e. ‘times”, has got a different meaning and refers to the period or occasion of something.

Examples:

time (uncountable): There is little time left.
time (countable): There are times when I need a hug.

Answers

1) B

2) A

3) B

4) A

5) A

6) B

7) A