Sustantivos contables e incontables
A2 Countable & uncountable nouns 21 / 50
En resumen
Los sustantivos contables se pueden contar: tienen singular y plural, y llevan a/an y números (a book, two books). Los sustantivos incontables se ven como una masa única: no tienen plural ni a/an (water, money, advice).
La regla
Un sustantivo contable es algo separado que puedes contar uno por uno. Tiene dos formas:
- singular con a/an: a car, an apple
- plural con -s o un número: cars, two apples, three cars
Un sustantivo incontable es una masa, un material, un líquido o una idea. Se trata como un todo único, así que:
- sin a/an delante:
a water-> water / some water - sin plural -s:
advices, informations-> advice, information - lleva un verbo en singular: The news is good. The furniture is new.
Muchos sustantivos que son incontables en inglés son contables en otras lenguas. Son la causa de los errores más comunes en A2. Apréndete esta lista corta y frecuente como incontable:
| Tipo | Sustantivos incontables (sin plural, sin a/an) |
|---|---|
| Líquidos / alimentos | water, milk, coffee, tea, rice, bread, sugar, butter |
| Materiales | wood, paper, plastic, gold, money |
| Abstractos / información | information, advice, news, knowledge, work, music, fun, weather, luck, help |
| Grupo como masa | furniture, luggage, baggage, equipment, traffic |
Para contar un sustantivo incontable, usa una palabra de medida o de recipiente + of:
| Esquema | Ejemplos |
|---|---|
| a piece of + sustantivo | a piece of advice, a piece of information, a piece of furniture |
| a glass / cup of + sustantivo | a glass of water, a cup of coffee |
| a slice / loaf of + sustantivo | a slice of bread, a loaf of bread |
| a bit of + sustantivo | a bit of luck, a bit of help |
| a bottle / bag / kilo of + sustantivo | a bottle of milk, a bag of rice, a kilo of sugar |
Esto también los hace plurales: two pieces of advice, three glasses of water, two pieces of luggage.
Formas y estructuras
Usa el cuantificador correcto con cada tipo. Some y any funcionan con ambos.
| Palabra | Contable | Incontable |
|---|---|---|
| a / an | a chair | - |
| números | two chairs | - |
| many | many chairs | - |
| much | - | much furniture |
| some (afirmativa) | some chairs | some furniture |
| any (preguntas / negativas) | any chairs | any furniture |
| a lot of / lots of | a lot of chairs | a lot of furniture |
| How much / How many | How many chairs? | How much furniture? |
Algunos sustantivos son a la vez contables e incontables, con un cambio de significado:
| Sustantivo | Incontable (la masa / idea) | Contable (una unidad / un tipo) |
|---|---|---|
| coffee | I like coffee. | Two coffees, please. (= dos tazas) |
| hair | She has long hair. | I found two grey hairs. (pelos sueltos) |
| paper | I need paper to write on. | I bought a paper. (= un periódico) |
| glass | The cup is made of glass. | a glass of water (un vaso) |
| time | I don’t have time. | three times (= ocasiones) |
Ejemplos
| English | Nota |
|---|---|
| I’d like some water, please. | Incontable: some + sin plural, sin a. |
| She gave me a piece of advice. | Cuenta el incontable advice con a piece of. |
| Can you give me some information about the course? | information es incontable: sin -s, sin an. |
| We bought two pieces of furniture for the bedroom. | Pon en plural la palabra de medida, no furniture. |
| The news is on at nine o’clock. | news parece plural pero es incontable -> is. |
| There were three coffees on the tray. | Contable aquí = tres tazas de café. |
| How much money do you have, and how many coins? | much + incontable, many + contable. |
| He took too much luggage on the trip. | luggage es incontable -> much, sin plural. |
Errores frecuentes
an information-> some information / a piece of information — information es incontable; sin a/an, sin plural.She gave me good advices.-> good advice / two pieces of advice — advice nunca lleva -s.The news are bad.-> The news is bad. — los sustantivos incontables llevan un verbo en singular.How much chairs?-> How many chairs? — usa many (no much) con sustantivos contables.I need to buy a new furniture.-> some new furniture / a new piece of furniture — furniture es incontable.
Consejos
- Si puedes poner un número justo delante (two ___), es contable. Si suena mal, es incontable.
- Truco para recordar los complicados: advice, information, news, furniture, luggage, work, weather, money son todos incontables en inglés.
- Usa a piece of como clasificador seguro para sustantivos abstractos y sustantivos de grupo: a piece of advice / information / news / furniture.
- much suena formal en oraciones afirmativas. En el inglés cotidiano usa a lot of para los dos tipos: a lot of money, a lot of friends.