5. Step 1
Countable or Uncountable?
In the mind of a French
speaker, everything that exists
is either countable or
uncountable.
6. Countable or Uncountable?
A Noun is
countable if it
makes sense to
put a number in
front of it.
dog
chair
car
boy
carrot
flower
2
3
4
5
6
7
7. Countable or Uncountable?
A Noun is
countable if it
makes sense to
put a number in
front of it.
dogs
chairs
cars
boys
carrots
flowers
2
3
4
5
6
7
8. Countable or Uncountable?
A Noun is
uncountable if it
does not usually
make sense to
put a number in
front of it.
water
cream
rice
bread
meat
air
2
3
4
5
6
7
9. Countable or Uncountable?
A Noun is
uncountable if it
does not usually
make sense to
put a number in
front of it.
waters
creams
rices
breads
meats
airs
2
3
4
5
6
7
14. Uncountables
Uncountables will always be singular. What you
need to know is whether they are
masculine or feminine.
Masculine Feminine
pain
riz
air
crème
viande
eau
16. Summary
How to say “some”
Countables
Uncountables
Use des in front of the
plural form of the Noun,
e.g. des carottes
Use du / de la / de l’ in
front of the singular
form of the Noun.
e.g. du café , de la soupe
17. Hybrids
Some Nouns can be either countable
or uncountable depending on how
you want to talk about them.
Here are some examples:
18. Hybrids
du café some coffee, i.e a quantity of liquid or beans.
des cafés some coffees, i.e several cups of coffee.
du poisson some fish, i.e some meat taken from a fish.
des poissons some fish, i.e several individual fishes.
de la confiture some jam, i.e. a quantity of jam.
des confitures some jams, i.e. a selection of different jams.
de l’eau minérale some mineral water, i.e. an undefined quantity.
des eaux minérales a number of glasses or bottles of mineral water.
19. In English
you can put a Noun immediately after expressions
like these:
I’d like…
Have you got…?
I’ll have……?
sweets
lemonade
chicken
potatoes
beer
In French, you must use one of du, de la, de l’ or des
in front of the Noun.
20. Try these
Je voudrais…
Avez-vous…?
Je prends…
Y a-t-il…?
…bonbons
des bonbons
…limonade
de la limonade
…pommes de terre
des pommes de terre
…céréales
des céréales
…café
du café
23. In English, we change some to
any after a negative Verb.
I want some coffee I don’t want any coffee.
He’s got some money He hasn’t got any money.
I can see someone I can’t see anyone.
24. Something similar happens in
French after a negative Verb.
du
de la
de l’
des
all become
de
d’
before a vowel