# We need some sugar

# Chocolate Cake

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LET'S COOK!

Alex: Hi there! I was thinking of trying out that chocolate cake recipe this weekend. Do you have time to help me plan and maybe do some shopping? Emma: Of course! I'd love to help. What ingredients do we need? Alex: Well, we definitely need flour, sugar, eggs, and cocoa powder. I already have some flour in the cupboard. How much flour do you think we need? Emma: Hmm, let me check the recipe. It says we need 200 grams of flour. Do we have that much? Alex: Yes, we do. I bought a 500-gram bag last week. Emma: Great! Now, how about sugar? Alex: The recipe says for 250 grams of sugar. Do we have enough? Emma: I'm not sure. Let me see. Oh, it looks like we only have about 100 grams left. We'll need to get some. How much sugar do you think we should buy? Alex: Let's get 300 grams, just to be safe. Emma: Okay. What about eggs? Alex: The recipe says we need four eggs. Do we have enough? Emma: I think so. I remember buying a dozen last time, and we've only used a few. How many eggs are left? Alex: There are eight eggs left. That should be plenty. Emma: Alright. Now, for cocoa powder. How much do we need? Alex: It says 50 grams. Do we have that much? Emma: Let me check the pantry. Oh no, we're all out. We'll definitely need to buy some. How much cocoa powder do you think we should get? Alex: Let's get 100 grams. We can use the extra for hot chocolate. Emma: Good idea! Anything else we need? Alex: Yes, we need some milk, but I'm not sure how much. The recipe just says "some milk." How much milk do you think we should buy? Emma: I'd say a pint should be enough for the cake, and we'll have some left for tea. Alex: Perfect! I think we have everything now. Let's make a shopping list: sugar (300g), cocoa powder (100g), and milk (1 pint). Anything else? Emma: Nope, that should be it. We're all set for our baking adventure!

Look at the expressions in bold:

- How much flour do you think we need?
- How much sugar do you think we should buy?
- How many eggs are left?
- How much cocoa powder do you think we should get?

Can you make the list of ingredients? Can you count flour, sugar or powder? Can you count eggs?

- Nouns for things that we can count are "COUNTABLE" and have sing/plural forms: EGGS.
- Nouns for things that we cannot count are "UNCOUNTABLE" and they only have a singular form: FLOUR, SUGAR or COCOA POWDER.

We can count countable things using A/AN (an egg) or NUMBERS (four eggs). But, how can we count uncountable things like sugar or flour? In that case, we have to use "QUANTIFIERS", such as some, any, a lot of, many, much, few or little.

## COUNTABLE/UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

Nouns can be “countable” or “uncountable”

Countable nouns

Countable nouns are nouns that we can count: car, house, book, etc. We can say one car, two cars, three cars, etc. (son sustantivos que se pueden contar)

- Countable nouns have singular and plural forms: a car/cars, a house/houses, a book/books, etc. (tienen singular y plural)
- We cannot use a singular countable noun without a determiner like a/an or the. (en singular siempre necesitan un determinante)
  - I have a car. (NOT I have car)
  - When I was a child. (NOT When I was child)

Uncountable nouns

Uncountable nouns are nouns that we cannot count: money, milk, rain, etc. We cannot say one money, two moneys, etc. (son sustantivos que NO se pueden contar)

- Uncountable nouns do not have a plural form, they only have a singular form: money/moneys, milk/milks, rain/rains, etc. (sólo tienen singular)
- We cannot use a/an + uncountable noun. A/An means ‘one’, and we cannot count uncountable nouns. (no pueden llevar el artículo indeterminado "a/an". Significa "uno", con lo que ya estaríamos contándolo)
  - I need money. (NOT a money.)
  - We need to buy sugar. (NOT a sugar.)

Types of words that are uncountable: (tipos de palabras incontables)

- Substances (grain, liquids, etc.): cheese, bread, pasta, coffee, milk, petrol, fuel, etc.
- Materials: iron, wood, metal, paper, plastic, sand, etc.
- Abstract ideas, natural phenomena, etc...

Uncountable in English but not in other languages. (sustantivos incontables en inglés pero no en otros idiomas):

Some nouns are uncountable in English, but they are countable in other languages. Some of them are: advice, news (it ends in -s, but it’s a singular word), furniture, luggage, bread, cheese, toast, etc.

Some nouns can be countable and uncountable because they can refer to a unit or to ‘liquid’ or ‘material’. (Sustantivos que pueden ser contables e incontables según el significado)

- Yesterday I had two coffees. (= two cups of coffee)
- I love coffee. (= the liquid that we drink)
- I found one hair in my soup. (one single hair)
- She has beautiful hair. (= the mass of hair on her head)

## QUANTIFIERS

QUESTIONS about “quantity”:

- HOW MANY + Plural Countable noun …. ? ¿Cuántos/Cuántas...?
- HOW MUCH + Sing Uncountable noun …. ? ¿Cuánto/Cuánta...?
  - How many people were there ? ¿Cuántas personas había?
  - How much money have you got ? ¿Cuánto dinero tienes?
  - How many books did you read ? ¿Cuántos libros leíste?
  - How much food is there on the table ? ¿Cuánta comida había en la mesa?

1. A / AN (un/una)

We use A/AN + singular countable noun. (se utiliza sólo con contables en singular).

- I have a new car. Tengo un coche nuevo
- She has a brother and a sister. Ella tiene un hermano y una hermana

We cannot use a/an before a plural noun or an uncountable noun.

- I need to buy sugar. (NOT a sugar.) Tengo que comprar azúcar
- We saw very beautiful places. (NOT a very beautiful places) Vimos lugares muy bonitos

2. SOME / ANY (unos/unas/algo de, una cantidad indeterminada).

We use SOME and ANY before countable plural nouns or singular uncountable nouns. (Se utiliza con contables en plural e incontables)

- He gave me some coins. Él me dió (algunas, unas) monedas
- He didn’t give me any coins. Él no me dió monedas.
- He gave me some money. Él me dió (algo de) dinero

SOME - affirmative sentences. We use some in positive sentences. (en oraciones afirmativas)

- We cooked some cookies. (Hicimos galletas)
- He has some money. (Él tiene dinero)

ANY - negative sentences and questions. We use any in negative sentences and questions. (oraciones negativas y preguntas)

- She didn’t send me any messages. Ella no me envió mensajes
- Have you got any brothers or sisters? ¿Tienes hermanos o hermanas?
- Tom hasn’t got any money. Tom no tiene dinero.
- Is there any milk in the fridge. ¿Hay leche en el frigorífico?

Observa que, como lo que expresamos es una cantidad indeterminada, en español a veces no utilizamos determinante.

3. A LOT OF / MANY / MUCH (muchos/muchas/mucho…)

We use A lot of, Many and Much to express a large but unspecified quantity of something. (una cantidad grande pero indeterminada de algo).

A LOT OF - aff sentences + pl countable / sing uncountable nouns (oraciones afirmativas – Sustantivos Contables o Incontables)

- I’ve got a lot of new CDs. (Tengo muchos CDs nuevos)
- There’s a lot of water on the floor. (Hay mucha agua en el suelo)

MANY - neg sentences and questions - pl countable nouns (oraciones negativas y preguntas – sustantivos Contables en plural sólo)

- There aren’t many XL T-shirts in the shop. (No hay muchas camisetas XL en la tienda)
- Are there many people in the party ? (¿Hay muchas personas en la fiesta?)

MUCH - neg sentences and questions - sing uncountable nouns (oraciones negativas y preguntas – sustantivos Incontables sólo)

- There isn't much sugar in my coffee. (No hay mucho azúcar en mi café)
- Has she got much money? (¿Tiene mucho dinero?)

3. FEW / LITTLE (pocos/pocas/poco…)

We use Few and Little to express a small but unspecified quantity of something. (una cantidad pequeña pero indeterminada de algo).

FEW + pl countable nouns (con sustantivos contables en plural sólo)

- I’ve got few books. (Tengo pocos libros)
- There are few people in the classroom. (Hay pocas personas en el aula)

LITTLE + sing uncountable nouns (con sustantivos incontables sólo)

- There is little wine in the bottle. (Hay poco vino en la botella)
- I've got little time. (Tengo poco tiempo)

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