A black and white photo of the Brooklyn bridge, a stone bridge

Activities: “What are mass nouns in English?”

By: Erin Kuester, Isabel McKay
Associated Articles

These activities are part of our English Grammar series. The skills we are practicing here are covered in our article:

Activity 1: Grocery List

Ana is doing her grocery shopping for the next week and has written a list of groceries that she needs. Each grocery item is a mass noun and requires a unit word + ofin front of it. Can you figure out which unit word below goes with each mass noun on Ana’s grocery list?

Note:
Some unit words can be used for more than one mass noun, and some mass nouns can have different unit words. Try changing them around and checking your answers!

You will use every word, but you can use each one more than once!

A photo of a woman gathering groceries into a basket.

GROCERY LIST

bar
head
wedge
box
jar
loaf
can
bottle
pack
bag
gallon
stick

  1. a of bread

  2. a of orange juice

  3. a of cheese

  4. a of chocolate

  5. a of milk

  6. a of cereal

  7. a of jam

  8. a of butter

  9. a of pasta

  10. a of lettuce

  11. a of soup

  12. a of water

  13. a of flour

  14. a of sugar

  15. a of tea bags

  16. a of gum

  17. a of olive oil

  18. a of salsa

Activity 2: Mass noun or count noun?

Select the phrase that describes each picture. In some cases, both are correct!

  • A glass platter containing three cupcakes with pink icing.

  • A plate contains five slices of steak along with some mixed vegetables.

  • Two glasses with straws containing cola and ice.

  • Three pies sit on a tablecloth.

  • A photo shows a cutting board with 5 slices of bread against a white marble background.

  • A photo shows a pair of hands holding 8 small potatoes.

  • A plate of sandwiches.

  • A hand holds up a carrot against a blue sky.

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