Countable nouns with a/an, some

Countable nouns can be singular or plural:

an umbrella
two umbrellas

a dog
dogs

a child

some children

the evening
the evenings

this party
these partie s

Before singular countable nouns you can use alan:

O Goodbye! Have a nice evening.
O Do you need an umbrella?

You cannot use singular countable nouns alone (without althelmy etc.):

O She never wears a hat. (not She never wears hat)
O Be careful of the dog. (not Be careful of dog)

O What a beautiful day!

O I've got a headache.

We use alan ... to say what kind of thing or person something/somebody is:

O Thaťs a nice table.

In the plural we use the noun alone (not some ... ):

O Those are nice chairs. (not some nice chairs)

Compare singular and plural:

O A dog is an animal.
O I'm an optimist.

O Tim's father is a doctor.
O Are you a good driver?

O Jill is a really nice person.
O What a lovely dress!

o Dogs are animals.
O We're optimists.

O Most of my friends are students.
O Are they good students?

O Jilľs parents are really nice people.
O What awful shoes!

We say that somebody has a long nose I a nice face I blue eyes I small hands etc. :

o    Jack has got a long nose.
(not the long nose)

o    Jack has got blue eyes.
(not the 'blue eyes)

Remember to use alan when you say what somebody's job is:

O Sandra is a nurse. (not Sandra is nurse)
O Would you like to be an English teacher?

You can use some with plural countable nouns. We use some in two ways.
(1) Some = a number of I a few of I a pair of:

O I've seen some good films recently. (no<