My Secondary School
Senior 1 · English
My Secondary School
Lesson 3 of 5
25 min
Let's begin
Before a new term, every boarding school sends families a list of things to bring. The list is written as a notice: a short, formal message for a group of people. Read the one below and count how many different items it names.
UMUCYO SECONDARY SCHOOL
Office of the Director of DisciplineNOTICE
Date: 1 September 2026
To all new Senior One boarders and their parents: what to bring for Term One
Please bring the following items on reporting day, Monday 7 September 2026. The school checks every box at the gate.
Bedding: one single mattress, two bed sheets, one blanket and one mosquito net.
Clothing: two sets of school uniform, two pairs of black shoes, three pairs of white socks, sports shorts and a T-shirt, and a warm sweater, because the mornings are cold.
Toiletries: one basin, one bucket, two towels, soap, toothpaste and a toothbrush.
Stationery: twelve exercise books, pens, pencils, a ruler and a mathematical set.
Food and money: students may bring up to two kilos of sugar and some biscuits. No cooked food, please. Pocket money is kept by the bursar; students must not keep more than 2,000 Frw in the dormitory.
The school provides furniture, a locker for every student, and all meals. All luggage must be labelled with the student's name and class.
Signed: J. Nkurunziza
Director of Discipline
| Feature | In this notice |
|---|---|
| Name of the organisation | Umucyo Secondary School, Office of the Director of Discipline |
| The word NOTICE as a heading | NOTICE |
| Date | 1 September 2026 |
| Who it is for, and a clear title | To all new Senior One boarders and their parents: what to bring for Term One |
| The message: what, when, where | Items to bring on Monday 7 September 2026; rules on food and money |
| Signature, name and position of the writer | J. Nkurunziza, Director of Discipline |
| Word | Meaning | Example sentence |
|---|---|---|
| bedding | sheets, blankets and other things used on a bed | Put your bedding in one bag. |
| mattress | the thick, soft part of a bed that you lie on | My mattress fits a single bed. |
| toiletries | things for washing and cleaning your body | Soap and toothpaste are toiletries. |
| stationery | paper, pens and other things for writing | Buy your stationery before term starts. |
| luggage | the bags and boxes you carry when you travel | Label all your luggage clearly. |
| bursar | the school officer who looks after money | The bursar keeps our pocket money. |
| locker | a small cupboard that you can lock | Each student has a locker. |
| reporting day | the day students arrive at school for a new term | Reporting day is 7 September. |
Definition
Countable noun: a noun for something we can count one by one. It has a singular and a plural form. a bucket, two buckets; one towel, three towels.
Uncountable noun: a noun for something we do not count one by one, such as a liquid, a material, a mass or an idea. It has no plural and takes a singular verb. sugar, water, soap, furniture, luggage, money, information.
| Countable (towel) | Uncountable (sugar) | |
|---|---|---|
| With a or an | a towel | not possible: say some sugar |
| Plural | towels | no plural |
| Asking about amount | How many towels? | How much sugar? |
| Large amount (in questions and negatives) | not many towels | not much sugar |
| Large amount (anywhere) | a lot of towels | a lot of sugar |
| Small amount | a few towels | a little sugar |
| Positive sentences | some towels | some sugar |
| Questions and negatives | any towels | any sugar |
To count an uncountable noun, count a container or a unit of it:
| Uncountable noun | Countable phrase |
|---|---|
| soap | a bar of soap, two bars of soap |
| toothpaste | a tube of toothpaste |
| sugar | a kilo of sugar, two kilos of sugar |
| bread | a loaf of bread, a slice of bread |
| furniture | a piece of furniture (a bed, a chair) |
| luggage | a piece of luggage (a suitcase, a bag) |
| advice, information | a piece of advice, a piece of information |
| Rule | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Most nouns: add -s | bucket, pen, towel | buckets, pens, towels |
| Ends in -s, -ss, -sh, -ch or -x: add -es | bus, class, brush, lunch, box | buses, classes, brushes, lunches, boxes |
| Consonant + y: y becomes -ies | library, dormitory, story | libraries, dormitories, stories |
| Vowel + y: add -s | key, day, boy | keys, days, boys |
| Most nouns in -f or -fe: -ves | knife, shelf, life | knives, shelves, lives |
| Some nouns in -o: add -es | potato, tomato, hero | potatoes, tomatoes, heroes |
| Irregular plurals | man, woman, child, person, tooth, foot | men, women, children, people, teeth, feet |
| Same in singular and plural | sheep, fish | sheep, fish |
| Plural only (use a pair of) | – | shorts, trousers, scissors, glasses |
Worked example
Analyse two questions a parent asks while packing.
Warning
These nouns are uncountable in English, so they never take -s or a: furniture, luggage, equipment, information, advice, homework, news, money.
Tip
Spelling: stationery (pens and paper) has an e, like envelope; stationary (not moving) has an a, like "stay". A bus waiting at a stop is stationary.
Some nouns in -o just add -s: photos, radios, pianos, kilos. Learn potatoes, tomatoes, heroes as the common -es group.
The Grammar Gameshow, Episode 27: countable and uncountable nouns, BBC Learning English (11 minutes). Play along: answer each question before the contestants do and keep your own score.
Work in pairs. One of you is a parent and one is a new S1 student. Use the notice to check what is in the bags. Ask with How many…?, How much…? and Do we have any…?
Parent: How many towels do you have?
Student: Only one. The notice says two.
Parent: We have a new one in the cupboard. Do we have any toothpaste?
Student: Yes, there's a tube in my bag, and two bars of soap.
Parent: How much sugar do you want to take?
Student: Two kilos. That is the most they allow.
Parent: And how much money is in your wallet?
Student: Five thousand francs, but I'll give most of it to the bursar.
You are the secretary of your school's English Club. Write a notice (60–80 words) inviting members to a meeting. Include every feature in the table above, and tell members what to bring. Use at least one countable and one uncountable noun.
UMUCYO SECONDARY SCHOOL ENGLISH CLUB
NOTICE
Date: 20 September 2026
To all members: debate practice
There will be a club meeting on Friday 25 September at 4:30 p.m. in the library. We will practise for the inter-school debate. Please bring a notebook, a pen and some information about school uniforms for the motion. New members are welcome.
Signed: Uwase Keza
Secretary, English Club
Practice
Sources and credits
