| Hi, everybody. My name is Alisha. Today, I'm going to talk about some counter words that we can use to talk about food. So, in previous lessons of this whiteboard series, we've talked about uncountable and countable nouns. Some words that we use to talk about food are what's called uncountable nouns. They're called uncountable nouns. Meaning, we cannot say, "one," "two" or "three" directly before the noun, directly before the uncountable noun. Instead, we count these uncountable nouns with counter words. So, today, I'm going to introduce a few common words that we use to count uncountable food noun. So, let's take a look at a few examples. |
| Okay. The first counter word I want to talk about is "slice." So, we use most of these counter words, for example, "slice," followed by "of." So, "slice of," plus the noun. So, let's look at some examples. With "slice," we can use "pizza." I have an image here. "Slice of pizza," "slice of cake," "slice of bread," "slice of fruit." "Fruit," keep in mind, though, we use fruit for things we can cut into maybe a shape like this or into a thin piece of fruit. So, we would not use, for example, "berries," with the word, "slice." We would use, for example, "melon" or "orange." Something we can divide by cutting is something we use the word "slice" with. So, "slice" is one that we can use with these verbs, or sorry. So, "slice" is one word that we can use with these uncountable nouns, for example. |
| We can also use the word, "piece." So, "piece" is a very, very general word that we can apply to many different foods because "piece" refers to a part of something. So, if you imagine a large single item like a chicken or turkey or maybe steak, a smaller part of that we can call a "piece." So, we use the word, "piece." We can use it with "pizza" or "cake," as we did with "slice" here. But "pizza," a "piece of pizza" is a part of a larger item, part of a larger pizza. Same thing with "cake." So, we can use "slice" and "piece" with either "cake" or "pizza." And there are some other words we can use, too. Let me say that again. So, we can use "slice" or "piece" with both "pizza" and "cake," and there are some other cases, some other nouns where we can use both words as well. So, we can use it for, like I said "meat" because we often need to break meat into smaller parts to eat it. So, "piece," we can use with these larger items that we make into smaller parts. |
| Okay. Another one you might hear is "stick." We use "stick" with "butter." So, "one piece of butter" doesn't quite have the same meaning as "one stick of butter." So, "butter" is often sold in sticks. You might also hear "stick" used for "instant coffee," "a stick of instant coffee" or "a stick of instant something else." So, dried ingredients are often sold in sticks. You might hear "a stick of coffee" or maybe there's an ingredient in your country that is sold in sticks. So, we use "stick" to talk about a packet of dried ingredient. That's in a long shape. We also use "stick" for "butter." |
| Okay. Next one is "bowl." So, foods that are served in a "bowl," typically. We can use the word, "bowl" to talk about those serving sizes. So, again, we use "bowl" plus "of," plus the noun. So, "a bowl of rice," "a bowl of soup," "a bowl of salad," if you like. If you have a specific soup you want to talk about, you can put the word before "soup." So, for example, "a bowl of chicken soup," "a bowl of turkey soup," "a bowl of minestrone soup." You can include the word to make the soup specific if you like. |
| Okay. Next one, "jar." So, a "jar" is usually a glass container with a lid that you can screw, twist the top of. So, we use "jar" for jam or jellies, for honey, for mayonnaise, for olives. Any item which is sold in a jar, in that item, we can use the word, "jar" to count that. So, "one jar," "two jars," for example. |
| Next one is a bit special, the word, "loaf." So, "loaf" we use to count bread. You'll remember up here, I said "slice of bread." "Slice of bread" is used for a piece, a part of bread. However, "loaf" is used to talk about the entire bread, uncut. So, bread that has not been touched, a bread that has not been changed at all, that's "a loaf of bread." So, we use the word, "loaf" to talk about bread. |
| Okay. Onto the other side. The next word is "head," "a head of something." We use this for some vegetables like lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower. Kind of you can look at it in this sort of shape. It has this very round side and then maybe there are some leaves or there are--like with cauliflower, some flowers at the edge, the other edge. So, we use the word, "head" to talk about this. So, "a head of lettuce" or "a head of cabbage," "a head of cauliflower." We can also, to talk about smaller sizes, you can say, "half a head of cauliflower," "half a head of lettuce," as well. So, we use "head" to count this kind of shape. Usually, this is a vegetable. |
| Okay. Next one is "box." So, items which are sold in boxes. For example, pasta or cookies, we can use "box" to talk about those. |
| Another one is "bag." We can use "bag" to talk about items like flour, sugar, maybe baking-related items, "a bag of flour," "a bag of sugar," kind of has this image, "a bag of something." |
| Another one, we use "bar." We use "bar" to talk about "candy," "a bar of candy." We use "bar" for this. You might also hear protein bars. That could be something else we use it for. But when counting, we use "bar" to talk about this shape of candy, "a bar of candy." Okay. |
| Another interesting word, especially for cooking, is "pinch." So, "to pinch" means to put your fingers together in this motion. When recipes say, "Add a pinch of salt" or "a pinch of pepper," it means a very small amount, just enough that it can fit between your two fingers. So, a very small amount. We use this for salt or pepper, herbs and spices. "A pinch of salt," "a pinch of pepper" means a very small amount, just enough that can fit between your fingers is a pinch, "a pinch of something." |
| Last one here also may be useful for cooking and eating and baking is "packet." So, if you've been to a fast food restaurant, maybe you have seen these small containers that are usually plastic which ketchup and mustard are kept in. So, we use the word, "packet" to talk about those. You might also find "yeast packets" if you like to bake. So, these are small packages that you can rip, you can tear open and the ingredient comes out. So, we use the word, "packet." "A packet of ketchup," "a packet of mustard." We use "packet" to talk about these. |
| So, those are a couple of common counter words that we use to talk about food. I hope that these are helpful for you. Of course, these are not the only counter words we use for food but they are some of the most common ones. So, if you have any questions or if there's another common counter word that you'd like to know more about or you'd like to share, please let us know in the comments. Thanks very much for watching this episode. If you liked it, give it a thumbs up, subscribe to the channel, and check us out at EnglishClass101.com. Thanks very much for watching and I'll see you again soon. Bye, bye. |
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