 Countable basis support lemma

A submodule $N$ of a free module with basis of a module $E$, generated by a countable set, is contained in the submodule generated by some countable subset $E^{\prime }\subseteq E$. Take $E^{\prime }$ to be the union of the finite coordinate supports in a free module of a countable generating family for $N$. This union is countable, and every generator belongs to $⟨E^{\prime }⟩$, which proves the inclusion. Combining this with basis partition gives a module direct sum places $N$ inside a countably generated direct summand.