Countable and Uncountable Nouns

Countable and Uncountable Nouns

There are two kind of nouns in English: the countable and uncountable nouns.

A noun is considered “countable” if you can think of it as one several separate units, for example: book, egg, or child. As the name suggest, countable nouns can actually be counted. You can use “a/an” with singular countable nouns: a book, an egg, or a child. You can also put them into plural forms by adding “s/es” to them: books, eggs, or children.

A noun is fallen to category “uncountable” if you cannot think of it as one of several separate units, but only as single idea or substance, for example: rice, music, or advice. These nouns are sometimes called “mass” nouns. They are things that cannot be counted. You cannot normally use “a/an” with uncountable nouns. You can never say “a rice” or “a music”. You can use “a ... of” though: a plate of rice or a piece of music.

The word news is an uncountable noun The news was very depressing, NOT the news were

These nouns also have a difference when you are asking about their quantity. When you want to know the amount of countable nouns, you should use “how many”. While on the other hand, if you need to know the amount of uncountable nouns, you should use “how much”.

INDIVIDUAL PARTS (COUNTABLE NOUNS)	THE WHOLE (UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS)
Chairs Tables Beds	Furniture
Letters Postcards e-mails	Mail
Nickels Dollars Coins	Money
Apples Bananas Oranges	Fruit
Rings Bracelets Necklaces	Jewelry

Some common uncountable nouns:

Clothing Equipment Food Fruit Furniture Garbage Hardware Jewelry Machinery Mail Makeup

Advice Information News History Literature Music Poetry English Chinese Korean, etc. (names of languages)

Money Scenery Stuff Traffic Homework Housework Work Hair Pepper Rice Salt

Grammar Slang Vocabulary Corn Dirt Dust Flour Grass Sand Sugar wheat

NOTE:

1.    A language is not always logical. For example:

a.    Both vegetables and fruit describe whole categories of food, but one is countable and the other uncountable.

-       Vegetables are good for you.

-       Fruit is good for you.

b.    Logically you can count furniture. But in grammar, you cannot count furniture.

-       I see some furniture. (Grammatically correct)

-       I see three furnitures. (Grammatically incorrect)

2.    An uncountable noun takes the rules of a singular noun.

-       The traffic is too bad here.

-       You’ve put too much salt in the soup.

Many noun can be used as countable or uncountable, usually with a difference in meaning.

Look at the table.

Countable

Uncountable

-       Did you hear a noise just now? (= a particular noise) -       I bought a paper to read. (= a newspaper) -       There’s a hair in my soup! (= one single hair) -       You can stay with us. There is a  spare room. (= a room in a house) -       I had some interesting experiences while I was away. (= things that happened to me) -       Enjoy your holiday. Have a good time! (= a moment of time)

-       I can’t work here. There’s too much noise. (Not “too many noise”) -       I need some paper to write on. (Not “papers”) -       You have very long hair. (Not “hairs”) -       You can’t sit here. There isn’t room. (Not “rooms”) -       They offered me the job because I had a lot  of experience. (Not “experiences”) -       I can’t wait. I don’t have time. (Not “times”)

Coffee/ tea/ soda/ juice/ etc. (drinks) are normally uncountable.

Example:

-       I don’t drink coffee very often. (Not “coffees”)

But they can be countable when you are thinking of a cup/ a glass/ a mug/ etc.

Example:

-       (In a restaurant) Two coffees and an orange juice, please. (The word “coffes” mean “two cup of coffee”).

There are some nouns that are usually uncountable in English, but often countable in other languages.

Examples:

Accommodation Advice Baggage Behavior Bread Traffic

Chaos Damage Furniture Information Luck Weather

Luggage News Permission Progress Scenery Work

These nouns are  usually uncountable, so:

-       You cannot use a/an with them. (You cannot say “a bread”, “an advice”, etc)

-       They are not normally plural (We do not say “breads”, “advices”, etc)

Compare these countable and uncountable nouns.

Countable	Uncountable
-       I’m looking for a job. -       What a  beautiful view! -       It’s a nice  day today. -       We had a lot of bags and cases. -       These chairs are mine. -       It was a good suggestion.	-       I’m looking for work. -       What  beautiful scenery! -       It’s nice  weather today. -       We had a lot of luggage. (Not “luggages”) -       This furniture are mine. -       It was good advice.

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