9833 countable and uncountable nouns

Use the singular form of the verb with a singular countable noun: • There is a book on the table.. Use the plural form of the verb with a countable noun in the plural: • There are some s

(Countable and Uncountable) Nouns

What is the difference between countable and uncountable nouns?

Countable nouns

Countable nouns are individual objects, people, places, etc which can be counted

A countable noun can be:

1) singular - a friend, a house, etc

2) plural - a few apples, lots of trees, etc

Use the singular form of the verb with a singular countable noun:

• There is a book on the table That student is excellent!

Use the plural form of the verb with a countable noun in the plural:

• There are some students in the classroom Those houses are very big, aren't they?

Uncountable nouns

Uncountable nouns are materials, concepts, information, etc which are not individual

objects and cannot be counted

Uncountable nouns have no plural

Some common uncountable nouns:

• Accommodation

• Advice

• Behaviour

• Bread

• Copper (all metals)

• Meat

• Sugar

• English (all languages)

• Furniture

• Health

• Information

• Knowledge

• Luggage

• Maths (all school

subjects)

• News

• Progress

• Research

• Rice (all grains and cereals)

• Salt (all condiments)

• Scenery

• Spaghetti

• Traffic

• Transport

• Travel

• Trouble

• Water (all liquids

• Weather

• Work

Uncountable nouns (especially different types of food) have forms that

express plural concepts These measurements or containers are countable:

• water - a glass of water

• equipment - a piece of

equipment

• cheese - a slice of cheese

• sugar – one lump of sugar

• cake – a slice of cake

• toast – a piece of toast

Here are some more common uncountable food types with their

container / quantity expressions:

• liquids (water, beer, wine, etc.) - a glass, a bottle, a jug of water,

etc

• cheese - a slice, a chunk, a piece of cheese

• meat - a piece, a slice, a pound of meat

Nouns which can be countable or uncountable

Nouns that can be thought of as a single thing/substance (e.g chicken,

chocolate, egg, hair iron, paper, stone):

• chocolate: there are two chocolates in the box; you have

chocolate on your face

• iron: we have to buy a new iron; vegetables contain lots of iron

• Hair: there is a hair in my soup; she has blond hair

Nouns used to refer to particular varieties (e.g wine, country)

• wine: would you like some wine?; this is a very good wine

• country: I would love to live in the country; he has visited five

different countries

Words for some drinks (e.g coffee, beer The countable noun means: a

glass of, a cup of, etc.)

• coffee: coffee is produced in South America; Fancy a coffee and

a slice of cake?

Time, space, room:

• time: there is no time to talk; I didn’t have a very good time at

the party

• space: there is no space here; Fill in the spaces with the correct

preposition

• room: there is room for seven people in the lift; this is my

favourite room

Uncountable nouns ending in –s

Some uncountable nouns end in –s and take a singular verb

• Maths, physics, genetics, athletics, news

Nouns ending in –s that are always plural.

Some nouns are always plural and take a plural verb:

• Clothes, glasses, jeans, trousers, pliers, scissors

To refer to them as a single item:

• A pair of: I need a new pair of glasses.

Irregular plural forms

Some nouns have the same form in the singular and plural:

• Aircraft, crossroads, series, sheep, species

• Species: There are many different species of dogs; this species

is very rare

Collective nouns

Some nouns can be used with a singular verb if we see them as a unit They can also be used with a plural verb if we are talking about

members of the group

• the army, the family, the government, the media, the press

• My family is very small; all my family are coming to the wedding

NB: these nouns can only take a plural verb: cattle, the people, the police

Determiners used with (countable

and uncountable) nouns

Lots/a lot of + plural countable and

uncountable nouns (informal)

I have lots/a lot of homework.

I have lots/a lot of brothers and

sisters

How much money do you need?

Many + plural countable nouns How many bags do you have?

There are many interesting things to

do

Little/a

little/ a bit of

+ uncountable nouns Just a little rice, please – not too

much

I have a bit of money, but not

enough to pay for that

The government has done very little

to improve the situation

Few/a few + plural countable nouns

(some ONLY)

There were quite a few people in the

room

Very few people know the secret

Some + uncountable nouns and

plural nouns

There is some useful information on

that website

There are some good scenes in that

film

Hardly any + uncountable nouns and

plural countable nouns

There were hardly any customers in

the shop

No/not any + uncountable nouns and

plural countable nouns

There was no milk left.

There were no students on the bus There wasn’t any milk left There weren’t any students on the

bus