Nouns - countable and uncountable

Countable Nouns

Countable nouns are easy to recognize. They are things that we can count. For example: "pen". We can count pens. We can have one, two, three or more pens. Here are some more countable nouns:

• dog, cat, animal, man, person
• bottle, box, litre
• coin, note, dollar
• cup, plate, fork
• table, chair, suitcase, bag

Countable nouns can be singular or plural:

• My dog is playing.
• My dogs are hungry.

We can use the indefinite article a/an with countable nouns:

• A dog is an animal.

When a countable noun is singular, we must use a word like a/the/my/this with it:

• I want an orange. (not I want orange.)
• Where is my bottle? (not Where is bottle?)

When a countable noun is plural, we can use it alone:

• I like oranges.
• Bottles can break.

We can use some and any with countable nouns:

• I've got some dollars.
• Have you got any pens?

We can use a few and many with countable nouns:

• I've got a few dollars.
• I haven't got many pens.

"People" is countable. "People" is the plural of "person". We can count people:

• There is one person here.
• There are three people here.

Uncountable Nouns

Uncountable nouns are substances, concepts etc that we cannot divide into separate elements. We cannot "count" them. For example, we cannot count "milk". We can count "bottles of milk" or "litres of milk", but we cannot count "milk" itself. Here are some more uncountable nouns:

• music, art, love, happiness
• advice, information, news
• furniture, luggage
• rice, sugar, butter, water
• electricity, gas, power
• money, currency

We usually treat uncountable nouns as singular. We use a singular verb. For example:

This news is very important.

Your luggage looks heavy.

We do not usually use the indefinite article a/an with uncountable nouns. We cannot say "an information" or "a music". But we can say a something of:

a piece of news

a bottle of water

a grain of rice

We can use some and any with uncountable nouns:

I've got some money.

Have you got any rice?

We can use a little and much with uncountable nouns:

I've got a little money.

I haven't got much rice.

Here are some more examples of countable and uncountable nouns:

Countable       Uncountable

dollar                money

song                 music

suitcase             luggage

table                 furniture

battery              electricity

bottle                wine

report               information

tip                    advice

journey             travel

job                   work

view                 scenery

Nouns that can be Countable and Uncountable »

Drinks (coffee, water, orange juice) are usually uncountable. But if we are thinking of a cup or a glass, we can say (in a restaurant, for example):

"Two teas and one coffee, please."