UNIVERSITY OF PITETI

THE FACULTY OF EDUCATION SCIENCES

MA PROGRAMME in ENGLISH LANGUAGE DIDACTICS

COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

Conf. univ. dr. MANEA MARIA CAMELIA

Defen
der:
BARBU SIMONAALEXANDRA

PITETI
2012

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
1

 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.
2

 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
What is an uncountable noun?
An uncountable noun cannot be counted.
For example, we can count cars, but we cannot count water. Water
is a substance.
Notice that sugar is an uncountable noun. We can count lumps of
sugar, but not sugar in general.
Note that people is a countable noun. Even though there is no s
ending, we can count people (3 people, 4 people etc)
*Note - Countable nouns are sometimes called count nouns and
uncountable nouns are sometimes called non-count nouns.
Uncountable nouns are often types of food, materials or abstract
concepts.
salt
sugar
information
work
wool
weather
butter
oil
advice
pepper
oxygen
milk
luck
meat
honesty
4

 patience
knowledge
homework
happiness
honey

Exercise 1
Which of these words are uncountable?
Tick the words that are uncountable.
1 - methane
2 - advice
3 - smoke
4 - wool
5 - meat
6 - shoe
7 - target
8 - chocolate
9 - mustard
10 - mouse
11 - finger
12 - battery
13 - kid
14 - pasta
15 - cellphone
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
5

"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.
6

 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.
Uncountable nouns are also called "mass nouns".

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
7

View

scenery

When you learn a new word, it's a good idea to learn whether it's
countable or uncountable.

Nouns that can be Countable and Uncountable

Sometimes, the same noun can be countable and uncountable,
often with a change of meaning.
Countable

Uncountable

There are two hairs in my

coffee!
There are two lights in our
bedroom.

hair

light

I don't have much hair.

Close the curtain. There's too
much light!

Shhhhh! I thought I heard a nois

It's difficult to work when

noise.

there is too much noise.

Have you got a paper to pape I want to draw a picture. Have

read? (= newspaper)
Our

house

has

r
seven roo

rooms.

We had a great time at the

party.
Macbeth

you got some paper?

is

one

Is there room for me to sit

here?

time

Have you got time for a

coffee?

of work I have no money. I need work!

8

Shakespeare's

greatest

works.
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.
Countable nouns refer to things that that can be counted. They
are usually tangible things, things that can be perceived by one
of our senses (taste, touch, sight, hearing, smell). These nouns
can be either singular or plural.
Concrete nouns can be countable.
Flowers, oranges, trees, houses, bricks, cars,
men,women, cats, birds

Joseph slipped on a banana How many banana peels did

peel.
Cody ate a piece of cake.
Paul saw an anteater at the
zoo.

Joseph slip on? Just one.

Pieces of cake can be counted.

Anteaters can be counted.

Collective nouns can be countable or uncountable, depending on

the meaning of the sentence.

Collective nouns refer to a group (army, committee, group,

government, etc.) Americans tend to use collective nouns as
singular nouns:
The crowd is cheering.
The

navy

was

commissioning

three

new

cruisers last week.

The group has elected Rodney to be chairman.
Some proper nouns are countable.
There are more Irish in New York than in Eire.
(Irish people...How many Irish people are in...)
The Rockefellers produced several statesmen.
An uncountable noun refers to something that can't be
counted, because it's thought of as a whole that cant be cut into
parts. They are often abstract, and occasionally have a collective
meaning. (for example, food; Is the food ready now?) These
nouns take only the singular form.
Correct: 1) I want to eat the food you made yesterday. Is it still
good? 2) Yes, some of it is still good.
Correct: I gave the dog three pieces of food, but he only ate two.
Correct: I don't enjoy food when it's served cold. I like hot food
to be served hot, and cold food to be served cold.
Incorrect: Don't give him an old food. Only give the dog a fresh
food.
10

How many airs did he jump into?

The question doesnt make any

Jasper jumped into the air.

sense

because

air

can't

be

counted.
Myra

enjoyed

the

warm How many weathers? Weather

weather.

cannot be counted.

Diana didn't like the music

the

band

played

at

the

concert.

How many musics? Music cannot

be counted. Use the word songs
when you want to count how
much music you have.)

An easy way to identify uncountable nouns is by category. This is

only a partial list.
Things made up of small pieces
cereal

sand

rice

corn

rye

popcorn salt

lettuce

hair

flour

oats

dust

spinach

garlic

powder

Wholes composed of individual parts

11

sugar

These nouns represent collections made up of similar individual

parts, which are usually countable nouns. Many of these collective
nouns have more than one kind of individual component.
Collectio Sample
n
Components
mail

package, letter

vegetable carrot, tomato

clothing

slacks, shoes

food

cookie, cracker

fruit

pineapple,
banana

furniture

bed, chair

garbage

egg shell, tin can

jewelry

ring, bracelet

machinery flywheel, cog

Note: Sometimes an uncountable noun can be understood as an
individual item that's distinct from other items of the same
category. These nouns are often foods and beverages: pastry

12

/pastries,

drink/drinks,

wine/wines,

bread/breads,

cheese/cheeses, tea/teas, etc.

Men seem to like Limburger cheese more than other kinds.
(kinds of cheese)
Marlene drinks Indian tea, not Chinese tea. (kinds of tea)
Some people prefer Danish pastry to French pastry. (kinds of
pastry)
Fields of study and professional fields

physics

geography

geology

music

advertising

medicine

grammar

mechanics

biology

economics

history

accounting

sociology

law

mathematics

linguistics

Abstract ideas
strength

equality

sadness

love

selfishness

anger

happiness

knowledge

patriotism

slang

wonder

hatred

laughter

peace

trouble

courage

health

laziness

permission

wealth

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crime

help

leisure

relaxation

wisdom

Liquids

oil

water

milk

gasoline

syrup

coffee

vodka

juice

tea

soda

molasses saliva

Gases

helium

methane

air

oxygen

ether

ozone

carbon

hydrogen

monoxide

Solids, minerals, and elements

Countable and uncountable nouns that refer to a generalized mass

lava

chicken cotton iron

wood

pork

wool

plastic

fire
14

lamb

beef

cloth

glass

lead

silver

ice

coal

gold

meat

soap

bread

concret
e

cheese ice

steel

Sports and Recreational Activities

archery

aerobics

badminto
n

bridge

swimmin

jogging

checker Monopol

tag

chess

Scrabble tennis

baseball

football soccer

bowling

hockey surfing

water
polo
volleyball

Natural Phenomena
snow

cold

darkness

dew

15

fog

frost gravity

hail

humidity

light lightning

mist rain sleet heat

thunder

Medical Conditions
An article does not precede terms for general medical conditions.
When referring to specific instances of a medical condition or
disease, some uncountable nouns use the; others do not use any
article.
General statement: Measles is a childhood disease.
Specific statement: He has the German measles.

arthritis

hiccups

cancer

polio

tuberculosis

AIDS

flu

measles

smallpox

lupus

Scientific processes and procedures

anesthesi
a

electroshock

fission

fusion

sonar

radar

dissectio
n

dialysis

16

Articles
Notice that this, that, these, and those have been included
because like the word the, they mark a definite noun rather than
a general one.

a, an

Countab
le
singular

the

Countabl
e singular

this,

these,

no

that

those

article

Counta
ble
singular
Counta

Countabl

ble

e plural

plural

Countable
plural

Uncounta

Uncounta

ble

ble

Countable Singular:
She peeled the orange.
He drove the car.
Did they see this movie?
Countable Plural:
I love to watch the squirrels play.
Does Patricia want these videos?

17

 I think she prefers those videos that are on the next

shelf.
Dogs are faithful to their owners. (no article)
Uncountable:
The heat is awful today.
Thunder scares me. (no article)
Plurals: Although uncountable nouns do not usually take a plural
form, they can when used in a countable sense.
most countable nouns can be made plural adding s, or ies
(study, studies)

uncountable nouns can't be made plural at all

nouns used in a countable sense can be made plural

nouns used in an uncountable sense can't have a plural form.

No Plural

Plural

uncountable

countable noun

noun
uncountable Use

Uncountable

countable use

(general) Countable (specific) Use

18

Use
Beauty is in the eye of the I have heard about the
beholder.

beauties

of

the

French

He likes to eat cake.

countryside.
He brought four

double-

fudge chocolate cakes to

the party.
She has gorgeous hair.

The detective found several

blond hairs on the body of
the victim.

Anthropology is the study of Those men standing at the

man.

coffee machine were my

teachers

last

year

school.

Amounts and Quantities

Lets review some rules:
1 We do not use numbers with uncountable nouns.
Wrong: He told me three informations.
Right: He told me three pieces of information.
2 We do not add s to uncountable nouns.
Wrong: These informations is wrong.
Right: This information is wrong.
3 We treat an uncountable noun as a singular verb:
Wrong: these information
Right: this information
Wrong: Your information are correct.
Right: Your information is correct.
19

at

4 We can use some and any with both uncountable and

countable nouns:
He gave me some information.
He gave me some apples.
5 With countable nouns, we use few and a few. With
uncountable nouns, we use
little and a little:
I ate a few apples.
I ate a little cheese.
6 Because a means one, with uncountable nouns, we can
use the, but not a:
Correct: The bread from that shop is tasty.
Wrong: I bought a bread from that shop.
7 With uncountable nouns, we cannot use many, but we
can use lots of, a lot of and much:
Wrong: They bake many bread in that shop.
Right: They bake a lot of bread in that shop.
Right: They bake lots of bread in that shop.
Right: Do they bake much bread in that shop?
8 We can use more with uncountable nouns:
Would you like some more water?

Exercise 2
Are the following sentences grammatically correct? If not, try to
think of a way to
correct them.
1. Can you pass a salt?
2. Could you pass the salt?
3. This sugar is lovely.
20

4. Can you pass me a meat?

5. I have so many homeworks to do.
6. Most of this information are correct.
7. Do you have any information that would be useful?
8. My work is difficult.
9. These jam looks tasty.
10. This pasta taste great!
11. Can I borrow a little wool from you?
12. Were having some great weather at the moment.
13. Add lots of oil to the pan.
14. I only have a few money left.
15. Henry gave me a useful advice.
16. My sister doesnt give me much advice.

Difficult and Special Cases

Lets review some words that can be especially confusing:
Furniture (uncountable)
Furniture may seem like a countable noun, but it is uncountable.
Furniture always refers to a group of objects.
We bought some furniture for our new apartment.
Equipment (uncountable)
Like furniture, equipment always refers to a group of items. It is
uncountable.
We bought some new equipment for our factory.
Luggage (uncountable)
Like furniture, luggage always refers to a group of items (a group of
bags or suitcases). It is uncountable. Baggage is also uncountable.
21

He brought plenty of luggage with him.

Jewelry (uncountable)
Jewelry is another group noun.
Correct: I have a lot of jewelry
Wrong: I have a lot of jewelries.
Traffic (uncountable)
Traffic is a group noun.
There was so much traffic on the road this morning!
Fruit (uncountable)
Fruit refers to a group of items (pieces of fruit). It is uncountable.
Strawberry, banana, apple etc are all countable nouns.
I ate some fruit.
I ate some bananas.
News (uncountable)
News is an uncountable noun even though it is spelled with an s:
Correct: We have some good news.
Wrong: We have a good news.
Coffee (uncountable and sometimes countable)
Strictly speaking, coffee is an uncountable noun:
I like to drink coffee.
However, when ordering in a caf or restarant, it is used as a
countable noun:
Could I have three coffees, please?
Words for other drinks, such as tea, wine and beer are used in the
same way.
Paper

(countable

or

uncountable,

meaning)
Usually paper is uncountable:
22

depending

on

the

Could I have some paper?

I need three sheets of paper.
When the meaning is report, it is countable:
Dr Kaki has published a paper on Global Warming.
Money (uncountable)
Money is uncountable. However, units of money (dollars, euros) are
often countable:
Could I borrow some money?
Could I borrow three dollars?
Other units of currency are countable, but do not take a plural s
(meaning that they are irregular plurals):
It cost me 200 yen.
The price is fifty lira.
'Cash' is uncountable
Chicken (countable or uncountable, depending on the
meaning)
The word chicken is countable when it refers to the animal, but
uncountable when it refers to the food.
The farmer has over three hundred chickens.
Would you like some more chicken?
Software (uncountable)
Software is uncountable, program is countable, as is application.
We need to purchase some software.
We need to purchase some computer programs.
We need to purchase some applications.
Like software, hardware is uncountable.
Work

(uncountable

or

countable,

depending

meaning)
Work, homework and housework are all uncountable.
23

on

the

I have some work to do.

I have some homework to do.
I have several tasks to do.
I have several assignments to do.
There is another meaning of work, as in work of art. This meaning
of work is countable:
Several works of art were stolen from the museum.
Time

(uncountable

or

countable,

depending

on

the

on

the

meaning)
Time, in general is uncountable:
I dont have much time.
Time, when it means occasion, is countable:
How many times have you watched that movie?
Hair

(uncountable

or

countable,

depending

meaning)
When referring to strands (pieces) of hair, the word is countable,
but hair is usually a group word, referring to all the individual hairs
on a persons head.
She has beautiful hair.
Theres a hair in my salad!
Fish

(countable

or

uncountable,

depending

on

the

meaning)
When 'fish' describes the food, it is always uncountable:
We ate some delicious fish.
To describe the living creature, this word is countable but is usually
spelled
without -es:
There were three fish in the pond.
There were three fishes in the pond. (correct, but less common)
24

Adding s to Uncountable Nouns

Adding s changes the meaning
We know that food is an uncountable noun. Yet you may
sometimes see the word foods.
For example, on a shop sign: Harrys Fine Foods
In this case, foods = kinds of food
We can use most uncountable nouns in this way:
Coffees = kind of coffee
Teas = kinds of tea
Many teas are imported from Sri Lanka
Meats = kinds of meat
Meats that are low in cholesterol include chicken and turkey.
Even though people is not an uncountable noun, it follows this
rule:
Peoples = kinds of people
The peoples of the South Pacific include islanders from Fiji, Kiribati
and Samoa.

Exercise 3
This exercise will test you on the previous two points:
Difficult and special cases
Adding -s to uncountable nouns
Circle the correct options:
Can you help me to move the _________? furnitures furniture
We bought some new _________ for the factory. equipments
equipment
She wears a lot of _________. jewelry jewelries
25

She wears a lot of _________. rings ring

This car cost a lot of _________. moneys money
The price was ten thousand _________. dollars dollar
The _________ so bad that I didnt get home until eight. traffic was
traffics were
There were too many slow-moving _________ on the road. vehicles
vehicle
I love eating _________. fruits fruit
I love eating _________. banana bananas
I have _________ good news to tell you! a some
We have had _________ good news recently. a lot of many
How _________ luggage did you bring? much many
How _________ did you bring? much bag many bags
Id like to order a couple of _________, please. coffees coffee

Container Words
We often make nouns countable by using them together with
container words.
For example, we cant say two soaps but we can say two bars of
soap.
The most common container word is piece; for instance, a piece
of news.
Some uncountable nouns can be used with more than one
container word:
A cup of coffee
A jar of coffee.
More examples.
A slice of cheese.
A slice of toast.
26

A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A

sheet of paper.
bar of soap.
bar of chocolate.
blade of grass.
bolt of lightning.
pinch of salt.
tube of toothpaste.
grain of sand.
packet of rice.
drop of water.
loaf of bread.
member of staff.
moment of time.
pint of milk.
herd of cattle
piece of news.
piece of furniture.
piece of cake.
piece of chocolate.
piece of luck.
piece of jewelry.
piece of advice.

Exercise 4
Complete the phrases without looking back at the notes:
1 a _______ of cheese
2 a _______ of grass
3 a _______ of advice
4 a _______ of bread
5 a _______ of jewelry
6 a _______ of news
7 a _______ of sand
8 a _______ of toast
9 a _______ of chocolate
10 a _______ of staff

27

Exercise 5
Final exercise
Circle the correct option:
1. Which of these words is countable? chair furniture
2. Which of these words is countable? equipment machine
3. Which of these words is countable? rice cookie
4. Can you pass me a _______ of paper? sheet slice
5. I have so _______ homework to do. much many
6. Have you made _______ progress? many any
7. I need _______ advice. an some
8. Is _______ milk fresh? this these
9. Most of this food _______ tasty. is are
10. Lets order a couple of _______ and have a chat. coffees coffee
11. I bought some chewing _______. gums gum
12. I dont have enough _______ to finish this assignment. time
times
13. I enjoyed all the _______ we went dancing together. time times
14. Which of these words is uncountable? garbage can
15. Which of these words is uncountable? flour flower
16. A _______ of cheese. bar slice
17. A _______ of soap. slice bar
18. I have _______ good news to tell you. some a
19. I can lend you _______ money if you need it. a few a little
20. I can lend you _______ dollars if you need some money. a little a
few

28

Answer key
Exercise 1
Which of these words are uncountable?
Words in bold are uncountable:
1 & methane
2 & advice
3 & smoke
4 & wool
5 & meat
6 - shoe
7 - target
8 & chocolate
9 & mustard
10 - mouse
11 - finger
12 - battery
13 - kid
14 & pasta
15 - cellphone
Exercise 2
Sentences in bold are correct:
1 Can you pass a salt? (the salt)
29

2 Could you pass the salt?

3 This sugar is lovely.
4 Can you pass me a meat? (the meat/some meat)
5 I have so many homeworks to do. (homework)
6 Most of this information are correct. ( is correct)
7 Do you have any information that would be useful?
8 My work is difficult.
9 These jam looks tasty. (This jam)
10 This pasta taste great! (tastes)
11 Can I borrow a little wool from you?
12 Were having some great weather at the moment.
13 Add lots of oil to the pan.
14 I only have a few money left. (a little money)
15 Henry gave me a useful advice. (some useful advice)
16 My sister doesnt give me much advice.
Exercise 3
Answers are in bold:
Can you help me to move the _________? furnitures furniture
We bought some new _________ for the factory. equipments
equipment
She wears a lot of _________. jewelry jewelries
She wears a lot of _________. rings ring
This car cost a lot of _________. moneys money
The price was ten thousand _________. dollars dollar
The _________ so bad that I didnt get home until eight. traffic was
traffics were
There were too many slow-moving _________ on the road. vehicles
vehicle
I love eating _________. fruits fruit
30

I love eating _________. banana bananas

I have _________ good news to tell you! a some
We have had _________ good news recently. a lot of many
How _________ luggage did you bring? much many
How _________ did you bring? much bag many bags
Id like to order a couple of _________, please. coffees coffee
Exercise 4
Complete the phrases:
1 a _______ of cheese slice/piece/lump
2 a _______ of grass blade
3 a _______ of advice piece/bit/word
4 a _______ of bread slice/piece/loaf
5 a _______ of jewelry piece
6 a _______ of news piece/bit
7 a _______ of sand grain
8 a _______ of toast slice/piece/bit
9 a _______ of chocolate bar/piece
10 a _______ of staff member
Exercise 5
1. Which of these words is countable? chair
2. Which of these words is countable? machine
3. Which of these words is countable? cookie
4. Can you pass me a _______ of paper? sheet
5. I have so _______ homework to do. much
6. Have you made _______ progress? any
7. I need _______ advice. some
8. Is _______ milk fresh? this
9. Most of this food _______ tasty. is
31

10. Lets order a couple of _______ and have a chat. coffees

11. I bought some chewing _______. gum
12. I dont have enough _______ to finish this assignment. time
13. I enjoyed all the _______ we went dancing together. times
14. Which of these words is uncountable? garbage
15. Which of these words is uncountable? flour
16. A _______ of cheese. slice
17. A _______ of soap. bar
18. I have _______ good news to tell you. some
19. I can lend you _______ money if you need it. a little
20. I can lend you _______ dollars if you need some money. a few

32