8/17/2016 Countable Nouns

CountableNouns
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/CountableNouns.htm

TheFarlexGrammarBook>EnglishGrammar>PartsofSpeech>Nouns>CountableNouns

CountableNouns
Definition
Countablenouns(alsoknownascountnouns)arenounsthatcanbeconsideredasindividual,separableitems,
whichmeansthatweareabletocountthemwithnumberswecanhaveone,two,five,15,100,andsoon.Wecan
alsousethemwiththeindefinitearticlesaandan(whichsignifyasinglepersonorthing)orintheirpluralforms.

Countablenounscontrastwithuncountablenouns(alsoknownasnoncountormassnouns),whichcannotbe
separatedandcountedasindividualunitsorelements.Uncountablenounscannottakeanindefinitearticle,norcan
theybemadeplural.

Concretevs.AbstractCountableNouns
Bothconcreteandabstractnounscanbecountable.Concretenounsnamepeople,places,orthingsthatare
tangibletheycanbeseenortouched.Abstractnouns,ontheotherhand,nameintangiblethings,suchasideas,
concepts,feelings,orattributes.

Concretecountablenouns
Concretenounsareabiteasiertounderstandasbeingcountableafterall,theyarethingsthatwecanseeand
feel,andsowecanusuallycountthem.Considerthefollowing,forexample:
cup
ambulance
phone
person
eel
computer
doctor

Eachofthesecanbeconsideredasanindividualitemorunit,whichmeansthatweareabletocountthem:

Singular Plural

acup twocups
anambulance severalambulances
aphone 10phones
aperson manypeople
aneel threeeels
acomputer afewcomputers
adoctor somedoctors

Abstractcountablenouns
Eventhoughabstractnounsarenottangible,manyofthemcanstillbecountedasseparableunits.Likeconcrete
nouns,theycantakeaoranorcanbemadeplural.

Considertheseabstractnouns:

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conversation
emergency
reading
aspiration
emotion
belief

Nowletsseehowtheycanbecounted:

Singular Plural

aconversation twoconversations
anemergency severalemergencies
areading 10readings
anaspiration manyaspirations
anemotion hundredsofemotions
abelief certainbeliefs

Grammarwithcountablenouns
Whenweusecountablenouns,certainelementsinasentencewillchangedependingonwhetherthenounis
singularorplural.

Thirdpersonsingularvs.thirdpersonpluralpronouns
Ifacountablenounisbeingrepresentedbyathirdpersonpronoun,wemusttakecaretousethecorrectsingular
orpluralform.

Singular
Whenanounissingularandnamesaperson(or,sometimes,apet)whosegenderisknown,*thenweusethethird
personsingularhe,him,orhis(masculine)orshe,her,orhers(feminine).Forexample:
Themanleftearly,soIdidntgetachancetotalktohim.(Manissingular,soittakesthethirdpersonsingular
pronounhim.)
Thepresidenthasmanythingsthatshewantstoaccomplishinoffice.(Presidentissingular,soittakesthe
thirdpersonsingularpronounshe.)
Wetaughtourdogtoknowwhichbedishis.(Dogissingular,soittakesthethirdpersonsingularpronoun
his.)

Ifthenounnamesasingularplace,thing,ornondomesticanimal,thenwemustusethethirdpersonneuter
pronounit:
Ihatethiscomputerbecauseitissoslow!
Thecowlowedsoftlyasitate.
Somepeopledislikethistown,butIvealwayslovedit.

Plural
Whenanounisplural,weusethesamethirdpersonpronounsforpeople,places,animals,andthings:they,them,
andtheirs.*Forexample:
Theparadefloatsarespectacular!Ilovewatchingthemgodownthestreet.
BillandSamanthatoldmetheywerecomingoverlater.
Makesurethechildrenknowwhichbagsaretheirs.

*UsageNote:Singularthey
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Englishdoesnothaveawayofidentifyingasinglepersonwithapronounifhisorhergenderisnotknown,so
sometimesthethirdpersonpluralforms(they,them,etc.)areusedasagenderneutralalternativetothethird
personfeminine/masculineforms.Thisissometimescalledsingularthey.

Forexample:
Youshouldntjudgesomeoneuntilyouknowwhattheyarereallylike.
Ifanyoneneedsextrahelpwiththeirstudies,theyshouldfeelfreetoseemeafterclass.

Whileitisstillconsideredincorrectbysomewritersandwritingguides,especiallyinAmericanEnglish,singular
theyisgraduallybecomingacceptedasthenorm,especiallyininstanceswithindefinitepronounsthatsound
pluralbutaregrammaticallysingular(likeanyoneintheexampleabove).

SubjectVerbAgreement
Becausecountablenounscanbeeithersingularorplural,itisveryimportanttousethecorrectsubjectverb
agreementwhentheyarefunctioningasthesubjectofaclause.

Subjectverbagreementreferstousingcertainconjugationsofverbsforsingularsubjectsandusingother
conjugationsforpluralsubjects.Thishappensmostnoticeablywiththeverbtobe,whichbecomesisorwaswith
singularsubjectnounsandareorwerewithpluralsubjects.

Forexample:
Mybrotherisbackfromcollege.(singularpresentsimpletense)
Thecompanywasinfinancialtrouble.(singularpastsimpletense)
Manypeoplearegettingfrustratedwiththegovernment.(pluralpresentsimpletense)
Thecomputerswereratherold.(pluralpastsimpletense)

Foranyotherverb,weonlyneedtomakeachangeifitisinthepresentsimpletense.Formostverbs,thisis
accomplishedbyaddinganstotheendifitissingularandleavingitinitsbaseformifitisplural.Forexample:
Myfatherrunshisownbusiness.(singular)
Buthissonsrunitwhenhesaway.(plural)

Thedogwagshistailwhenheishappy.(singular)
Dogssometimeswagtheirtailswhentheyreangryorscared.(plural)

Theverbshaveanddoalsoonlyconjugateforsingularsubjectsinthepresentsimpletense,buttheyhaveirregular
formsforthis:hasanddoes.Forexample:
Theapplehasamarkonit.(singular)
Alltheappleshavemarksonthem.(plural)

Theteacherdoesnotthinkitsagoodidea.(singular)
Theotherteachersdonotmind,though.(plural)

Finally,themodalauxiliaryverbswill,would,shall,should,can,could,might,andmustdonotconjugatefor
singularvs.pluralsubjectsatalltheyalwaysremainthesame.Forinstance:
ThisphonecanalsosurftheInternet!(singular)
Mostphonescandothatnow.(plural)

ThepresidentwillarriveinMaltanextweek.(singular)
Theotherdiplomatswillarriveshortlyafterthat.(plural)

Quiz

1.Whichofthefollowingcannotbeusedwithcountablenouns?

a)Indefinitearticles
b)Definitearticles

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c)Thirdpersonsingularpronouns
d)Pluralforms
e)Alloftheabove
f)Noneoftheabove

2.TrueorFalse:Countablenounsarealwaysconcretenouns.

a)True
b)False

3.Howdomostverbsconjugatewhentheyhaveasingularsubject?

a)Byaddingdtotheend
b)Byaddingstotheend
c)Theyremainintheirbaseform
d)Theytakeanauxiliaryverb

4.Whichofthefollowingthirdpersonpronounsisusedforpluralnouns?

a)he
b)she
c)it
d)they

5.Whichofthefollowingthirdpersonpronounsisusedfornongenderedsingularnouns?

a)he
b)she
c)it
d)they

Submit

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