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 THE WHOLE

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

Some common uncountable nouns:

Clothing Advice Money Grammar

Equipment Information Scenery Slang
Food News Stuff Vocabulary
Fruit History Traffic Corn
Furniture Literature Homework Dirt
Garbage Music Housework Dust
Hardware Poetry Work Flour
Jewelry English Hair Grass
Machinery Chinese Pepper Sand
Mail Korean, etc. Rice Sugar
Makeup (names of languages) Salt 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:

Accomodation Chaos Luggage

Advice Demage News
Baggage Furniture Permission
Behavior Information Progress
Bread Luck Scenery
 Traffic Weather 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
- 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.
Uncountable
- I’m looking for work.
- What beautiful scenery!
- It’s nice waether today.
- We had a lot of luggage. (Not
“luggages”)
- This furniture are mine.
- It was good advice.