Countable and uncountable nouns

Nouns are either countable or uncountable.

Countable Nouns

A Gasket Cylinder A forklift

Nouns such as gasket, cylinder, forklift etc may be counted in numbers. Countable nouns have a
plural form while uncountable nouns such as food, money, advice, news do not have plurals.

We can use numbers and a / an with countable nouns.

Uncountable nouns

Petrol Glass Water

Uncountable nouns are the names of materials, liquids, and other things which we do not see as
separate objects. We cannot use a / an or numbers with uncountable nouns; they have no plurals.

Practise aloud
Exercise 1

A list of uncountable nouns is given below. Learn these words and their usage.

Access - Only a few people have access to this information.

Accommodation - Does the company provide accommodation for the workers?

Advice - If you're not sure what to do, ask your supervisor for advice.

Air - If there's not enough air in the cylinder, remove it.

Anger - Why was someone with so much anger allowed to own a gun?

Assistance - After calling 911 for assistance, we waited for an ambulance.

Baggage - The customs officer at the airport checked all my baggage.

Beauty – The sun set was beautiful.

Blood - Blood carries oxygen from the lungs to all the body's cells.

Bread – I ate bread for breakfast.

Butter - Would you like some butter on your toast?

Cash - If you need some cash, go to an ATM machine.

Courage - The protesters showed so much courage, knowing they could be shot at any moment.

Damage - We couldn't believe how much damage the storm had caused.

Dirt – The PPE is covered in dirt.

dust - All the furniture in the mess was covered in dust due to the sand storm.

Equipment – We use the latest equipment in our company.

Failure - Sometimes we learn more from failure than we do from success.

Flour - If you're going shopping, could you get some flour?

Fruit - Fruit is delicious, and it's also really good for you.

Fuel - The pump stopped working because it'd run out of fuel.

Fun - Our kids had lots of fun at the beach today.

Furniture - My wife always wants to buy more furniture.

Garbage - Did you remember to take out the garbage?

Hair - Harry's hair was long and blond when he was a teenager, but now it's short and gray.

Hate - Their eyes were full of hate as they beat and kicked their victim.

Health - His health improved a lot after he started exercising.

Ice cream - If I eat too much ice cream, I start to put on weight.

Juice - Every morning I have a glass of freshly-squeezed orange juice.

Knowledge - We all need the knowledge and skills that an education provides.

Labour - Does this price include the cost of labour?

Leisure - Her favourite leisure activities are reading and playing tennis.

Meat - Did you buy this meat from our local butcher?

Milk - How many litres of milk do you drink every day?

Music - What sort of music do you like?

News - My dad watches the news on TV every night.

Oil - Saudi Arabia makes a lot of money from selling oil.

Oxygen - When you breathe in, your body gets oxygen from the air.

Paper - How many sheets of paper do you need?

Quality - Good quality shoes last longer than shoes of poor quality.

Rain - All the farmers in our village are praying for rain.

Safety: Supervisors always worry about the safety of their employees.

Smoke - We could see the smoke, so we knew there was a fire.

Sugar - How many teaspoons of sugar would you like in your tea?

Tea - Would you like a cup of peppermint tea?

Exercise 2

Practise aloud with a partner.

A. Is there any trainee in the hall?
B. There are some / a few (trainees) in the hall.

A: Is there any equipment with you?

B: Yes, there is. / No, there isn’t any.

A: Was there any safety officer present when the short circuit happened?
B: Yes, a safety officer was present there. / No, there weren’t any present.
 A: Did any of you remove the sign board?
B: No, nobody has removed it.

A: How many spanners are there in the tool box?

B: There are three in the box. / There is none in the box.

Golden Tips

We cannot usually put a / an with an uncountable noun even when there is an adjective.

 My father enjoys very good health. (NOT …. A very good health)

 We’re having terrible weather. (NOT ……. a terrible weather)
 He speaks good English. (NOT …….. a good English)

Many nouns have both countable and uncountable uses. Compare:

 I’d like some white paper. (uncountable)

 I’m going to buy a paper. (= a newspaper – countable)
 The window’s made of unbreakable glass. (uncountable)
 Would you like a glass of water? (countable)
 Could I have some coffee? (uncountable)
 Could we have two coffees? (=cups of coffee – countable)