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Countable & Uncountable Nouns
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Secondaire
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Countable Nouns
Anything that can be counted is considered a countable noun. It can be a singular noun or a plural noun.
| Singular countable nouns | Plural countable nouns |
a kangaroo |
three kangaroos |
an airplane |
two airplanes |
Uncountable Nouns
Anything that cannot be easily separated or counted is considered as an uncountable noun. It is referred to as a mass, a whole, or a concept.
Some Uncountable Nouns Refer to:
| Examples: | |
weather |
rain lightning wind snow |
ideas and experiences |
advice fun progress information |
materials and substances |
water milk gold cement |
groups or collections of things |
equipment furniture garbage luggage |
abstract concepts |
love luck happiness music |
Using Articles and Adjectives
Pay attention to the articles and the adjectives you use with different nouns. Some can be used with only countable or only uncountable nouns.
| Used with Countable Nouns Only | |
| a/an | a car, an elephant |
| a/an = one object | a car = 1 car an elephant = 1 elephant  |
| many | many books, many situations |
| many = a large number | many books = a large number of books |
| few | few problems, few countries |
| a few | a few questions, a few issues |
| few = a small number | few countries = a small number of countries |
| Used with Uncountable Nouns Only | |
| much | much food, much time |
| much = a large quantity | much food = a large quantity of food |
| little | little meat, little patience |
| a little bit of | a little bit of snow |
| little = a small quantity | a little bit of snow = a small quantity of snow |
Articles and Adjectives Used with Countable and Uncountable Nouns
| Used With Countable Nouns | Used with Uncountable Nouns | |
| the | the tigers, the planes | the cheese, the knowledge |
| some | some forks, some tables | some time, some news |
| For example | the 5 planes some planes  the & some = more than 1 when used with countable nouns |
the cheese some cheese  the & some = a certain quantity when used with uncountable nouns |
| any | any workers, any beliefs | any advice, any soap |
| For example | Are there any workers left? There aren’t any workers left.  any = more than 1 or none when used with countable nouns |
Do you have any soap? I don’t have any soap.  any = a certain quantity or none when used with uncountable nouns |
| a lot of | a lot of animals, a lot of employees | a lot of furniture, a lot of equipment |
| enough | enough restaurants, enough plates | enough money, enough food |
| plenty of | plenty of differences | plenty of trouble |
| For example | a lot of employees a lot of = a large number when used with countable nouns |
enough money enough = a large quantity when used with uncountable nouns |
The word hair is normally uncountable in English, however, when used to refer to individual hairs, it becomes countable.
For example:
| Uncountable | Countable |
She has brown hair. |
I have a few white hairs. |