Countable & Uncountable Nouns
When we talk about nouns, we can classify them into two types: countable and uncountable.
Countable nouns are things that we can count or have a number for. For example, we can count apples, books, or cars. We can say “one apple,” “two books,” or “three cars.” Countable nouns have both singular and plural forms.
Uncountable nouns, on the other hand, are things that we cannot count individually. They usually refer to substances, concepts, or ideas. For instance, we can have rice, but we can’t say “one rice” or “two rices.” Similarly, we can say we like music, but we can’t say we like “one music” or “two musics”. Uncountable nouns don’t have a plural form.
The easiest way to tell if a noun is countable or uncountable is to see if it has a plural form or not. If it has a plural form, it is countable.
| Singular | Plural | Countable? |
|---|---|---|
|
tree |
trees |
yes |
|
chicken |
chickens |
yes |
|
woman |
women |
yes |
|
bus |
busses |
yes |
|
child |
children |
yes |
| Singular | Plural | Countable? |
|---|---|---|
|
rice |
x |
no |
|
knowldge |
x |
no |
|
advice |
x |
no |
|
money |
x |
no |
|
milk |
x |
no |
Note: Uncountable nouns can be made countable by adding a countable noun before it. For example, juice is an uncountable noun. It is incorrect to say, “I would like three juices”. However, if we add the word “glasses” or “bottles” before juice then can be made countable. For example, it is correct to say “I would like three bottles of juice”.