Countable and Uncountable Nouns
In English, nouns are either countable or uncountable. This changes the words we can use with them, so it is important to know the difference.
Countable nouns
These are things we can count – one, two, three... They have a singular and a plural form.
- We can say: a / an apple, one car, three houses.
- In plural we use: some, any, many, (a) few, a lot of + plural noun.
- Examples: an apple, a car, houses, many coins, one idea, a lot of students, an accident, connections
Uncountable nouns
These are things we usually cannot count – liquids, materials, ideas, and many abstract words. They have no plural and we do not use a / an with them.
- We use: some, any, much, (a) little, a lot of + uncountable noun.
- Examples: water, air, money, salt, rice, plastic, electricity, traffic.
We can also use the with an uncountable noun when we mean a specific thing that is clear from the context.
- Water is essential for life. – water in general
- The water in this bottle is cold. – specific water
Watch out! These nouns are uncountable in English even though they may be countable in your language:
- information, advice, news, weather, furniture, luggage (baggage)
- homework, work (= a job), money, knowledge, progress, damage, scenery, accommodation
So we say: some advice (not an advice), much information (not informations), nice weather (not a weather) or we use a suitable measure word (a so-called partitive), e.g. two pieces of information/homework (not two informations, two homeworks).
Nouns that can be both
Some nouns are countable or uncountable depending on their meaning.
- paper: many papers = newspapers · some paper = paper to write on (material)
- chicken: many chickens = birds (the animals) · some chicken = the meat
- glass: many glasses = cups (also = spectacles) · some glass = the material
- coffee: many coffees = cups of coffee · some coffee = the drink in general
- time: many times = occasions · some time = hours and minutes
- experience: many experiences = things that happened · some experience = skills and knowledge
- noise: many noises = particular sounds · some noise = sound in general
Quick reference
Countable: a/an, one, two... many, (a) few
Uncountable: some, much, (a) little (no a/an, no plural)
Both: some/any/a lot of can be used with either type
