3. Any surprise with the language?

Countable nouns are easy to recognize. They are things that we can count. For example: "pen". We can count pens. We can have one, two, three or more pens. Here are some more countable nouns:
  • dog, cat, animal, man, person
  • bottle, box, litre
  • coin, note, dollar
  • cup, plate, fork
  • table, chair, suitcase, bag

Countable nouns can be singular or plural:

  • My little cat is playing with the ball.
  • My dogs are really hungry.

We can use the indefinite article a/an with countable nouns:

  • A cat is an animal.

When a countable noun is singular, we must use a word like a/the/my/this with it:

  • I want an apple. (not I want apple.)
  • Where is my car? (not Where is car?)

A countable noun can appear in plural, and when it is plural, we can use it alone, or with some/any:

  • I like apples.
  • Bottles can break.
  • I prepared some sandwiches for the party.
  • Have you seen any of my brothers today?
Icono de iDevice Solved exercise: countable and uncountable nouns

house - car - cheese - apple - money - table - sugar - coffee - cup - pencil

milk - wine - potato - bread - petrol - shoe - film - tea - newspaper - book

orange - water - watch - toast - juice - glass - salt - oil - pen - class - meat

butter - sandwich - ham - egg - advice - holiday - time - chocolate - information - tuna

Say which nouns are countable or uncountable.

Icono de iDevice Actividad de Espacios en Blanco
Watch this video about countable and uncountable nouns and complete the statements below.
 

 
 

In English some nouns are ( you can count them) but you can't count others (these are called non-countable or nouns)

You can say: three tables, five apples. These nouns are .

But you can't say: six sugar, seven water, because these nouns are .

 

  

Uncountable nouns are substances, concepts, etc. that we cannot divide into separate elements. We cannot count them. For example, we cannot count water.

We can count bottles of water or litres of water, but we cannot count water itself. Here are some more uncountable nouns:

  • music, art, love, happiness
  • advice, information, news
  • furniture, luggage
  • rice, sugar, butter, water
  • electricity, gas, power
  • money, currency

We usually treat uncountable nouns as singular. We use a singular verb:

  • This news is very important.
  • Your luggage looks heavy.

We do not usually use the indefinite article a/an with uncountable nouns. We cannot say "an information" or "a music". But we can say a something of:

  • a piece of news, a piece of furniture, a piece of bread
  • a bottle of water, milk, whiskey
  • a grain of rice

We can use some and any with uncountable nouns:

  • I've got some money.
  • Have you got any rice?
Icono IDevice Important
"People" is a countable noun. People is the plural of person. We can count people:
 
There is one person here.
There are three people here.
 
However, money is uncountable. We have to use much with money:
He had too much money in his wallet.
How much is it?

Icono de iDevice AV - Reflexión

Some uncountable nouns in English are countable in other languages. This can be a bit confusing for non-native speakers of English. Here is a list of some of the most common uncountable nouns:

accommodation, advice, baggage, bread, equipment, furniture, information

knowledge, luggage, money, news, pasta, progress, research, travel, work

Icono IDevice Further knowledge

About both countable and uncountable nouns and exercises as well.

Click here to learn about countable and uncountable nouns in Spanish and lots of examples.

Very good explanation about countable and uncountable nouns, together with examples of confusing nouns.


After talking about countable and uncountable nouns we have to learn about the particles some and any.

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