What are countable and uncountable nouns? Definition & Examples

What are countable and uncountable nouns

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Asked by @ Salai Lalte (Community Student)

What are countable and uncountable nouns

Answered by @ Elo Kasia

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What are countable and uncountable nouns

English for Beginners: Countable & Uncountable Nouns

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Question Time: What are countable and uncountable nouns?

  @ Salai Lalte, Thank you for your question

  As usual, I will try to explain the difference using simple language and plenty of examples.

What are nouns?

• Singular: a car, my car, the car
• Plural: cars, two cars, some cars, many cars.

Uncountable nouns are usually liquids or materials composed of small particles, which we consider “in mass”, such as flour, water, tea, milk and abstract ideas or qualities, such as love, fear, knowledge, music, etc. They cannot be “counted” and only have one form (singular).

• Water, my water, the water, some water but we cannot say a water
• You cannot use a/ an with the meaning of one but instead we often use a piece of …, a glass of …
• A glass of water, a piece of chalk, a bottle of milk, a piece of music, a bar of chocolate, a cup of tea and so on.

Some and any are often used to express quantity with:

• n countable nouns in plural
• n uncountable nouns in the singular form

Countable:

• I’m buying a new car. / There were some cars parked in the company carpark.
• Were there any cars outside the house? We don’t sell any second-hand cars.
• Can I have an orange? / She bought some oranges at the market.
• Do we need any oranges? I’m going to the shop. She didn’t bring any oranges home.
• We can ask a question “how many” with all countable nouns.
• Ex. How many classes did you have today?

Uncountable:

(make sure you use the verb in singular form)

• I need some money. (yes, money is uncountable). / We don’t want any money./ Is there any money left?
• We have to buy some flour for the recipe./ Is there any flour in the cupboard? / This cake can be made without any flour.
• I’m going to have some coffee before I go. / Is there any coffee left?/ I don’t want any coffee.

Elo Kasia

• Community Mentor for ” English Grammar and Speaking Academy“.
• Director at Eloquent Learning Online, educational institution based in the UK. www.eloquentlearning.com.

What are countable and uncountable nouns