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THE NOUN

Countable and unc ountable nouns

In English, nouns can be divided into countable and uncountable nouns.

Most common nouns are countable: i.e. they have both singular and plural forms: ex.

handhands.

Other common nouns are uncountable: they have a singular, but no plural: ex. bread -

*breads.

1. Examples of countable and uncountable nouns

1a. Countable nouns can be both singular and plural:

singular plural

the baby the babies

a rose some roses

that cup those cups

the bird the birds

a key some keys

that shout those shouts

1b. Uncountable nouns have no plural: they refer to things you cannot count. Here are

examples of concrete nouns (referring to the physical world) which are not countable.

Substances: bread - *breads; dust - *dusts; steel - *steels.

Liquids: blood - *bloods; milk - *milks; alcohol - *alcohols.

Gases: air - *airs; steam - *steams; oxygen - *oxygens.

Many abstract nouns are also uncountable.

peace - *peaces; evidence - *evidences; information - *informations; history - *histories;

work (=job) - *works, advice*advices; gratitude - *gratitudes

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2. What are uncountables?

Uncountables refer to masses which we cannot easily think of as consisting of separate

items: i.e. liquids, powders. We can divide many of these masses into subgroups, which

are also uncountable:

material: cotton, wool, silk, nylon

meat: beef, pork, lamb, chicken

ex.: Are these socks made ofwool or ofcotton?

I preferlamb to chicken.

Types of uncountables

To remember easily, think of substances, liquids, gases, and abstract ideas as

uncountable. In the lists of words in a e, those uncountable nouns which have

subgroups of uncountable nouns are marked in bold itali ctype.

a. Substances:wood,plastic, leather, cement, chalk, plaster, paint, sand, coal, rock, paper

material:cloth, cotton, silk, wool, nylon

metal:iron, gold, silver, brass, lead

food:flour, rice, bread, wheat, rye, sugar, salt, pepper, meat, fish, frui t, butter, cheese,

jam

fur, skin, hair, ice, snow, rain, soil, grass, land, ground

b. Liquids:water, milk, coffee, tea, oil, petrol,gasoline ,juice, alcohol

c. Gases:air, smoke, steam, oxygen, hydrogen

d. Others (You might expect some of these to be plural, but they are not!):furniture, luggage, baggage, money, pay, noise, traffic, music, accomodation

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e. Abstract ideas:information, knowledge, advice, education, fiction, (outer) space, time, power,

experience, history

NOTE: News looks like a plural noun, but in fact it is singular uncountable.

Ex.: Theres not much newson the radio today.

Note also that work, homeworkand houseworkare uncountable.

3. How countables and uncountables behave

3a. Countable nouns

(i) can follow a, an orone(ii) can follow many, few, these, those(iii) can follow a number such as two, three, four,

countable uncountable

(i) Do you have a pleasantjob? (But not: *a pleasant work)

(ii) Those meals you cooked were delicious (But not: *Those foods)(iii) I bought two loaves (of bread) (But not: *two breads)

3b. Uncountable nouns

(i) can have no article and can follow some in the singular. They take only asingular verb.

(ii) can follow much orlittle(iii) can easily follow expressions like most of the, all of the, all the , half the (in

the singular)

Uncountable countable

(i) Its made ofwood. (But not: *made of tree)

(ii) Theres too much traffic. (But not: *too much vehicle)

(iii) I sold all the furniture. (But not: *all the table)

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Some and all the are occasionally followed by a singular countable noun. But this is

exceptional.

Ex.: That was some party!(= a very special party)

Ive eaten all the loaf. (=the whole loaf)

Many nouns have both countable and uncountable uses. Some common examples:

Countable uncountable

A dozen (=12) eggs, please. Theres some egg on your chin.

Ive told him so many times. Weve wasted so much time.

The crowd threw rocks at us. a tunnel through hard rock.

a strong wind; light winds Theres a lot of wind about.

She gave a talkon sailing. Thats foolish talk.

the bright lights of the city Light travels very fast.

Some more examples: a glass(some) glass; a cake(some) cake; two papers(some)

paper.

For many nouns, the countable use is for separate items or things, but the uncountable use

is for (an amount of) the material or substance. For example: two onions (some) onion; a(whole) cheese(some) cheese; a chicken(some) chicken.

A countable noun can also describe a kind ortypeof X, where X is the uncountable

noun.

Ex.: Gold and silver are valuable metals. (kinds of metal)

This store sells health foodsand baby food(s).

Oak is ahardwood.

We sometimes change an uncountable noun into a countable noun. For instance, nouns

for liquids as tea and coffee are usually uncountable, but we can use them as countable nouns

meaning (a) a glass orcupof X, or (b) a typeof X.

Ex.: A teaandtwo coffees, please.

This is anexcellentmineral waterfrom Belgium.

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NOTE: The meaning of a noun does not always help us to decide whether it is

uncountable. For example, traffic, furniture, baggage (G.B. luggage), money, news refer to a

group of separate things. But English treats them as uncountable; we could say that English

sees these as a mass.