Countable and Uncountable
1. Countable nouns
Countable nouns can:
- be counted: 1 apple – 2 apples – 3 apples
- have both singular and plural forms: child – children, car – cars
- use a/an with the singular form: a house, a cat, an elephant
- can use some / any / many / a few: some dogs, any banana, a few books, many people
2. Uncountable nouns
Uncountable nouns are usually abstract ideas, liquid or mass forms.
Uncountable nouns:
- cannot be counted: 3 rices but: some rice/a bowl of rice
- have only a singular form and followed by a singular verb: water, rice, sand, air, wine, cheese. The water is clear.
- cannot use a/an: a music, a blood, a furniture, an advice
- can use some / any / much / a little: some music, any advice a little water, much damage
3. Nouns ending in -s
Plural nouns are nouns which only have plural forms. They are followed by a plural verb.
trousers, clothes, glasses, goods, feelings, jeans, premises, surroundings, thanks, stairs, socks, pyjamas, scales, pants, remains, goods, proceeds, whereabouts, congratulations, overheads, earnings, outskirts, savings, particulars
‘ Where are your trouser?’ ‘They are on the shelf.’
Some uncountable nouns end in –s but are uncountable and use a singular verb:
mathematics, physics, aerobics, genetics, measles, linguistics, economics, classics, mumps, diabetes, news, thanks, happiness, gymnastics, aerobics, darts, politics, physics, phonetics, statistics, rabies, means, economics
Mathematics is an interesting subject.
Plural measurements ending –s take a singular verb:
Four-hours is a long time to drive without stopping.
4. Group nouns
Group nouns or collective nouns are nouns which refer to a group of people or things together. They can take either a singular or a plural verb.
government, army, company, crew, crowd, data family, group, media, press, public, staff, team, committee, gang, the BBC, the EU, club, audience, class, generation, jury
My family is/are from Minnesota. The team is/are very successful.
Some collective nouns only take the plural verb:
Cattle are microchipped. The people are celebrating.
The police always arrive quickly.
5. Irregular plurals
Some countable nouns have irregular plural forms:
| change in form:
child – children ox – oxen man – men woman – women tooth – teeth goose – geese foot – feet mouse – mice louse – lice person – people |
no change in form:
fish – fish aircraft – aircraft cod – cod deer – deer fruit – fruit sheep – sheep series – series species – species |
Sometimes, the spelling of a plural noun is irregular:
| Change | Example |
| change -f to -v | knife – knives
life – lives wife – wives half – halves wolf – wolves loaf – loaves leaf – leaves shelf-shelves calf – calves elf – elves hoof – hooves |
| no change | cliff – cliffs
chief – chiefs cuff – cuffs roof – roofs |
| ends in -o | potato – potatoes
tomato – tomatoes volcano – volcanoes buffalo – buffaloes embargo – embargoes hero – heroes mosquito – mosquitoes zero – zeroes |
| change –a to -ae | alumna – alumnae
antenna – antennae |
| change –us to –i | cactus – cacti
nucleus – nuclei focus – foci fungus – fungi octopus – octopi radius – radii stimulus – stimuli syllabus – syllabi |
| change –is to -es | analysis – analyses
crisis – crises thesis – theses oasis – oases diagnosis – diagnoses basis – bases ellipsis – ellipses emphasis – emphases hypothesis – hypotheses neurosis – neuroses paralysis – paralyses parenthesis – parentheses synthesis – syntheses |
| change –on to –a | phenomenon – phenomena
criterion – criteria |
| change –um to -a | datum – data
medium – media bacterium – bacteria addendum – addenda curriculum – curricula memorandum – memoranda millennium – millennia stratum – strata symposium – symposia |
| change –x to –ces | appendix – appendices
index – indices matrix – matrices |
6. Counting the uncountable
We can count uncountable things by using the following expressions:
| a bag of flour
a bit of bread a bunch of flowers a cup of tea a piece of news a pool of water a glass of coca cola a bottle of wine a grain of truth a tub of butter a scrap of a spoonful of medicine a loaf of bread a can of beer a drop of blood a jar of jam |
items of clothing
a bar of chocolate pieces of furniture a box of cereal a roll of toilet paper a tube of toothpaste a portion of meat a block of cheese a sheet of paper a blade of grass a spot of ink a slice of cake a block of ice a kilo of fruit a lump of fat a speck of dirt |
7. Common uncountable nouns
Here’s a list of common uncountable nouns. Study the list carefully.
| advice
age anger baggage bread beauty behaviour blood concrete company concern rubbish traffic work growth hair health homework information knowledge justice |
air
damage duty education electricity equipment evidence experience faith food fun furniture travel weather love luck luggage music machinery money paper |
8. Quantifiers used with countable nouns
| a couple of
a number of another of both (of) each (of) either (of) every |
neither (of)
the entire the whole (of) (a) few (of) half (of) many (of)several (of) |
9. Quantifiers used with singular uncountable nouns
an amount of a great deal of a little (of) much (of)
10. Quantifiers used with all nouns
all (of) a lot of lots of
all (of) any (of) enough (of)
more (of) most (of) no
none (of) plenty of some (of)
11. Subject verb agreement
Under the previous points, we already discussed some of the interesting features of subject-verb agreement. Here are some more things worth knowing.
We use a singular verb after:
- everyone / everybody / everything
- words beginning with any- / some- / no-
- any of / each of / either of / neither of / none of / the number of + plural noun
- any of / none of / the majority of / a lot of / plenty of / all (of) / some (of) + uncountable noun
- each / every + singular noun
- common phrases connected by ‘and’ (fish and chips / R & D)
- X per cent of + plural nouns
We use the plural verb after:
- any of / each of / either of / neither of / none of / the number of + plural noun (Singular verb is preferred! See above.)
- the number of + plural noun
- plural forms of measurements and quantities (50 pounds, thirty metres)
- two joint subjects (Jack and Jill / a book and a pen)
- after ‘per cent’
- Subject connected with ‘either … or …’ and ‘neither … nor …’
12. Change of meaning
Some words change their meaning depending on the countable or the uncountable form.
| Countable:
a paper = newspaper a wood = a forest an experience = a particular situation a coffee = a cup of coffee a help = a helping person a hair = one piece a work = a work of art an exercise = a task a tea = a cup of tea a chicken = the whole chicken to eat cheeses = various kinds |
Uncountable:
paper = the material wood = the material experience = in general coffee = liquid help = help in general hair = all the hair on the had work = in general exercise = physical exercise in general tea = the liquid chicken = the meat cheese = the food |
Ready to test your knowledge?
Put the grammar rules above into practice with the challenge below.
