English 1 - Countable and Uncountable Nouns

A noun can be countable or uncountable. Countable nouns can be "counted", they have a singular and plural form .

For example:

• A book, two books, three books .....
• An apple, two apples, three apples ....

Uncountable nouns (also called mass nouns or noncount nouns) cannot be counted, they are not seperate objects. This means you cannot make them plural by adding -s, because they only have a singular form. It also means that they do not take a/an or a number in front of them.

For example:

• Water
• Work
• Information
• Coffee
• Sand

• Countable (use a/an or a number in front of countable nouns)	Uncountable (there is no a/an or number with uncountable nouns)
  I eat an apple every day.	I eat rice every day. (not I eat a rice every day.)
  Add (s) to make a countable noun plural	There is no plural form for an uncountable noun
  I eat an apple every day. Apples are good for you.	I eat rice every day. Rice is good for you.
  To make uncountable nouns countable add a counting word, such as a unit of measurement, or the general word piece. We use the form "a ....... of ......."
  An elephant=Elephants are large.	Rice=a grain of rice
  	Water=a glass of water
  	Rain=a drop of rain
  	Music=a piece of music
  You can use some and any with countable nouns.	You can use some and any with uncountable nouns.
  Some dogs can be dangerous. I don't use any computers at work.	I usually drink some wine with my meal. I don't usually drink any water with my wine.
  You only use many and few with plural countable nouns.	You only use much and little with uncountable nouns.
  So many elephants have been hunted that they are an endangered species. There are few elephants in England.	I don't usually drink much coffee. Little wine is undrinkable though.
  You can use a lot of and no with plural countable nouns.	You can use a lot of and no with uncountable nouns.
  No computers were bought last week. A lot of computers were reported broken the week before.	A lot of wine is drunk in France. No wine is drunk in Iran.

 IN THE NEXT POST, YOU CAN FIND SOME EXERCISES ABOUT THIS TOPIC