COUNTABLE OR 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 is 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)
An Apple / 1 Apple	Rice
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
apples	rice
I eat an apple every day. Apples are good for you.	I eat rice every day. Rice is good for you.
A computer = Computers are fun. An elephant = Elephants are large.	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 ......." Rice = a grain of rice Water = a glass of water Rain = a drop of rain
You can use some and any with countable nouns. Some dogs can be dangerous. I don't use any computers at work.	You can use some and any with uncountable nouns. I usually drink some soup with my meal. I don't usually drink any water with my wine.
You only use many and few with plural countable nouns. So many elephants have been hunted that they are an endangered species. There are few elephants in England.	You only use much and little with uncountable nouns. I don't usually drink much coffee. Little wine is undrinkable though.
You can use a lot of and no with plural countable nouns. No computers were bought last week. A lot of computers were reported broken the week before.	You can use a lot of and no with uncountable nouns. A lot of wine is drunk in France. No wine is drunk in Iran.

Making uncountable nouns countable

You can make most uncountable noun countable by putting a countable expression in front of the noun.

For example:-

·         A piece of information.

·         2 glasses of water.

·         10 litres of coffee.

·         Three grains of sand.

·         A pane of glass.

Remember It

Questions

How much ....? = uncountable nouns

For example: How much coffee do you drink?

How many ....? = countable nouns

For example: How many cups of coffee do you drink?

Learn It

How do you count uncountable nouns? You can't, but you can measure them. You have to use ‘counters’
Uncountable	Sugar	Jewellery	Cheese	Milk	Furniture	Money
Uncountable Question	How much sugar is there?	How much jewellery is there?	How much cheese is there?	How much milk is there?	How much furniture is there?	How much money is there?
Answer	There's a lot of sugar.	There's some jewellery.	There's a lot of cheese.	There's some milk.	There's some furniture.	There's a lot of money.
Add a word	bowl	piece	round	bottle	piece	bag
Make it Countable	A bowl of sugar.	A piece of jewellery.	A round of cheese.	A bottle of milk.	A piece of furniture.	A bag of money.
Countable Question	How many bowls of sugar are there?	How many pieces of jewellery are there?	How many rounds of cheese are there?	How many bottles of milk are there?	How many pieces of furniture are there?	How many bags of money are there?
Answer	There's one bowl of sugar.	There are two pieces of jewellery.	There are three rounds of cheese.	There's only one bottle of milk.	There are two pieces of furniture.	There are four bags of money.

 

Other words you can add to make uncountable nouns countable

You can put something into a container to count it, but the thing you're counting doesn't take the plural form. The container takes the plural form:-
bag	A bag of money.
set	Two set of dinner.
bottle	Three bottles of source.
bowl	Four bowls of sugar.
box	Five boxes of cereal.
bucket	Six buckets of water.
can	Seven cans of Coke.
carton	Eight cartons of milk.
cup	Nine cups of coffee.
glass	Ten glasses of water.
jar	Eleven jars of honey.
packet	A dozen packets of butter.
a saucepan	Thirteen pans of rice.
tank	Fifteen tanks of petrol.
tin	Sixteen tins of custard.
tub	Seventeen tubs of margarine.
tube	Eighteen tubes of toothpaste.