Countable and uncountable nouns

1. Nouns can be countable or uncountable:

a) Countable nouns are the names of separate objects people, etc. which we can count; they have singular and plural forms.

one book two books a man some men

Uncountable nouns are the names of things which we do not see as separate, and which we cannot count; they do not have plural forms.

milk rice weather

b) Countable nouns can take singular or plural verbs.

This book is expensive. These books are expensive.

That man lives next door. Those men live next door.

Uncountable nouns always take singular verbs.

Milk is good for you.

The weather was very good yesterday.

c) Before countable nouns, we can use a / an and numbers.

a man one book two books

We do not normally use a / an or a number directly before uncountable nouns. For example, we do not say a weather, two weather, etc. But we sometimes use a / an and numbers with e.g. coffee, tea, beer, etc. When we order these things by the cup or glass in a restaurant.

Excuse me, waiter. Could we have two coffees and a tea, please?

We use a before consonant sounds e.g. a book, a man, and an before vowel sounds e.g.: an apple, an egg.

d) We use some before plural countable nouns and uncountable nouns.

some books some rice

some men some milk

2. Some nouns can be used as countable or uncountable, with a difference of meaning.

For example:

countable uncountable

a glass glass (= the material)

a hair her hair (= all the hair on her head)

a paper (= a newspaper) some paper (= the writing material)

an iron iron (= the metal)

some potatoes (= several potatoes) some potato

3. Some nouns are uncountable in English, but countable in other languages. Here are some of the most common of these uncountable nouns, together with some related countable expressions:

uncountable: countable:

accommodation a place to live / stay

advice a piece of advice

bread a loaf slice / piece (of bread) a (bread) roll

furniture a piece of furniture

information a piece of information

luggage a piece of luggage; a suitcase / bag

money a note / coin; a sum (of money)

news a piece of news

traffic a car / bus etc.

travel a journey / trip

work a job; a piece of work

Compare:

I’ve just had some news. I’ve just had a piece of news.

Where is your luggage? Where are your suitcases?

We need some bread. We need a loaf of bread.

Instead of a piece of here, we can use a bit of in a more informal style e.g.: a bit of advice.

4. We can use both countable and uncountable nouns in phrases of quantity with of.

a box of matches / a bottle of water

two tins of tomatoes / two loaves of bread

Exercise 1

Decide whether these words are countable or uncountable. Make a list of the things using a / an or some:

Examples: Some cheese, a banana…

Wine, bread, egg, tomatoes, water, orange, rice, carrots, apples, meat.

Exercise 2

Choose the correct form.

Examples:

I’d like some information / informations about hotels in London.

1. Sue is the woman with blonde hair / hairs who lives opposite.

2. Did you have a good travel / journey from Switzerland?

3. I’ve got a problem and I’d like some advice / advices.

4. Don’t forget to buy a dread / some bread when you go shopping.

5. I’d like to find out what’s on TV this evening. Have you got a paper / some paper?

6. There is / are usually a lot of traffic / traffics in the city at this time of the day.

7. He’s trying to find a work / job at the moment, but there isn’t / aren’t much work / works available.

8. Is / Are good accommodation / accommodations difficult to find in the city centre?

Exercise 3

Which of the underlined parts of these sentences is right?

Example:

Sue was very helpful. She gave me some good advice / advices. (‘advice’ is right)/

1. Margaret has got very long black hair / hairs.

2. We had a very good weather / very good weather when we were on holiday.

3. Sorry I’m late. I had trouble / troubles with the car this morning.

4. I want something to read. I’m going to buy a / some paper.

5. I want to write some letters. I need a / some writing paper.

6. It’s very difficult to find a work / job at the moment.

7. Bad news don’t / doesn’t make people happy.

8. Our travel / journey from London to Istanbul by train was very interesting.

9. The flat is empty. We haven’t got any furnitures / furniture yet.

10. When the fire alarm rang, there was a complete chaos / complete chaos.

11. I had to buy a / some bread because I wanted to make some sandwiches.

12. After spending most of his life travelling round the world, he is now writing a book about his experience / experiences.

Exercise 4

In this exercise you have to write what you would say in these situations. Each time begin in the way shown and use one of the words in the section.

luggage advice

information news

weather scenery

Example:

Your friends have just arrived at the station/ you can’t see any suitcases or bags. You say: Have you got any luggage…?

1. You go into the tourist office. You want to know about places to see in the town. You say: I’d like…

2. The weather is beautiful. You say: What…!

3. You are a pupil at school. You want your teacher to advise you about which examinations to take. You say: Can you give me…?

4. You want to watch the news on television but you don’t know what time it is on. You ask your friend: What time…?

5. You are standing at the top of a mountain. You can see a very long way. It is beautiful. You say: What…!