Count and noncount nouns

1. I bought a chair.

Tom bought three chairs.

2. We bought some furniture.

INCORRECT: We bought a furniture.

INCORRECT: We bought some furnitures.

Chair is a count noun; chairs are items that can be counted.

Furniture is a noncount noun.

In grammar, furniture cannot be counted.

Singular Plural

COUNT

NOUN

a chair

one chair

chairs

two chairs

some chairs

a lot of chairs

many chairs

A count noun:

a) may be preceded by a/an in the singular;

b) takes a final -s/-es in the plural.

NONCOUNT

NOUN

furniture

some furniture

a lot of

furniture

much furniture



A noncount noun:

a) is not immediately preceded by a/an;

b) has no plural form;

does not take a final -s/-es.

1. Whole groups made up of similar items: baggage, clothing, equipment, food, fruit, furniture, garbage, hardware, jewelry, junk, luggage, mail, machinery, make-up, money/cash/change, postage, scenery, traffic.

2. Fluids: water, coffee, tea, milk, oil, soup, gasoline, blood, etc.

3. Solids: ice, bread, butter, cheese, meat, gold, iron, silver, glass, paper, wood, cotton, wool, etc.

4. Gases: steam, air, oxygen, nitrogen, smoke, smog, pollution, etc.

5. Particles: rice, chalk, corn, dirt, dust, flour, grass, hair, pepper, salt, sand, sugar, wheat, etc.

6. Abstractions:

— beauty, confidence, courage, education, enjoyment, fun, happiness, health, help, honesty, hospitality, importance, intelligence, justice, knowledge, laughter, luck, music, patience, peace, pride, progress, recreation, significance, sleep, truth, violence, wealth, etc.

— advice, information, news, evidence, proof;

— time, space, energy;

— homework, work;

— grammar, slang, vocabulary.

7. Languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, Spanish, etc.

8. Fields of study: economics, chemistry, engineering, history, literature, mathematics, psychology, etc.

9. Recreation: baseball, soccer, tennis, chess, bridge, poker, etc.

10. General activities: driving, studying, swimming, travelling, walking (and other gerunds).

11. Natural Phenomena: weather, dew, fog, hail, heat, humidity, gravity, rain, lightning, sleet, snow, thunder, wind, darkness, light, sunshine, electricity,

fire.