It is important to know the difference between a COUNTABLE and an UNCOUNTABLE noun in English. Quantifiers such as many, few, can only be used with countable nouns while much / little can only be used with uncountable nouns. Click here for online exercises or worksheet in pdf.
| UNCOUNTABLE | COUNTABLE |
|---|---|
| accommodation | a place to stay |
| advice | a piece of advice |
| baggage | a suitcase / a backpack / a trunk |
| bread | a loaf of bread / a loaf / a roll / a bun |
| chess | a game of chess |
| chewing gum | a piece of chewing gum |
| equipment | a tool |
| furniture | a table / a chair |
| information | a bit / piece of information |
| knowledge | a fact |
| luck | a stroke of luck |
| luggage | an item of luggage / a case / a bag |
| money | coins / notes |
| news | a piece of news |
| poetry | poems |
| publicity | an advertisement |
It is normally easy to tell the difference between an uncountable noun such as sand or rice and a countable noun such as dog or chair. Sometimes the difference is not so clear as the concept of what is countable and uncountable is different from language to language.
NOUNS CAN BE COUNTABLE & UNCOUNTABLE
Some nouns are both countable and uncountable depending on whether they refer to the concept or substance of a thing.
Most uncountable nouns don’t have an ‘s’ at the end!
An easy way to check if is a noun is countable or uncountable is to check if it is in the plural. Most uncountable nouns group together the concept of the thing and therefore do not take an ‘s’. However, there are of course some exceptions to this grammar rule. For example: nuts and noodles.
| UNCOUNTABLE FOOD | COUNTABLE FOOD |
| meat | a chicken leg / a chicken breast |
| fish | a tuna steak / a piece of swordfish / a can of tuna |
| rice | a bowl of rice / a packet of rice |
| nuts | a packet of nuts |
| sugar | a teaspoon of sugar / a bag of sugar |
| tea | a cup of tea / a tea bag |
| coffee | a teaspoon of coffee / a cup of coffee |
| water | a glass of water / a bottle of water |
| pasta | a plate of pasta / a bowl of spaghetti |
| noodles | a bowl of noodles / a packet of noodles |
| milk | a carton of milk / a glass of milk |
| butter | a packet of butter |
| salt | a pinch of salt |
| pepper | a pinch of pepper |
| flour | 200 grams of flour / a cup of flour |
| juice | a carton of juice / a glass of juice |
| wine | a glass of wine / a bottle of wine |
| salad | a bowl of salad |
| jam | a jar of jam / a teaspoon of jam |
| cheese | a piece of cheese / a slice of cheese |
| ketchup | a dash of ketchup |
| oil | a tablespoon of oil |
| mustard | a dash of mustard |
| food | a plate of food |
PRACTICE VIDEO: UNCOUNTABLE & COUNTABLE NOUNS 🙂
Here are some common nouns which are uncountable.
INFORMATION
RESEARCH
TIME
PAPER
HAIR
GRAMMAR
PROGRESS
TROUBLE
WORK
EVIDENCE
BEAUTY
ANGER
Click here for EXERCISES to practice the difference between countable and uncountable nouns.
Click here for exercise practice with MUCH, MANY
Click here to practise countable & uncountable nouns with SOME & ANY