Countable and uncountable nouns: basic information
The difference
Countable nouns are the names of separate objects, people, ideas, etc, which can be counted. We can use numbers and the article a/an with countable nouns; they have plurals.
- a cat
- a newspaper
- three cats
- two newspapers
Uncountable (or mass) nouns are the names of materials, liquids, abstract qualities, collections and other things which we see as masses without clear boundaries, and not as separate objects. Some examples:
- oil
- oxygen
- baggage
- crockery
- jewellery
- underwear
- water
- plastic
- clothing
- equipment
- luggage
- weather
- steel
- granite
- cutlery
- furniture
- machinery
We cannot use numbers with uncountable nouns, and most are singular with no plurals. We do not normally use a/an with uncountable nouns, though there are some exceptions (see here).
- clear water (not
a clear water, two clear waters) - pure wool (not
a pure wool, two pure wools) - bad weather (not
a bad weather, three bad weathers)
Some determiners can only be used with countable nouns (e.g. many, few); others can only be used with uncountables (e.g. much, little). Compare:
- How many hours do you work?
- How much money do you earn?
Note that very many nouns are not simply countable or uncountable: they have countable or uncountable uses ( (see here) below).
Problems
Usually it is easy to see whether a noun is countable or uncountable. Obviously house is normally a countable noun, and water is not. But it is not always so clear: compare a journey (countable) and travel (uncountable); a glass (countable) and glass (uncountable); vegetables (countable) and fruit (uncountable). The following rules will help, but to know exactly how a particular noun can be used, it is necessary to check in a good dictionary.
travel and a journey; a piece of advice
Travel and journey have very similar meanings, but travel is normally uncountable (it means ‘travelling in general’, and we do not talk about ‘a travel’), while journey is countable (a journey is one particular movement from one place to another) and can have a plural: journeys.
- I like travel, but it’s often tiring.
- Did you have a good journey?
Often we can make an uncountable word countable by putting a piece of or a similar expression in front of it.
- He never listens to advice.
- Can I give you a piece of advice?
Here are some other examples of general–particular pairs. (Note that some words that are uncountable in English have countable equivalents in other languages.)
| Uncountable | Countable |
|---|---|
| accommodation | a place to live (not |
| baggage | a piece/item of baggage; a case/trunk/bag |
| bread | a piece/slice/loaf of bread; a loaf; a roll |
| chess | a game of chess |
| chewing gum | a piece of chewing gum (not |
| equipment | a piece of equipment; a tool, etc |
| furniture | a piece/article of furniture; a table, chair, etc |
| information | a piece of information |
| knowledge | a fact |
| lightning | a flash of lightning |
| luck | a piece/bit/stroke of luck |
| luggage | a piece/item of luggage; a case/trunk/bag |
| money | a note; a coin; a sum of money |
| news | a piece of news |
| poetry | a poem |
| progress | a step forward; an advance |
| publicity | an advertisement |
| research | a piece of research; a study; an experiment |
| rubbish | a piece of rubbish |
| slang | a slang word/expression |
| thunder | a clap of thunder |
| traffic | cars, etc |
| vocabulary | a word; an expression |
| work | a piece of work; a job |
Note that some English uncountable nouns or -ing forms may be borrowed into other languages and turned into countable nouns. This happens, for instance, with parking: in English it means the activity of parking in general; French uses un parking to mean ‘a car park’. The same has happened with training and planning (used in several other languages, but not usually in English, to mean ‘training session/course’ and ‘planning operation/meeting’ respectively).
Materials: glass, paper, etc
Words for materials are uncountable, but we can often use the same word as a countable noun to refer to something made of the material. Compare:
- I’d like some typing paper.
I’m going out to buy a paper (= a newspaper) - The window’s made of unbreakable glass.
Would you like a glass of water?
Nouns for materials, liquids, etc can be countable when they are used to talk about different types.
- Not all washing powders are kind to your hands.
- We have a selection of fine wines at very good prices.
The same thing happens when we talk about ordering drinks. Compare:
- Have you got any coffee?
- Could I have two coffees? (= cups of coffee)
fruit, rice, wheat, spaghetti, hair; vegetables, peas, grapes
Many things (e.g. rice, grapes) can be seen either as a collection of separate elements or as a mass. Some names for things of this kind are uncountable, while others are countable (usually plural). Things that come in small grains (e.g. sand, rice) are usually uncountable; collections made of larger grain-like things (e.g. peas, grapes) are more often countable. But the difference is not very systematic: compare gravel and pebbles. Note that some words of this kind (e.g. grapes) may be countable in English and uncountable in certain other languages.
Uncountable: fruit, rice, spaghetti, macaroni (and other pasta foods), sugar, salt, corn, wheat, barley, rye, maize, gravel.
Countable: vegetable(s), bean(s), pea(s), grape(s), lentil(s), pebble(s).
- Fruit is very expensive, but vegetables are cheap.
- Is the spaghetti ready?
- These grapes are sour.
Hair is normally uncountable in English.
- His hair is black.
But one strand of hair is a hair (countable).
- So why has he got two blonde hairs on his jacket?
For words that are used to talk about one ‘piece’ of uncountable collections (e.g. a grain of corn, a blade of grass), (see here).
Abstract nouns: time, life, experience, etc
Many abstract nouns can have both uncountable and countable uses, often corresponding to more ‘general’ and more ‘particular’ meanings. Compare:
- Don’t hurry – there’s plenty of time.
Have a good time. There are times when I just want to stop work. - Life is complicated.
He’s had a really difficult life. - She hasn’t got enough experience for the job.
I had some strange experiences last week. - It’s hard to feel pity for people like that.
It’s a pity it’s raining. - Your plan needs more thought.
I had some frightening thoughts in the night. - I need to practise conversation.
Megan and I had a very interesting conversation.
Illnesses
The names of illnesses are usually singular uncountable in English, including those ending in -s.
- If you’ve already had measles, you can’t get it again.
- There is a lot of flu around at the moment.
The words for some minor ailments are countable: e.g. a cold, a sore throat, a headache. However, toothache, earache, stomach ache and backache are usually uncountable in British English. In American English, these words are generally countable if they refer to particular attacks of pain. Compare:
- I’ve got toothache. (BrE)
- I have a toothache. (AmE)
For the with measles, flu, etc, (see here).
For more information on the use of articles with countable and uncountable nouns, (see here).