Recognizing Countable and Uncountable Nouns Simplified

Definition of countable and uncountable nouns

To determine if words like money, bread, homework, vegetable, vegetables, information, luggage, meat, advice, paper, rice, hour, experience, language are countable or uncountable, let’s explore with Monkey. The core content revolves around these two types of nouns!

Countable nouns

Definition: Countable nouns refer to people, animals, things, or phenomena that can be counted individually, expressed in specific numbers, typically accompanied by the count in front.

Classification:

Countable nouns come in two forms: singular nouns and plural nouns. Singular nouns usually precede with the article “a/an,” while plural nouns refer to quantities of 2 or more. Apart from irregular cases, to change a singular noun to a plural noun, we add “s” or “es” at the end.

Example: She has three dogs.

I own a house.

There are some notes to consider when using countable nouns, such as:

If the noun ends in ‘s’, add ‘es’ to form the plural.

Example: one glass → two glasses

If the noun ends in ‘y’, change the ‘y’ to ‘i’ and add ‘es’ for the plural.

Example: one family → two families

However, there are exceptions, including:

3.1. For nouns ending in CH, SH, S, X, O, add “es” at the end.

Example: a class → classes

• 3.2. Nouns ending in Y should change to “i” and add “es” for the plural form:

Example: a candy → candies

• 3.3. For nouns ending in F, FE, and FF, omit the ending and add “ves” instead.

Example: a knife → knives

Irregular countable nouns table

There are not many irregular count nouns in English, so the best way to remember them is through memorization. Keep at it!

Uncountable noun

Definition: Uncountable nouns refer to things and phenomena that cannot be quantified. Unlike countable nouns, uncountable nouns only have a singular form. Plural uncountable nouns typically denote uncountable substances or abstract objects and phenomena such as natural occurrences, matter in gas/liquid/solid states, diseases, fields of study, sports, some collective nouns, and more.

For example: flour (powder), water (water), money (money), advice (advice), air (air), tea (tea), information (information), …

Classification: Uncountable nouns can be divided into five groups:

1. Nouns for food: food (food), meat (meat), water (water), rice (rice), sugar (sugar), and more.
2. Nouns for abstract concepts: help, fun, information, knowledge, patience, and others.
3. Nouns indicating fields and subjects: mathematics (math), ethics (ethics), music (music), history (history), grammar (grammar), and more.
4. Nouns for natural phenomena: thunder (thunder), snow (snow), heat (temperature), wind (wind), light (light), and others.
5. Active nouns: swimming (swimming), walking (walking), reading (reading), cooking (cooking), sleeping (sleeping), and more.

Table: 30 common uncountable nouns

How to use countable and uncountable nouns

After identifying and distinguishing between countable and uncountable nouns, it is essential to understand the rules for using these two types of nouns to avoid unnecessary errors during exercises.

Rules for using countable and uncountable nouns

When using nouns, it is crucial to appropriately combine articles and quantities in front of them. Some articles and quantifiers can precede both countable and uncountable nouns, while others are exclusive to either countable or uncountable nouns. Here are the specific rules for using countable and uncountable nouns:

Words that only go with countable nouns: a, an, many, few, a few.

Examples: a doctor, many books, few tables, a few problems

When inquiring about countable nouns, use “How many.”

Example: How many classes does the center have today?

Words that go with uncountable nouns: much, little, a little bit of

Examples: much money, little experience, a little bit of sugar

When inquiring about uncountable nouns, use “How much.”

Example: How much sugar do you want to put in your coffee?

Words that can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns: some, any, no, a lot of/lots of, plenty of

Example: some pens (several pens), some coffee (a bit of coffee)

any socks (some socks), any advice (some advice)

no rings (no rings), no trouble (no trouble)

a lot of babies, a lot of fun

plenty of apples, plenty of sugar

Some special cases

Apart from the rules for using countable and uncountable nouns mentioned above, there are a few special cases in English concerning these two types of nouns.

Nouns that are both countable and uncountable

Depending on the context of the sentence, some nouns can function as singular nouns, while in other cases, they can act as plural nouns. The most common nouns that fall under this category are: truth, cheese, coffee, time, currency, danger, education, entertainment, failure, food, friendship, lack, love, paper, power (energy).

Examples:

Would you like some coffee? (Do you want some coffee?)

→ In this case, coffee is an uncountable noun.

I want a coffee. (I want a cup of coffee.)

→ In this case, coffee is a countable noun.

Plural nouns without “s/es”

The following countable nouns are irregular and do not use “s” or “es” in the plural form.

Nouns are always plural

Some of the following nouns are always plural:

Countable and uncountable noun exercises

To help you reinforce your understanding of countable and uncountable nouns, Monkey has prepared a set of exercises for you to practice. Let’s give it a try!

Exercise 1: Fill in the appropriate blanks with the words a/an/some/any to complete the sentences.

1. There is ______________ fish in the tank.

2. There is ______________ food on the dish.

3. There isn’t  ______________ juice left in the fridge.

4. There are ______________ bottles in the basket.

5. There aren’t ______________ apples in the tree.

6. There aren’t ______________ children in the room.

7. There is ______________ room in the house.

8. There is ______________ cheese in the sandwich.

9. There aren’t ______________ buses at this time of the day.

10. There are _______________ puppies in the box.

11. There is not _______________ butter in my house.

12. There is ______________ potato in the garden.

Exercise 2: Classify the countable and uncountable nouns below

1. tea →

2. butter →

3. song →

4. living room →

5. hour →

6. coffee →

7. child →

8. homework →

9. key →

10. orange →

11. berry →

12. film →

13. bulb →

14. crocodile →

15. pig →

16. plane →

17. oil →

18. salt →

19. water →

20. rain →

21. beef →

22. goodheathplan.com →

23. money →

24. car →

25. board →

26. sea →

27. table →

Exercise 3: Match the following nouns to the appropriate phrases

1. a piece of _____________

2. a packet of _____________

3. a bar of _____________

4. a glass of _____________

5. a cup of _____________

6. a bottle of _____________

7. a slice of _____________

8. a barrel of _____________

9. a game of _____________

10. a jar of _____________

Exercise 4: Choose many/ much to complete the sentence

1. How many/much computers do your school have?

2. How many/much milk do you want?

3. How many/much pictures would you like to take?

4. How many/much people are there in your family?

5. How many/much sugar that is left in the box?

6. How many/much coffee does he want?

7. How many/much candles on the cake?

8. How many/much days a week you go to work?

9. How many/much information did she give to you?

10. How many/much tea left in the pot?

11. How many/much work do you have to complete each day?

12. How many/much times do you have gone abroad?

13. How many/much kilos of meat are you going to buy?

14. How many/much electricity does his family use per month?

15. How many/much cooking oil do you need?

Exercise 5: Choose the best option

1. If you want to know the news, you can read paper/ a paper.

2. I had two tooths/teeth pulled out the other day.

3. Light/a light comes from the sun.

4. I was very busy, and I didn’t have time/ a time for breakfast today.

5. Sue was very helpful. She is always willing to give us some very useful advice/advices everytime we need.

6. Did you raise these tomato/tomatoes in your garden?

7. We were very unfortunate. We had bad luck/a bad luck.

8. I had to buy a/some bread for breakfast.

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

10. My hair is/ My hairs are too long. I should have it/them cut three days ago.

Exercise 6: Complete the sentences with the given words. Use a/an if needed

1. It wasn’t your fault. It was _____________.

2. Listen! can you hear _____________?

3. I couldn’t get into the house because I didn’t have _____________.

4. It’s very warm today. Why are you wearing _____________?

5. Do you take _____________ in your coffee?

6. Are you hungry? Would you like _____________ with your coffee?

7. Our lives would be very difficult without _____________.

8. I didn’t phone them. I wrote _____________ instead.

9. The heart pumps  _____________ through the body.

10. Excuse me, but can I ask you _____________?

11. I’m not ready yet. Can you wait _____________, please?

12. We can’t delay much longer. We have to make _____________ soon.

Answers to exercises

Exercise 1:

1. a

2. some

3. any

4. some

5. any

6. any

7. a

8. some

9. any

10. many

11. many

12. much

Exercise 2:

1. tea → uncountable noun

2. butter → uncountable noun

3. song →  countable noun

4. living room → countable noun

5. hour → countable noun

6. coffee → uncountable noun

7. child → countable noun

8. homework → uncountable noun

9. key → countable noun

10. orange → countable noun

11. berry → countable noun

12. film → countable noun

13. bulb → countable noun

14. crocodile → countable noun

15. pig → countable noun

16. plane → countable noun

17. oil → uncountable noun

18. salt → uncountable noun

19. water → uncountable noun

20. rain → uncountable noun

21. beef → uncountable noun

22. goodheathplan.com → countable nouns

23. money → uncountable noun

24. car → countable noun

25. board → countable noun

26. sea → uncountable noun

27. table → countable noun

Exercise 3:

1. a piece of advice

2. a packet of rice

3. a bar of chocolate

4. a glass of milk

5. a cup of tea

6. a bottle of lemonade

7. a slice of meat

8. a barrel of oil

9. a game of tennis

10. a jar of jam

Exercise 4:

Exercise 5:

1. a paper

2. teeth

3. Light

4. time

5. advice

6. tomatoes

7. bad luck

8. some

9. doesn’t

10. My hair is

Exercise 6: 

1. an accident

2. music

3, a key

4. a coat

5. sugar

6. a biscuit

7. electricity

8. a letter

9. blood

10. a question

11. a moment