Count and Noncount Nouns

Count Nouns

Countable noun is a word naming something that:

• can be counted as one or more , using numbers (one , two etc.)
• can be distinct and separated from one another
• can be concrete or abstract ( does not be detected by our physical senses such like taste, touch, smell etc.)
• usually has both a singular and plural form

Example

Countable Nouns
S.C.Nouns	P.C.Nouns	S.A.Nouns	P.A.Nouns
Desk  Chair Dog Foot Person	Desks Chairs Dogs Feet People	Opportunity Dream Problem Concept Idea	Opportunities Dreams Problems Concepts Ideas
S: singular        P: plural       C: concrete       A: abstract

1.  I invite only one person to diner. They have arrested a gang of three people.
2. Anna brought one desk to her daughter. That school has thirty desks.
3. She has more than one opportunity to solve this puzzle. There are three opportunities to decode this device.

Note

We can use the countable nouns with determiners such like articles ( the, a, an), possessive pronouns ( my, your, their, his, her etc.) ,quantifiers ( some, any, few, a lot of, much, many, a little etc.), demonstratives ( that, this, these etc.)

• Using countable nouns both with definite article (the) and indefinite article (a, an):

We use the definite article (the) both with singular and plural form of countable nouns.

Example

1. He visited the museum of louvre in Paris.
2. The chairs were in the classroom.

We use indefinite articles (a, an) only with singular form of countable nouns.

Example

1. There was a book on a table.
2. She ate an orange.

• Using countable nouns with other determiners (e.g. my-that-many-this):

Example

1. My phone is ringing.
2. That person is a good football player.
3. John has many articles about this subject.

Noncount Nouns

Uncountable noun is a word referring to something which:

• can't be counted  
• can be dealt with as undifferentiated unit ( can't be divided into parts)
• can be abstract or concrete 
• has not a plural form

Example

Uncountable Nouns
Singular Abstract Nouns	Singular Concrete Nouns
Love Hate Knowledge Arrogance Trust	Furniture Ice Rice Money Water

1. Love is an amazing feeling.
2. To make money from internet needs to be creative.
3. Water is very important for the survival of all living organisms.

Note

Uncountable nouns are also used with determiners.

• Using uncountable nouns only with definite article (the):

we usually use the definite article (the) with the singular form of uncountable nouns.

Example

1. She helped her friend to solve the problem of leasehold.
2. The life in my town is very hard.

• Using uncountable nouns with other determiners (e.g. any-much-some-his):

Example

1. Sophia does not have any furniture.
2. He has much knowledge about this subject.
3. There is some water on the floor.
4. His information is correct.

Note: we can notice that some nouns can be both countable and uncountable ( iron, time, light, coffee, work etc.), depending on the context of the sentence.For example:

1. I have read this story many times .Time (countable) means a number of times using to read the story.
2. How much time do you need to complete this exercise? Time ( uncountable) refers to the  length of time in order to complete the activity.

Exercises

1)   Write the following count and noncount nouns under the correct heading:

chaos, phone, conversation, emergency, child, traffic, furniture, money, gold, vocabulary, book, car , chair, work , information, rice, person, phone, water, reading.

Nouns
Count nouns	Noncount nouns

2) Are the underlined  nouns countable (C) or uncountable (U) ?

1.  She has a good umbrella. ............
2. Anna and Jack have started learning a new language. ............
3. Yesterday, the street was full of traffic. ............
4. Anna has important information about your subject. ............
5. I brought with me some money to feed my children. ............
6. The book on the table is mine. ............
7. The gold is a precious metal. ............
8. John has received a letter from his father. ............
9. His phone was ringing. ............
10. There is water on the floor. ............

Answer key

Exercise (1)

Nouns
Count nouns	Noncount nouns
reading, phone, child, book, car, chair, work, person, conversation, emergency,	chaos, traffic, gold, furniture, money, vocabulary, work ,information, rice, water,

Exercise (2)

C, C, U, U,U, C, U, C, C, U