Countable and uncountable nouns in English
See also:
English grammar guide (all about English grammar)
Exercises + PDF worksheets (online and PDF exercises)
English nouns (more about English nouns)
Grammar rules with examples
- Countable nouns are people, places, animals or things that we can count.
Examples:
a girl - two girls, a man - three men, a person - five people
a lion - two lions, a wolf - three wolves, a sheep - five sheep
a book - two books, a loaf - two loaves
- Uncountable nouns (or mass nouns) are things, substances, abstract ideas or qualities that we cannot normally count.
Examples:
money, rice, water, anger, knowledge, safety...
Nouns that are both countable and uncountable
- Some nouns can be both countable and uncountable but they have a different meaning.
Examples:
hair = hair on your head
hairs = animal hairs
paper = material
papers = newspapers
chicken = kind of meat
chickens = animals
How to make uncountable nouns countable
- We combine special words (piece words) with uncountable nouns to make them countable.
Examples:
information - two pieces of information
luck - a bit of luck
furniture - two items of furniture
paper - a sheet of paper
bread - a slice of bread
- The most common uncountable nouns in alphabetical order.
Video
- A 22-minute video by native speaker explaining the difference between countable and uncountable nouns (for intemediate learners of English or higher levels).