English countable and uncountable nouns
Online language lessons with native teachers
Skype teachers
Free trial lesson
Flexible appointments
English countable and uncountable nouns
Lesson Outline
Hide- 1.What are countable nouns?
- 1.1.Countable nouns definition
- 1.2.Countable nouns examples
- 1.3.Countable nouns and determiners
- 2.What are uncountable nouns?
- 2.1.Uncountable nouns definition
- 2.2.Uncountable nouns list
- 2.3.Uncountable nouns and determiners
- 2.4.Examples:
- 3.Nouns and pronouns
- 4.Exercises
- 4.1.Test on countable and uncountable nouns in English
- 4.2.Uncountable nouns exercises in English
- 4.3.Countable and uncountable nouns exercises in English
- 4.4.English countable and uncountable nouns exercise
What are countable nouns?
Have a question?
Take online language lessons with a professional teacher
- Native & verified teachers
- Free trial lesson
- Learning materials included
Countable nouns definition
Countable nouns as the name suggest are used for words that can be counted both in singular and plural form through the use of a determiner or a number before them.
Countable nouns examples
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
| A computer | Three computers |
| A city | Two cities |
| An item | Five items |
Countable nouns and determiners
Countable nouns easily can be identified by the determiners placed before them. The most commonly used ones are "a" (before a noun with a consonant) and "an" (before a noun with a vowel). Sometimes you could also see the determiners "my", "the", "some".
Examples:
- I bought you an apple this morning.
- Would you like a suggestion?
- This is my plan.
What are uncountable nouns?
Uncountable nouns definition
Uncountable nouns are used for words that can't be counted through the use of numbers and generally seen as a whole. Their form is singular and the verb used with them in a sentence is singular as well.
Uncountable nouns are used with:
- Abstract ideas
- Natural phenomena
- Qualities and feelings
- Liquids
- Gasses
Uncountable nouns list
Uncountable nouns |
Uncountable nouns |
|---|---|
| Accomodation | Luggage |
| Advice | Love |
| Cheese | Magic |
| Food | Milk |
| Flour | Money |
| Furniture | Music |
| Genetics | News |
| Grammar | Oil |
| Hair | Paper |
| Help | Production |
| Homework | Rice |
| Information | Rubbish |
| Intelligence | Sand |
| Juice | Silence |
| Justice | Snow |
| Knowledge | Sugar |
| Laughter | Time |
| Leisure | Traffic |
| Luck | Work |
Uncountable nouns and determiners
For these nouns, we can't use a numerical value to identify them. Therefore numerical determiners and articles could help us for that. The most commonly used identifiers and expressions could be found on the table below.
| A way of measuring | Example |
|---|---|
| A pinch of | salt, sugar |
| A cup of | tea, brocoli |
| A handful of | almonds |
| A bag of | flour, chips |
| Some | help, advice |
| 1 kg of | sand, rice |
| Great deal of | luck, information |
| A lot of | traffic, grammar |
| A bit of | music, information |
Examples:
- Is it okay if we play a bit of music?
- We need a cup of flour for the recipe.
- A handful of almonds contains approximately 160 calories.
- I need some advice about my project.
- You need to add a pinch of salt to the meal.
Nouns and pronouns
We already mentioned some of the pronouns that could be used with nouns. In the following two tables we will present you with few examples for countable and uncountable nouns using pronouns to clear out any confusion and how they could be used with the two types of nouns.
| Countable noun + pronoun | Example |
|---|---|
| Some | I bought some eggs. |
| Any | Do you have any apples? |
| Many | There aren't many cities as old as Plovdiv. |
| Few | There are a few chairs in the kitchen. |
| Uncountable noun + pronoun | Example |
|---|---|
| Some | Can you bring me some juice? |
| Any | Is there any sand in the garage? |
| Much | You don't have much luck, do you? |
| Little | I could use a little help with that couch. |
Exercises
Test on countable and uncountable nouns in English
Uncountable nouns exercises in English
Countable and uncountable nouns exercises in English
English countable and uncountable nouns exercise
Practise with a private teacher on Skype!
4.8/5 from 1 reviews
- Private Skype lessons
- Learn any topic
- Flexible appointments
I speak: Bosnian, Croatian, English, Italian, Portuguese, International, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, Turkish I teach: Bosnian, Croatian, English, Italian, Portuguese, International, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, Turkish
Me as a Teacher I am a Serbian native speaker and a language teacher. I have been teaching online for 5 years. I live in Belgrade. I've been... teaching online for 5 years (officially). I love teaching because it's a dynamic and an interesting job. You can teach your students and you can learn from them as well. The happiness and joy of the student + their progresses with their target language = my biggest prize (so my students are the ones who motivate me to work better)and I try to combine: a bit of reading, a bit of writing, a bit of conversation, a bit of grammar and a bit of listening by using different resources. About Me My favorite topics are: 1. Travelling , 2. Foreign languages, 3. TV programs, 4. Films and TV series, 5. Culture, 6. sport, 7. IT, 8. Science My hobbies are: learning foreign languages, horse- riding, reading, travelling, ... I am open-minded, flexible and very positive. If you come up with something interesting to talk about, please, don't hesitate to suggest me and I'll gladly discuss with you about that. I visited: Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia and Slovenia. My Lessons & Teaching Style Firstly, I test the level of the target language... I have two parts: 1) Conversational part (here I check their vocabulary and their fluency + I find out their language goals and their needs) 2) Writing part (with that I focus much more on grammar and spelling) For each part, I take notes (I have my notebook for that). Secondly, I personalize my lessons to their goals and needs. I can cover a lot of topics: business, travelling, culture, etc. My Teaching Material Text Documents Audio Recordings Images and Visuals Video News Articles and Magazines Quizzes Example Test Templates Graphs and Charts Homework Assignments PowerPoint Presentations Read more
Availability: Monday (7-23h), Tuesday (7-23h), Wednesday (7-23h), Thursday (7-23h), Friday (7-23h), Saturday (7-23h), Sunday (7-23h).
Timezone: Europe/Belgrade (GMT+2)
See in your timezone.
12.00€ / h
Response time: less than 2 hours
I speak: English, German I teach: English
Hello, my name is Corinne and I am a qualified ESL English teacher from England. I have been teaching in classrooms and online for over 2 years... and I have many satisfied students. My lessons generally consist of a mixture of conversation and set exercises to help to improve both vocabulary and grammar. I encourage a lot of talking from my students and I give instant written correction so that they are able to recognize any grammatical errors they are making. I take note of repeated mistakes and set exercises for following lessons to address these mistakes accordingly. You will quickly notice an increase in your confidence in speaking English from our lessons, your vocabulary will increase and your grammar and sentence structure will improve. Together, we will reach your goals. Read more
Availability: Monday (9-12h), Monday (16-19h), Tuesday (9-12h), Tuesday (17-19h), Thursday (9-12h), Thursday (17-19h), Friday (9-12h), Friday (16-19h).
Timezone: Europe/Berlin (GMT+2)
See in your timezone.
Great choice! Students book in average more than 10 lessons!
Very experienced teacher!
Very experienced teacher!
18.00€ / h
Response time: less than a few hours
I speak: English, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, International, Spanish I teach: English, Italian, Dutch, Spanish
Hi! I've been teaching Dutch, Spanish and Italian for many years, in The Netherlands, for private institutes, for the integration of foreigners... into society, and online from Italy, where I currently live. Today I can also help you with English! I will help you, in a simple but effective way, to learn your favorite language(s). By focusing on conversation, I will help you in becoming confident with the language so that you will learn it faster. Learning a foreign language is not a matter of doing much effort, but rather of being consistent, enjoying the lessons and allowing your intuition to work with you. You will book immediate results while having fun! I offer you general language courses Italian (A1-C2), Dutch (A1-C1) as well as courses "Basisinburgering" "Inburgeringsexamen A1 and A2", Spanish (A1-C1), and English (A1-A2). So if you want to learn a language or improve the one you already speak, whether it is for work, to move abroad or just because you love languages, contact me for a free trial and let me know how I can help you. I'm looking forward to meeting you! Read more
Availability: Monday (10-12h), Monday (18-20h), Tuesday (15-15h), Tuesday (18-20h), Wednesday (13-20h), Thursday (11-12h), Thursday (17-20h), Friday (10-12h), Friday (14-20h), Saturday (11-13h), Saturday (15-17h).
Timezone: Europe/Amsterdam (GMT+2)
See in your timezone.
Very experienced teacher!
15.00€ / h
Response time: less than a few hours