Countable and Uncountable Nouns

Nouns are words that name persons, places, things, and

ideas.

Nouns are words that name persons, places, things, and

ideas.

Nouns can be proper or common.

The White HouseA white house

Tylenol paracetamol

Proper nouns Common nouns

Some common nouns have easily identifiable boundaries;

it’s easy to see where each item begins and ends.

These are countable nouns.

people

pencils

hospital

room

Some nouns don’t have such boundaries.

To quantify them, we need to use some kind of measure.

A cup of coffee

A bowl of cereal

A piece of butter

coffee

cereal butter

Other nouns represent ideas, concepts which aren’t visible,

can’t be readily measurable, or may be quantified in many different ways.

These are uncountable nouns.

money

medicine

Some nouns can be used as count nouns and as non-count.

fishcake

chicken

When we are referring to the animal (fish or chicken), the noun is countable.

Ex: The man caught a big fish last Sunday.

When we are referring to the food, the noun is uncountable.

Ex: The fish we ate last night was really good.

Some uncountable nouns can be used with a countable sense.

Time passes very quickly. (uncountable)

We always meet at a specific time.(countable)

Love is a very powerful feeling. (uncountable)

Of all my loves, my cat is the biggest. (countable)

Many people drink wine. (uncountable)

I got a very nice wine from the market yesterday. (countable)

Many times we use uncountable nouns as countable, but the meaning is clear from the

context.

Can I have a coffee, please?

( I mean a cup of coffee.)

Do you want a beer?

(I mean a bottle of beer)