Countable and uncountable nouns

COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

By UZAQOVA DILZODAXON

Countable nouns

e.g. I eat banana every day.

I like bananas.

“banana” is a countable. noun.

• A countable noun can be

1. singular (banana) or

2. plural (bananas)

Countable nouns

• Countable nouns are things we can count.
• So we can say ‘one banana’ ,‘two bananas’ etc.

Examples of countable nouns

singular plural

 apple apples

 pineapple pineapples

 cucumber cucumbers

 strawberry strawberries

 grape grapes

Countable nouns

We add -es to most nouns in -o:

tomato tomatoes

potato potatoes

But we just add -s to:

radio radios

photo photos

Irregular Nouns

SINGULAR PLURAL

-EE

foot feet

goose geese

tooth teeth

Countable nouns

Irregular Nouns:

SINGULAR PLURAL

Singular to plural -EN

Child children

Man men

Ox oxen

Woman women

NO CHANGE

Deer deer

Fish fish

Means means

Offspring offspring

Series series

Sheep sheep

Species species

UNCountable nouns

e.g. I eat rice every day.

I like rice.

“rice” is an uncountable noun.

• An uncountable noun has only one form. (rice)
• Uncountable nouns are things we cannot count.

uncountable nouns

• We cannot say ‘one rice’, ‘two rices’, etc.

Examples of uncountable nouns:

• music, art, love, happiness
• advice, information, news
• furniture, luggage
• rice, sugar, butter, water
• electricity, gas, power
• money, currency

luggage - a piece of luggage, a bag, a suitcase

money - a note, a coin

musica – a song, a piece

news - a piece of news

pasta - a plate of pasta, a serving of pasta

research - a piece of research, a research project

advice - a piece of advice

baggage - a piece of baggage

bread - a slice of bread, a loaf of bread

equipment - a piece of equipment

furniture - a piece of furniture

garbage - a piece of garbage

information - a piece of information

knowledge - a fact

Here are some of the most common containers / quantity

expressions for these uncountable nouns:

Countable		Uncountable
There are two hairs in my coffee!	hair	I don't have much hair.
There are two lights in our bedroom.	light	Close the curtain. There's too much light!
Shhhhh! I thought I heard a noise.	noise	It's difficult to work when there is too much noise.
Have you got a paper to read? (= newspaper)	paper	I want to draw a picture. Have you got some paper?
Our house has seven rooms.	room	Is there room for me to sit here?
We had a great time at the party.	time	Have you got time for a coffee?
Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's greatest works.	work	I have no money. I need work!