When discussing grammar, nouns can be described as either countable or uncountable. I’ve been meaning to cover this for a while, as we’ve got a few articles relating to these definitions but not one that defines them, and describes what to look out for.

After some discussion last month, I thought it time I go into more detail on this. So, here’s my complete guide to countable and uncountable nouns.

What are countable and uncountable nouns?

Firstly, note that these are grammatical terms which describe types of nouns. Whether something is countable or uncountable does not necessarily refer to the nature of what it describes, but how the specific noun behaves grammatically.

Countable nouns are ones which we can count. This means we can assign a number to them or otherwise quantify them. A noun that can be described in separate or plural terms is countable, for example a book or two books.

Uncountable nouns are ones which we cannot count. They do not have a plural and cannot be described with numbers or as separate. These are typically nouns that describe masses, such as liquids (water, milk), or other substances that cover an area, such as materials (leather, metal), or abstract properties (love, success).

How can you tell if a noun is countable or uncountable?

To test whether a noun is countable or uncountable, consider if it has a plural form or if you can assign numbers before it. Indefinite articles, numbers and certain quantifiers (e.g. both, each, either, many, a few, every) can only come before countable nouns.

a chair
two chairs
both chairs
every chair

Uncountable nouns either have no article, number or quantifier, or a select few quantifiers such as a little or much.

knowledge
a little knowledge

Note that the definite article (the) can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns. When used with uncountable nouns, it can refer to a specific instance of that noun and usually implies additional information which may need to be clarified, for example with a prepositional phrase or defining clause.

the knowledge of museums
the knowledge which I gained from reading this article

Certain pairings of quantifiers can clearly distinguish between countable and uncountable nouns, such as many/much and a few/a little. One way you can see the difference is by considering whether we ask “How many?” (countable) or “How much?” (uncountable).

Countable and Uncountable Nouns with Verb Forms

As countable nouns can be either singular or plural, they will be followed by either singular or plural verbs depending on the noun form.

a cat is
six cats are

Uncountable nouns do not have a plural, so they should be treated as singular.

love is

Watch out for noun phrases that quantify uncountable nouns with countable units, however, as these can form countable plurals. In such cases, you may find the uncountable noun comes directly before a verb, but the verb should be in plural form. For example:

The jugs of water were very full.
Two pieces of pie were sitting on the table.

Confusions Between Countable and Uncountable Nouns

Plenty of uncountable nouns relate to things we expect to be quantifiable but are not. For example: money, time, information, hair, weather, accommodation. Likewise, some nouns that are uncountable in English are countable in other languages (hair is a common one for foreign learners to trip up on!). Often, we can break uncountable nouns down with countable nouns to quantify them:

money -> coins, pounds, collars
time -> hours, minutes, seconds
accommodation -> houses, rooms, apartments

In other cases, uncountable nouns have connected, very similar countable versions.

work -> job
money -> currency
travel -> journey

Another area of confusion is that uncountable nouns can sometimes appear to have a plural when we wish to distinguish between different types of an uncountable noun, or when we refer to an example or unit of something. This is most notable with substances such as food and drink where we either distinguish between different types (e.g. a French cheese) or refer to a serving of the substance (e.g. a portion, a cup of, a glass of, etc.).

I like cheese. BUT I liked two of the cheeses on offer. (types of cheese)
I’ll have a beer. (a glass of beer)

For some uncountable nouns, there may be a difference between the substance and a particular instance of that substance. For example, pie as a food type is uncountable, which we might break down with a unit such as a piece of pie, but a pie (countable) can refer to an object, one pie.

This can work with abstract nouns and materials, too, often where a noun has both an uncountable and countable form, with different (but often closely-related) meanings. Time is uncountable as a concept, but we refer to countable times for particular instances. Love is uncountable, but loves can mean particular people/things loved.

Another area of confusion can come from using the definite article with uncountable nouns. This can appear to create individual/separate instances of the noun, as we can contrast, for example, the advice he gave me vs the advice she gave me. This does not necessarily make the instances countable, though. The specific instances are two pieces of advice, not two advices.

Confusion can arise when you have irregular plurals as these might be assumed as uncountable when they are in fact plurals. People, for example, is the plural of person, and should be treated as a plural, not uncountable. Finally, however, there are also instances of plural nouns which are also treated as uncountable, such as the police or scissors. As this is an unusual area, I’ve got a separate article all about that here.

For some further reading on this topic, check out my article on fewer/less and some countable/uncountable exercises. And as always, if you have any questions or comments please post below!