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All you ever wanted to know about count & non-count nouns and their usage.
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AmerEnglishLive Free / Speak Free
PRESENTS
And some things they don’t want you
to know.
CountCNon-count
????????
Exercises
N
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E
What are COUNT NOUNS?
Look around the room or the classroom you're sitting in — the more "stuff" in the room, the better. Name some things that somebody must have carried into the room.
desks, chairs, flag, clock, computers, keyboards, projector, books, bookcases, pens, notebooks, backpacks, lights, students (Well, maybe the students walked in under their own power!)
Now name some things that are part of the room itself.
floor, wall, ceiling, windows, door, chalkboard
You can imagine there being more than one of everything you've named so far — although you might have to have more than one room to have more than one floor or ceiling. These are all COUNT NOUNS, things that you can count.
Usage Notes:Count nouns can be pluralized when appropriate. See the section on Plurals for help with the proper formation of noun plurals. We can use expressions such as
many bottles few bottles a few bottles
These nouns, both singular and plural, can be preceded by the appropriate definite and indefinite articles — the with both singular and plural, a or an with singular count-nouns. Singular count nouns can be preceded by this and that and by every, each, either, and neither. Plural count nouns can be preceded by these and those and by some, any, enough, and the zero article. The phrase number of is accompanied by count nouns. Count nouns cannot be preceded by much. The phrase amount of is also a sure sign that you are not dealing with a count noun.
Can be counted as one or more.
pen, computer, bottle, spoon, desk, cup, television, chair, shoe, finger, flower, camera, stick, balloon, book, table, comb, etc.
Take an s to form the plural.
pens, computers, bottles, spoons, desks, cups, televisions, chairs, shoes, fingers, flowers, cameras, sticks, balloons, books, tables, combs, etc.
Work with expressions such as (a few, few, many, some, every, each, these, and the number of).
a few pens, a few computers, many bottles, some spoons, every desk, each cup, these televisions, the number of chairs, a few shoes, a few fingers, many flowers, some cameras, every stick, each balloon, these books, the number of tables, many combs, etc.
Work with appropriate articles (a, an, or the).
a pen, the computer, a bottle, the spoon, a desk, the cup, a television, the chair, a shoe, the finger, a flower, the camera, a stick, the balloon, a book, the table, a comb, etc.
Do NOT work with much (for example, you would never say much pens or much computers).
Count Nouns
a car (singular) cars (plural)
a chair chairs
an apple apples
a camera four cameras
count nouns use singular and plural verbs and pronouns:
There is an apple. (singular) There are some apples. (plural)
I like that chair. ("that" is singular). She likes those chairs. ("those" is plural)
A car is an expensive thing to own. Cars are an expensive form of transportation.
Apples taste good
Digital cameras make photography easy. They are fun to use.
The camera is very nice.
Count Nouns
How many chairs are there? How many chairs are there? There is one chair There are two chairs
How many cameras are there? How many cameras are there?
There's one camera There are four cameras
Non-count nouns
Non-count nouns (or uncounted nouns) are usually things which cannot be counted, such as rice or water. Non-count nouns have a singular form, but when they are indefinite, we either use the word “some” or nothing at all instead of an article.
Non-count nouns have only one form. When used as subjects in present tense sentences, non-count nouns require the -s form of the verb.
Cannot be counted. They usually express a group or a type.
water, wood, ice, air, oxygen, English, Spanish, traffic, furniture, milk, wine, sugar, rice, meat, flour, soccer, sunshine, etc.
Generally cannot be pluralized.
Work both with and without an article (a, an, or the), depending on the context of the sentence.
Sugar is sweet.
The sunshine is beautiful.
I drink milk.
He eats rice.
We watch soccer together.
The wood is burning
•We ate some rice and milk. •I hope to see some sunshine today. •This meat is good. •She does not speak much Spanish. •Do you see any traffic on the road? •That wine is very old.
Work with expressions such as (some, any, enough, this, that, and much).
Do NOT work with expressions such as (these, those, every, each, either, or neither).
Know the different categories of non-count nouns.
The chart below illustrates the different types of non-count nouns. Remember that these categories include other nouns that are count. For example, lightning, a natural event [one of the categories], is non-count, but hurricane, a different natural event, is a count noun. When you don't know what type of noun you have, consult a dictionary that provides such information.
Category Examples
Abstractions advice, courage, enjoyment, fun, help, honesty, information, intelligence, knowledge, patience, etc.
Activities chess, homework, housework, music, reading, singing, sleeping, soccer, tennis, work, etc.
Food beef, bread, butter, fish, macaroni, meat, popcorn, pork, poultry, toast, etc.
Gases air, exhaust, helium, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, pollution, smog, smoke, steam, etc.
Groups of Similar Items baggage, clothing, furniture, hardware, luggage, equipment, mail, money, software, vocabulary, etc.
Liquids blood, coffee, gasoline, milk, oil, soup, syrup, tea, water, wine, etc.
Natural Events electricity, gravity, heat, humidity, moonlight, rain, snow, sunshine, thunder, weather, etc.
Materials aluminum, asphalt, chalk, cloth, concrete, cotton, glue, lumber, wood, wool, etc.
Particles or Grains corn, dirt, dust, flour, hair, pepper, rice, salt, sugar, wheat, etc.
The following are non-count nouns:Abstract nouns:
advice
art
beauty
confidence
courage
crime
education
enjoyment
experience
fun
grammar
happiness
education
hate
health
help
homework
honesty
hospitality
importance
information
intelligence
justice
knowledge
laughter
life
love
luck
music
news
noise
nutrition
patience
patience
pride
progress
slang
time
truth
unemployment
vocabulary
work
Groups with individual parts
cash
change
clothing
equipment
food
fruit
furniture
garbage
hardware
homework
jewelry
junk
junk
luggage
machinery
makeup
money
news
postage
research
scenery
slang
traffic
Things with no definite form:
Liquids
beer
blood
coffee
cream
gasoline
Honey
juice
milk
oil
shampoo
soup
tea
water
wine
Gases
air
carbon monoxide
fire
fog
hydrogen
oxygen
pollution
smoke
steam
Solids
butter
cheese
cotton
film
flour
glass
ice
ice cream
meat
powder
salt
soap
sugar
toothpaste
wood
wool
Things that have tiny parts too small to count
corn
dirt
dust
grass
hair
rice
salt
sugar
wheat
Natural phenomena
darkness
dew
electricity
fire
fog
gravity
heat
humidity
light
lightning
rain
snow
sunshine
thunder
weather
wind
Ailments
cancer
cholera
flu
heart disease
malaria
polio
smallpox
strep throat
Academic subjects
art
biology
chemistry
economics
engineering
history
linguistics
literature
mathematics
music
physics
poetry
psychology
science
LanguagesRussian, Spanish, French, etc.
????????Words that can be count and non-count
Food (non-count)chickenlambliverfish
Animal or animal part (count)a chickena lamba livera fish
non-countwinefoodfruitmeateducationexperience
count (means "a kind of ___")a wine, winesa food, foodsa fruit, fruitsa meat, meatsan educationan experience
non-countglass (the material)paper (the material)iron (the metal)fire (the gas)time (an abstract idea)
counta glass (something to put liquid in)a paper (a report or newspaper)an iron (for pressing clothes)a fire (one specific occurrence of fire)a time, times (a specific occurrence or period)
How can something be BOTH a COUNT NOUN and a MASS NOUN?
If we conceive of the meaning of a noun as a continuum from being specific to being general and abstract, we can see how it can move from being a count noun to a mass noun. Consider, for example, the noun experiences. When I say
I had many horrifying experiences as a pilot.
I'm referring to specific, countable moments in my life as a pilot.
When I say,
This position requires experience.
I'm using the word in an abstract way; it is not something you can count; it's more like an idea, a general thing that people need to have in order to apply for this job.
If I write
The talks will take place in Degnan Hall.
these talks are countable events or lectures. If I say
I hate it when a meeting is nothing but talk.
the word talk is now uncountable; I'm referring to the general, abstract idea of idle chatter.
Evils refers to specific sins — pride, envy, sloth, and everyone's favorite, gluttony — whereas evil refers to a general notion of being bad or ungodly.
One more example: "I love the works of Beethoven" means that I like his symphonies, his string quartets, his concerti and sonatas, his choral pieces — all very countable things, works. "I hate work" means that I find the very idea of labor, in a general way, quite unappealing. Notice that the plural form means something quite different from the singular form of this word; they're obviously related, but they're different.
What is the relationship between plastic and plastics, wood and woods, ice and [Italian] ices, hair and hairs?
Further, as noted earlier, almost all mass nouns can become count nouns when they are used in a classificatory sense:
They served some nice Brazilian wines. There were some real beauties in that rose garden. We had some serious difficulties in this project.
But some things cannot be made countable or plural: we cannot have furnitures, informations, knowledges, softnesses, or chaoses. When in doubt, consult a good dictionary.
What are ABSTRACT NOUNS?
Here is a list of ABSTRACT NOUNS for you to think about. Can you touch or see any of these things in the physical sense? Can you count any of them? Can you create sentences in which some of these words can be used as plurals?
peacewarmthhospitalityinformationangereducationmelancholysoftnessviolence
conductcourageleisureknowledgesafetyshoppingjusticechaosprogress
speedexperiencetimefriendshiptroubleworkculturevirtue
tasteevillibertydemocracydeathgriefpiety
Usage Notes:
Because they refer to ideas, concepts, it is difficult to see how abstract nouns can be pluralized. In fact, many of them cannot be. The abstract nouns in the first two columns (above) cannot be pluralized; the abstract nouns in the second two columns can be. The section below discusses what happens to an abstract noun when it is pluralized.
The griefs of the nation are too much to bear.
The editors took liberties with our prose.
She formed many friendships at college.
In terms of quantifiers and words that precede these words, what we say about the non-count nouns, above, can be said about abstract nouns.
Exercises
There are two exercises here, after you have finished each exercise, click “Check Answers” to see how you did.
When you are ready, press “Continue”.
Continue
Count and Non-count Nouns Grammar Quiz
•I've had so coffee today, I can't stop shaking.
•When we moved we packed up all of our except for the kitchen table.
•I don't care for it when women wear a lot of .
•They have two in their home.
•Did you hear the terrible storm with last night?
CHECK ANSWERS
much
furniture
makeup
dogs
thunder and lightning
many
furnitures
makeups
dog
thunder and lightning
1 banana
Count
Non-Count
2 fruit
Count
Non-Count
3 apple
Count
Non-Count
4 peach
Count
Non-Count
Easy Count or Non-Count NounsPut an “x” in the correct box.
5 water
Count
Non-Count
6 strawberry
Count
Non-Count
7 corn
Count
Non-Count
8 orange juice
Count
Non-Count
CHECK ANSWERS