Countable and Uncountable Nouns - Meaning, Definition, Usage and Examples

Nouns, as you already know, are words that are used to name a person, place, animal, thing or idea. Having learnt about the types of nouns, singular nouns and plural nouns, you might be wondering what countable and uncountable nouns are. Is it any different from singular and plural nouns? Well, let’s find out. Go through the article to learn all about it, the meaning and definition of countable and uncountable nouns, and how they are formed and used in sentences along with examples.

Table of Contents

• What Is a Countable Noun? – Meaning and Definition
  • List of Countable Nouns
• What is an Uncountable Nouns? – Meaning and Definition
  • List of Uncountable Nouns
• Using Countable Nouns and Uncountable Nouns in Sentences
• Examples of Countable and Uncountable Nouns
• Check Your Understanding of Countable and Uncountable Nouns
• Frequently Asked Questions on Countable and Uncountable Nouns

What Is a Countable Noun? – Meaning and Definition

A countable noun, as the name suggests, refers to nouns that can literally be counted. The number or quantity of countable nouns can be quoted exactly. To identify if a noun is countable, you can ask the question ‘how many’. A countable noun, according to the Cambridge Dictionary, is defined as “a noun that has both a singular and a plural form and names something that can be counted because there can be one or more of it”. The Macmillan Dictionary defines a countable noun as “a noun that has singular and plural forms. In the plural, countable nouns usually add an ‘s’ or ‘es’, for example ‘mistakes’, ‘problems’, and ‘buses’. When it is singular, a countable noun usually comes after a determiner such as ‘a’, ‘this’, ‘any’, or ‘a lot of’, for example ‘this house, ‘a week’, and ‘the way’.”

A countable noun is also defined as “a noun (such as bean or sheet) that forms a plural and is used with a numeral, with words such as many or few, or with the indefinite article a or an”, by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, and “a noun such as ‘ bird’, ‘ chair’, or ‘ year’ which has a singular and a plural form and is always used after a determiner in the singular” by the Collins Dictionary.

List of Countable Nouns

Here is a list of a few countable nouns and its plural forms for your reference.

You can check out the articles on singular nouns and plural nouns for more examples.

What is an Uncountable Noun? – Meaning and Definition

Any noun that cannot be counted can be classified as an uncountable noun. Nouns like water, rice, oil, etc. belong to this category. Unlike countable nouns, uncountable nouns do not have a plural form. If the noun in a sentence does not have a specific quantity and answers the question ‘how much’, then it can be considered an uncountable noun. The definition of an uncountable noun according to the Cambridge Dictionary is “a noun that has one form with no plural and names something that there can be more or less of but that cannot be counted”. According to the Macmillan Dictionary, an uncountable noun is “a noun that has no plural form” and also those that “usually refer to abstract things such as ‘advice’, ‘luck’, and ‘information’, or to substances such as ‘milk’, ‘blood’, and ‘smoke’.” Furthermore, “a noun such as ‘ gold’, ‘ information’, or ‘ furniture’ which has only one form and can be used without a determiner” is classified as an uncountable noun by the Collins Dictionary.

List of Uncountable Nouns

Here is a table with some uncountable nouns for your reference.

Using Countable Nouns and Uncountable Nouns in Sentences

Once you know what countable and uncountable nouns are, the next step is to learn how to use them in sentences. There is just one fact that makes the usage of countable and uncountable nouns different from each other. Countable nouns are always used with a determiner. Determiners include articles (a, an, the) and quantitative adjectives such as a number, collective nouns that indicate a particular number such as a dozen (12), a pair (2), a score (20), a baker’s dozen (13), etc. and words like a few, lots of, a number of, etc. On the other hand, uncountable nouns can appear with or without a determiner as there is no specific number being referred to. However, there are instances where you can combine an uncountable noun with a countable noun to indicate the exact quantity of the particular noun.

Let us look at a few examples of both countable and uncountable nouns and the different ways in which they are used in sentences.

Examples of Countable and Uncountable Nouns

First, let us look at how countable nouns work.

• I have a dog.
• My mom bought half a kilo of oranges and apples on her way to visit my grandmother in the hospital.
• I had to pick up two of my friends on the way.
• Banu found a few books that could help our research.
• Jason bought a dozen eggs.

Let us now check how uncountable nouns are used in sentences.

• Would you like to have some milk before you go to bed?
• Firoz asked his son to throw out the garbage before he went to college.
• Sanu had blood on her hand; nobody including her knew what had happened.
• Is there any water left in the jug?
• We were asked to collect information about the new education policy before noon.

As already mentioned, uncountable nouns can be combined with countable nouns at times. Let us look at some examples to see how it can be done.

• The doctor has asked me to drink at least eight glasses of water a day.
• We had only two packets of oil left.
• I guess I added an extra teaspoon of sugar to it.
• Veronica needed one more piece of equipment to work on her project.
• I found five packs of unused paper stashed in the top row of my shelf.

Check Your Understanding of Countable and Uncountable Nouns

Go through the following sentences and identify if the underlined nouns are countable or uncountable.

1. All successful candidates will be notified within a week.

2. I don’t prefer to have tea in the morning.

3. Does anyone have an extra blue pen?

4. The students who had not completed their homework were asked to stay back after class and complete it.

5. My mom’s watch stopped working.

6. The soil used has to be really fertile if you want the plants to grow well.

7. Chitra broke her spectacles while playing volleyball.

8. You have to saute all the vegetables and add rice only after the vegetables are half cooked.

9. How many apples did you buy?

10. Will the food be enough for our guests?

Let us find out if you identified the nouns correctly. Check out the answers given below.

1. All successful candidates will be notified within a week.

Candidates – Countable, Week – countable

2. I don’t prefer to have tea in the morning.

Tea – Uncountable

3. Does anyone have an extra blue pen?

Blue pen – Countable

4. The students who had not completed their homework were asked to stay back after class and complete it.

Students – Countable

5. My mom’s watch stopped working.

Watch – Countable

6. The soil used has to be really fertile if you want the plants to grow well.

Soil – uncountable, Plants – Countable

7. Chitra broke her spectacles while playing volleyball.

Spectacles – Countable

8. You have to saute all the vegetables and add rice only after the vegetables are half cooked.

Vegetables – – Countable, Rice – uncountable

9. How many apples did you buy?

Apples- Countable

10. Will the food be enough for our guests?

Food – Uncountable