Countable and uncountable nouns
Know which nouns you can count and which you can’t — water, advice, money, furniture — and use a/an, plurals and piece of correctly.
In this lesson you will
- Identify countable and uncountable nouns
- Use a/an and plurals only with countable nouns
- Count uncountable things with containers and ‘a piece of’
Learn
Countable nouns have singular and plural forms: a chair, two chairs; an idea, some ideas.
Uncountable nouns have no plural and no a/an: water, milk, rice, bread, money, time, information, advice, news, furniture, luggage, homework, weather, traffic. They take a singular verb: The news is* good. Your advice was helpful.*
To count them, use a container or unit: a glass of water, a bottle of milk, a loaf of bread, a kilo of rice, and a piece of: a piece of advice, a piece of furniture, a piece of information.
Some nouns are both, with different meanings: a coffee (a cup of) / coffee (the drink in general); a room / room (space).
| Countable | Uncountable |
|---|---|
| a suggestion | advice |
| a job | work |
| a suitcase | luggage |
| a coin, a note | money |
| a trip, a journey | travel |
Examples
- Can you give me some advice?
- There’s a lot of traffic this morning.
- I bought two loaves of bread.
- The information on the website is wrong.
Vocabulary
advice
an opinion about what someone should do (uncountable)
luggage
bags and suitcases for travel (uncountable)
furniture
tables, chairs, beds etc. (uncountable)
a loaf of
a whole bread
a piece of
one item of something uncountable
“a piece of news”
Practice
Which is uncountable?
Speaking
Describe what’s in your kitchen or your bag using countable and uncountable nouns with units: two apples, a bottle of water, some money…
Writing
Write a shopping list for a party with quantities (a kilo of…, three bottles of…, some…), then two sentences explaining it.
Lesson quiz
I need ___ information about the course.
Review
Key points
- Countable: a/an, plurals.
- Uncountable: no plural, singular verb.
- Units: a glass of, a loaf of, a piece of.
What you learned
- ✓ I can recognise uncountable nouns.
- ✓ I can count uncountable things.
- ✓ I avoid common mistakes like ‘advices’.
Grammar reference: Countable and uncountable nouns; some, any, much, many