Countable and Uncountable Nouns for beginners

It's important to know if a noun is countable or uncountable. This is going to help us to use the correct article. Let's learn more.

Diffrence between "Countable and Uncountable Nouns" in English Grammar

What Are Countable Nouns?

Nouns that you can count and use a number with are called 'countable nouns.'
Countable nouns have singular or plural forms.

  • 1 apple, 2 apples
  • 15 cats, 3 dogs
  • 1 car, 2 spoons

Take these apples.

Give me a pen.

I need five more balls.

Using Countable Nouns in a Sentence

What Are Uncountable Nouns?

'Uncountable nouns' cannot be counted. So, they just have a singular form and you cannot use numbers before them. Check out the examples:

  • Butter (Not 1 butter)
  • Rice (Not 2 rices)
  • Honey (Not 3 honeys)

My hair is dark.

I'm eating honey and bread.

Using Singular and Plural Verbs

With singular nouns, you should use singular verbs and with plural nouns, you should use plural verbs. Look at the examples:

Your eyes are blue.

The jam was sweet.

A glass is on the table.

Common Uncountable Nouns

Here is a list of common uncountable nouns:

  • Water
  • Air
  • Sugar
  • Tea
  • Rice
  • Butter
  • Milk
  • Rain
  • Weather
  • Money

Asking about Countable and Uncountable Nouns

In questions, we use 'how many' with countable nouns. And we 'how much' with uncountable nouns.

How many chairs are there?

How much juice is there?

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