Countable and Uncountable Nouns - Proofed's Writing Tips Blog (2024)

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Countable and Uncountable Nouns - Proofed's Writing Tips Blog? ›

Countable nouns are often made plural by adding -s or -es to the end of them. Uncountable nouns, in contrast, are things that can't be counted as individual units. Think of air, knowledge, or rice. Because they can't be counted, they don't have plural forms.

Nouns can be countable or uncountable. Countable nouns can be counted, e.g. an apple, two apples, three apples, etc. Uncountable nouns cannot be counted, e.g. air, rice, water, etc.

In the noncount form, the noun refers to the whole idea or quantity. In the count form, the noun refers to a specific example or type. When the noun is countable, it can be used with the indefinite article "a" or "an" or it can be made plural.

As the name might suggest, countable nouns refer to things we can count (like the legs on a centipede, if we have enough time to count that many legs).

1 – Countable-Uncountable-1, we start by reviewing the basic plural forms of nouns. We then review nouns that only have a plural form (because they have two parts) such as jeans and scissors. We then introduce the concept of countable and uncountable nouns (i.e. that uncountable nouns only have a singular form).

A count noun is one that can be expressed in plural form, usually with an "s." For example, "cat—cats," "season—seasons," "student—students." A noncount noun is one that usually cannot be expressed in a plural form. For example, "milk," "water," "air," "money," "food." Usually, you cannot say, "He had many moneys."

“Coffee” is uncountable by default (this is why you say “I like coffee” but not “I like coffees”). It's common to use “coffee” as a countable noun that's a sort of contraction of “cup of coffee”, so you would say “I'll buy two coffees”.

Some countable nouns may be used as uncountables under certain conditions, namely when making a general statement about the entity we are referring to, eg The cat is a great opportunist (where cat refers to all creatures belonging to the species 'cat').

What is quantifiers write examples of countable and uncountable nouns? ›

Quantifiers are words used in English to indicate the quantity or amount of something, without specifying an exact number. They provide context and can be used with countable or uncountable nouns. Common examples include many, few, some, any, and all.

"Lego" is commonly used as a mass noun ("some Lego") or, in American English, as a countable noun with plural "Legos", to refer to the bricks themselves, but as is common for trademarks, Lego group insists on the name being used as an adjective when referring to a product (as in "LEGO bricks").

​[uncountable] (British English) a cold thick spicy sauce made from fruit and vegetables that have been boiled, often sold in jars and served with meat, cheese, etc.

We can use countable nouns for things we can count. They can be singular or plural. I've got a book, but she's got two books. We can use uncountable nouns for things we can't count.

Students deal out a pack of cards with one quantifier on each. When their partner asks them a question, they must answer with the quantifier on one of their cards. Perhaps after asking follow-up questions, their partner guesses if the answer was true or not.

If you're confused if a noun is countable or not, look for articles (“a” or “the”) or words like “some,” “few” and “many” to figure it out. And if there are none, then they're probably uncountable nouns.