Countable and Uncountable Nouns
Nouns are words that name persons, places, things, and
ideas.
Nouns are words that name persons, places, things, and
ideas.
Nouns can be proper or common.
The White HouseA white house
Tylenol paracetamol
Proper nouns Common nouns
Some common nouns have easily identifiable boundaries;
it’s easy to see where each item begins and ends.
These are countable nouns.
people
pencils
hospital
room
Some nouns don’t have such boundaries.
To quantify them, we need to use some kind of measure.
A cup of coffee
A bowl of cereal
A piece of butter
coffee
cereal butter
Other nouns represent ideas, concepts which aren’t visible,
can’t be readily measurable, or may be quantified in many different ways.
These are uncountable nouns.
money
medicine
Some nouns can be used as count nouns and as non-count.
fishcake
chicken
When we are referring to the animal (fish or chicken), the noun is countable.
Ex: The man caught a big fish last Sunday.
When we are referring to the food, the noun is uncountable.
Ex: The fish we ate last night was really good.
Some uncountable nouns can be used with a countable sense.
Time passes very quickly. (uncountable)
We always meet at a specific time.(countable)
Love is a very powerful feeling. (uncountable)
Of all my loves, my cat is the biggest. (countable)
Many people drink wine. (uncountable)
I got a very nice wine from the market yesterday. (countable)
Many times we use uncountable nouns as countable, but the meaning is clear from the
context.
Can I have a coffee, please?
( I mean a cup of coffee.)
Do you want a beer?
(I mean a bottle of beer)
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