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Countable / Uncountable Nouns

1. Countable Nouns

All nouns are countable or uncountable. Countable nouns have the

following properties.
- They can be counted, for example 1 apple, 2 apples, ...etc.
- They can be made plural.
- They can take the indefinate article a/an.

2. Uncountable Nouns

Uncountable nouns have the following properties.

- They usually can't be counted, for example 1 money, 2 money, ...etc.
- They usually can't be made plural.
- They usually don't take the indefinate article a/an.

Some is often used for plural nouns. For example:

- I have some apples.
- I have some food.
This is covered later in more detail.

Here are some common countable and uncountable nouns.

Countable Uncountable
apple time
tree rice
person beef
dog money
kilo information
liter help

Countable nouns often refer to individual things, and physical things. For
example: a person, a tree, a kilo.
Uncountable nouns often refer to non-individual things, and abstract
things. For example rice is not an individual thing, it's seen as group of
hundreds of small grains. Love and sadness are abstract, not physical
things.

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3. Countable and Uncountable Nouns

Some nouns can be countable and uncountable, depending on how they

are used. For example:
- Countable : A glass of milk. Here glass refers to one container made of
glass.
- Uncountable: You can see through glass. Here glass doesn't refer to one
thing, it refers to glass as a substance.
- Countable: He has many papers. Here papers refers to some of
individual documents.
- Uncountable: Paper is made from wood. Here paper is not an individual
thing, but a general substance.

In English, there are two kinds of nouns: count nouns and non-count
nouns. It is important to understand the difference between them,
because they often use different articles, and non-count nouns usually
have no plural. Here is a summary of the differences:

Type of
Explanation Example
noun

There are
Count nouns are things which can be two books
counted. That means that there can be on the
Count more than one of them. Also, when a table.
nouns count noun is singular and indefinite, the
article a/an is often used with it. (The There is an
real meaning of a is one.) elephant in
my car.

Could I
Non-count nouns (or uncounted nouns)
have some
are usually things which cannot be
water
Non- counted, such as rice or water. Non-count
please?
count nouns have a singular form, but when
nouns they are indefinite, we either use the
I'd like rice
word some or nothing at all instead of
with my
an article.
steak.

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How to tell whether a noun is count or non-count

You can usually work out whether a noun is count or non-count by

thinking about it. Count nouns are usually objects which can be counted.
Non-count nouns are often substances (such as sand, water or rice) which
cannot be easily counted, or they may be large abstract ideas such as
nature, space or entertainment. Here are some more examples:

Count nouns Non-count nouns

pen education
table intelligence
car clothing
idea soap
answer air
class cheese
exam grass
shoe literature

Quantifiers: A Few / A Little

1. Quantifiers - Few / Little / A Few / A Little

Theses quantifiers are used to show a small quantity of something, for

example "I have a few books" means I have a small quantity of books.

A Few

A few is used with countable nouns to show a small quantity. It is used in

affirmative statements, but not negatives. We generally use any or
questions. For example:
- I have a few books.
- I don't have a few books
This is incorrect.
- I don't have any books
This is correct.
- Do you have a few books?
Sometimes this is possible, but generally speaking we use any for
questions, for example "Do you have any books?"

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Few

There is an important difference between a few and few. Few without a is

used to mean we don't have enough of something. For example:
- She has few apples in the refridgerator. (She doesn't have enough
apples).
- She has a few apples in the refridgerator. (She has a small quantity of
apples)

Put another way, "a few" means "a small quantity", but "few" means "not
a big quantity" For example:
- A few friends came to my party. This is a positive idea, I'm happy a few
people came./
- Few friends came to my party. This is a negative idea, I'm not happy
because not many people came.
Notice how "a few" focuses on how many people did come, but "few"
focuses on how many didn't come.

In sum, A few means a small quantity - few means not a big quantity

A Little

A little is used with uncountable nouns to show a small quantity. Again, it

is generally used in affirmative statements, not negatives or questions. For
example:
- I have a little orange juice.
Negatives and Questions use "any" as usual.
- I don't have a little orange juice.
This is incorrect.
- I don't have any orange juice.
This is correct
- Do you have a little orange juice?
Again, we generally use any for questions, for example "Do you have any
orange juice?"

Little

As with few, there is also the same difference between a little and little.
Little without a is used to mean we don't have enough of something. For
example:
- She has little for breakfast. (She doesn't eat enough for breakfast).
- She has a little for breakfast. (She has a small quantity of food for
breakfast).

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