Countable & Uncountable Nouns
Some nouns you can count — one book, two books. Others you cannot — you never say “two breads”. Learn which is which, and how to count the ones you can’t.
Press a button. Count the uncountable.
Swap the noun and the amount. Watch what happens to bread, water and advice when you try to count them — the noun never changes, the container does.
Got it? Jump to the practice →
The rules — with examples
Two kinds of noun, four rules that follow from the difference, and the phrases that let you count anything.
The two kinds of noun
I have three chairs.
The furniture is new.
three furnitures — no.
The trap: these are uncountable in English even though many languages count them — advice, information, furniture, news, luggage, homework, bread, money, work, traffic. Never add -s to any of them, and never put a or an in front.
The four rules
How to count an uncountable noun
Only the container changes. The uncountable noun itself never takes -s: two pieces of advice, not two advices; three slices of bread, not three breads.
Word lists: which nouns are which
Quick guide: if you can put three in front of it, it is countable — add -s. If you cannot, it is uncountable — leave it alone and count the container instead. Next step: which quantity words go with each type, in the Quantifiers lesson.
Practice & score yourself
Ten questions — five multiple choice, five gap-fill. Instant scoring and a short explanation for every answer.
The one rule to remember
If you can put a number in front of it, the noun is countable — use a / an for one and add -s for more. If you cannot, it is uncountable: no a, no -s, and a singular verb. “The news is good”, “Money doesn’t buy happiness”.
To count an uncountable noun, count the container instead — a piece of advice, three slices of bread. Only the container ever becomes plural.
Next: which quantity words go with each type; much, many, a few, a little and a lot of;