Countable and Uncountable Nouns

I have two cute kittens! (kittens = baby cats)

Countable Nouns

Countable nouns are things we can count – for example, cats:

• My brother has a cat.
• My sister has two cats.
• My friend has three cats.

Other examples of countable nouns:

• Things – book, table, computer, banana, shirt, television, pen, house.
• People – man, woman, child, friend, brother, sister, uncle, teacher, boss.

With countable nouns, you can use many, a few, some, or any:

• How many brothers do you have?
• I have a few books in my backpack.
• She bought some bananas at the store.
• Does he have any children?

Uncountable Nouns

Uncountable nouns are words that we can’t count, or can’t divide into separate parts:

• Ideas and concepts – love, fun, sadness, work, money, peace, safety
• Information – advice, information, news, knowledge
• Categories – music, furniture, equipment, jewelry, literature, meat
• Liquids and foods that can’t be counted – water, butter, rice, flour, milk

With uncountable nouns, you can use much, a little, some, or any:

• Our teacher gives us too much homework!
• Add a little butter to the recipe.
• We heard some great music on the radio this morning.
• He doesn’t have any furniture in his new house.

Don’t add -s to make uncountable nouns plural:

• I need some informations about the course.
• I need some information about the course.

You can use other words to help:

• She bought three bottles of wine and five boxes of rice.
• He gave me two pieces of advice: eat less and exercise more.