Countable Nouns Vs. Uncountable Nouns

 

Countable Nouns

Can be counted as one or more.

 · pen, computer, bottle, spoon, desk, cup, television, chair, shoe, finger, flower, camera, stick, balloon, book, table, comb, hat, article, etc.

Take an s to form the plural.

· pens, computers, bottles, spoons, keys, cups, televisions, chairs, shoes, fingers, flowers, cameras, sticks, balloons, books, tables, combs, etc.

Work with expressions such as (a few, few, many, some, every, each, these, and the number of).

· a few pens, a few computers, many bottles, some spoons, every desk, each cup, these televisions, the number of chairs, a few shoes, a few fingers, many flowers, some cameras, every stick, each balloon, these books, the number of tables, many combs, etc.

Work with appropriate articles (a, an, or the).

· a pen, the computer, a bottle, the spoon, a desk, the cup, a television, the chair, a shoe, the finger, a flower,  the camera, a stick, the balloon, a book, the table, a comb, etc.

Do NOT work with much (for example, you would never say much pens or much computers).

Uncountable Nouns

Cannot be counted (uncountable). They usually express a group or a type.

· air, water, wood, ice, sand, sugar, oxygen, English, traffic, milk, wine, sugar, rice, meat, flour, soccer, sunshine, etc.

Generally cannot be pluralized.

Work both with and without an article (a, an, or the), depending on the context of the sentence.

· Sugar is sweet.

· The sunshine is beautiful.

· I drink milk.

· He eats rice.

Work with expressions such as (some, any, enough, this, that, and much).

· We ate some rice and milk.

· This meat is good.

· She does not speak much Spanish.

· Do you see any traffic on the road?

· That wine is very old.

Do NOT work with expressions such as (these, those, every, each, either, or neither).