# Countable and uncountable nouns in English

Countable nouns have singular and plural forms; uncountable nouns have no plural and do not take “a/an”. Which nouns are uncountable, how to talk about amounts, and nouns that differ from Turkish.

Author: Aslıgül Aşkın · Published: 2026-10-06
Page address: https://grammardots.com/en/blog/countable-and-uncountable-nouns

English nouns fall into two groups: countable nouns have singular and plural forms (“a book”, “two books”), while uncountable nouns have no plural and do not take “a/an” (“water”, “money”, “information”). This difference decides how you use some, any, much, many, and “a”, so it is a basic topic.

## Which nouns are uncountable?

Liquids and materials: water, milk, sugar, rice, bread. Abstract ideas: time, love, help, advice, information, news. Groups thought of as a whole: furniture, luggage, money, homework. These nouns take a singular verb: “The news is good.”, “Your luggage is heavy.”

## Measuring uncountable nouns

To give an amount of something uncountable, use a unit word: “a glass of water”, “a cup of tea”, “a piece of advice”, “a slice of bread”, “a bottle of milk”, “two kilos of rice”. The unit word is what you count: “three cups of coffee”.

## Common mistakes for Turkish speakers

Some nouns that are countable in Turkish are uncountable in English: not “an advice” but “some advice” or “a piece of advice”; not “informations” but “information”; not “homeworks” but “homework”. For “bir haber”, you don't say “a news” but “a piece of news”.

## A short exercise

Sort ten things in your kitchen into two columns: countable and uncountable. For each uncountable one, write a unit phrase (“a bottle of…”, “a packet of…”). Then make two sentences with “some”, using one noun from each column.

To keep going, see [Some or any, much or many? Talking about quantity](https://grammardots.com/en/blog/some-any-much-many) and [A, an, or the? Articles in English](https://grammardots.com/en/blog/a-an-the-articles-in-english).

## Frequently asked questions

### Can a noun be both countable and uncountable?

Yes, with a change of meaning: “coffee” as a drink is uncountable, but in a café you can say “two coffees” (two cups).

### Is “people” singular or plural?

“People” is plural and takes a plural verb: “People are friendly here.” The singular is “person”.