Countable and uncountable nouns in English

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 and A, an, or 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”.