Two kinds of nouns
A noun names a person, place, thing, animal or idea. In English, nouns come in two groups based on whether you can count them.
- A count noun can be counted: one apple, two apples, three apples.
- A noncount noun cannot be counted one by one: water, rice, sand, music. You can’t say two waters or three musics. Noncount nouns are also called mass nouns.
Knowing which is which helps you choose the right words, such as many or much, a or some.
Count nouns
Count nouns name things you can count separately. They have a singular form (one) and a plural form (more than one).
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
| a cat | three cats |
| an egg | a dozen eggs |
| a child | five children |
| a box | two boxes |
With singular count nouns, you need a word before them, such as a, an, the, my or this. You can’t just say I have dog. Say I have a dog.
Noncount nouns
Noncount nouns name things that come in a mass or are hard to separate. They have only one form and use singular verbs.
The water is cold. The furniture looks new.
They often belong to these groups:
| Group | Examples |
|---|---|
| Liquids | water, milk, juice, oil |
| Tiny pieces or powders | rice, sugar, sand, flour, salt |
| Materials | wood, paper, glass, gold |
| Ideas and feelings | love, advice, happiness, courage |
| School subjects and activities | math, music, homework, soccer |
| Weather | rain, snow, sunshine, fog |
| Groups of things | furniture, luggage, equipment, money |
Notice homework, furniture and money. We count their parts (assignments, chairs, dollars), but the words themselves are noncount.
Counting noncount nouns with unit words
To count a noncount noun, add a unit word:
- a glass of milk, two glasses of milk
- a slice of bread
- a piece of advice, three pieces of furniture
- a cup of sugar
- a bag of rice
- a bottle of water
Choosing the right quantifier
A quantifier tells how much or how many. Some go with count nouns, some with noncount nouns, and some with both.
| Count nouns | Noncount nouns | Both |
|---|---|---|
| many books | much water | some, any |
| a few friends | a little time | a lot of, lots of |
| several apples | a great deal of noise | plenty of, no |
| fewer cookies | less sugar | more, most |
- How many pencils do you have? (count)
- How much milk is left? (noncount)
- I have a few ideas. (count)
- I need a little help. (noncount)
Words that can be both
Some nouns change meaning:
- I’d like some chicken. (meat, noncount) / The farm has six chickens. (animals, count)
- My hair is long. (all of it, noncount) / There are two hairs in my soup! (single strands, count)
- Paper is made from trees. (material) / I read two papers today. (newspapers or essays)
Common mistakes
- Adding -s to a noncount noun. ✗ advices, furnitures, homeworks → ✓ advice, furniture, homework
- Using a or an with noncount nouns. ✗ a rice → ✓ some rice or a bowl of rice
- Mixing up many and much. ✗ much people → ✓ many people
- Fewer vs less. Use fewer with count nouns (fewer cars) and less with noncount nouns (less traffic).
Try it yourself
Sort these nouns into count and noncount: chair, sugar, idea, information, friend, snow, coin, money.
Then fill in many or much: How ___ juice? How ___ students?
Answers: count: chair, idea, friend, coin; noncount: sugar, information, snow, money. much juice, many students.
Quick recap
- Count nouns have singular and plural forms; noncount nouns don’t.
- Noncount nouns include liquids, materials, ideas and groups like furniture.
- Use unit words like a piece of or a glass of to count noncount nouns.
- Use many, few and fewer with count nouns; much, little and less with noncount nouns.