COUNT AND NON-COUNT NOUNS
A count noun is something we can count. It has a singular form and a plural form.
ex: one book, three books; a leg, two legs; an apple, six apples;
N.B. A singular count noun must have a
Determiner .
A non-count noun is something we don’t count. It has no plural form.
We use quantifiers before non-count nouns:
ex: fruit, some fruit; bread, a slice of bread; homework; a lot of homework; information, a little information
The following are non-count nouns:
Abstract nouns:
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advice art beauty confidence courage crime education enjoyment experience fun grammar happiness education hate
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health help homework honesty hospitality importance information intelligence justice knowledge laughter life love luck
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music news noise nutrition patience patience pride progress slang time truth unemployment vocabulary work
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Groups with individual parts
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cash change clothing equipment food fruit furniture garbage
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hardware homework jewelry junk junk luggage machinery |
makeup money news postage research scenery slang traffic |
Things with no definite form:
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Liquids beer blood coffee cream gasoline honey juice milk oil shampoo soup tea water wine
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Gases air carbon monoxide fire fog hydrogen oxygen pollution smoke steam |
Solids butter cheese cotton film flour glass ice ice cream meat powder salt soap sugar toothpaste wood wool |
Things that have tiny parts too small to count
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corn dirt dust
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grass hair rice |
salt sugar wheat |
Natural phenomena
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darkness dew electricity fire fog gravity
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heat humidity light lightning rain |
snow sunshine thunder weather wind
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Ailments
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cancer cholera flu
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heart disease malaria polio |
smallpox strep throat
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Academic subjects
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art biology chemistry economics engineering
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history linguistics literature mathematics |
music physics poetry psychology science |
Languages
Russian, Spanish, French, etc.
Words that can be count and non-count
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Food (non-count) chicken lamb liver fish |
Animal or animal part (count) a chicken a lamb a liver a fish |
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non-count wine food fruit meat education experience |
count (means "a kind of ___") a wine, wines a food, foods a fruit, fruits a meat, meats an education an experience |
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non-count glass (the material)
paper (the material)
iron (the metal) fire (the gas)
time (an abstract idea) |
count a glass (something to put liquid in) a paper (a report or newspaper) an iron (for pressing clothes) a fire (one specific occurrence of fire) a time, times (a specific occurrence or period) |
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Articles:
a/an (indefinite) the (definite)
Demonstratives: this that these those |
Possessives:
my our yours their her his its
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Quantifiers:
some a few lots of several each every any most many all much no |