(Un)Countable Nouns and Quantifiers

Nouns can be divided into countable and uncountable groups. 

Countable Nouns

Countable nouns are things which can be counted – school, watch, story etc. We can say one school, two pencils, three cars etc. They have a plural form – adding s/ es/ ies – schools, watches, stories. 

We must use a ‘determiner’ with a singular countable noun – these include articles (a/n, the) or a pronoun (my, his, that, those etc). 

I have A job in AN office in THE city. I like MY job. 

***** This is the one of the most common mistakes in English, particularly for people who speak a language without articles. 

Uncountable Nouns

Uncountable nouns are nouns which cannot be counted. When using them:

  • We cannot use a/an before these nouns.   I like doing a hard work. 
  • We cannot put these nouns into plural.      The traffics traffic is very bad. 
  • These nouns always take the singular form.   The news are is very depressing. 

Certain types of nouns are often uncountable, including:

  1. Liquids – water, coffee, tea, soda, milk, beer. 
  2. Foods – pasta, bread, cereal, sugar, butter, ketchup, cheese, meat. 
  3. Materials – wood, glass, metal, plastic, paper. 
  4. Substances of small particles – soil, dust, sand, snow, clay, hair, light. 
  5. Gases – air, smoke, oxygen, steam, vapour. 
  6. School subjects/ Languages – English, Spanish, Maths, History. 
  7. Abstract concepts – Love, honesty, success, war, peace, nature. 
  8. Collective – research, crime, trash, stuff, news, pollution. 

Here are some common uncountable nouns we use on a daily basis:

Both countable and uncountable

Some nouns can be both countable and uncountable with a different meaning. 

Generally, this can mean one of something, instead of the collective or material. For example:

  • I think long short hair is neater.  (collective)
  • There is a hair in my soup. (only one)
  • We bought a lot of wood for the shed.  (material)
  • There is a wood near my house. (one wood – a forest).

We often use uncountable nouns as countable when talking about a particular quantity of something, without mentioning the quantity, this is generally true for liquids. For example:

  • I think coffee is my favourite drink.  (the product)
  • Can I have a coffee. (a cup of coffee)

Sometimes there is just a difference in meaning from a similar word. For example:

  • We need to buy more paper. (the material/ product)
  • I’m going to buy a paper. (a newspaper)
  • There is not enough light coming into the room. 
  • Can you turn on a light please. (a lightbulb – light switch)

Plural Nouns

Some nouns are always used in the plural and with plural verbs, this is particularly true for things that come in ‘pairs’ like:

  • clothing (glasses, trousers, shorts, tights, pants)
  • things with two parts (scissors, tweezers, binoculars). 
  • There are also things like ‘belongings’, ‘congratulations’ and ‘sympathies’ which are also used in plural. 

Quantifiers 

We often use quantifiers before nouns to be more specific, this is particularly true for uncountable nouns. 

However, while some quantifiers can be used for both countable and uncountable nouns (some, a lot of), others can only be used with countable (a few) and uncountable (a little). 

The table below outlines in more detail the quantifiers which can be used with countable, uncountable and both forms of nouns


Notes on Quantifiers

  1. Any and some can be used in questions.

          Would you like some help?                  Do you have any questions?

  1. We do not use some with negatives and we do not use any in positive sentences

     I don’t have some any problems.        I have any some questions for you.    

  1. Few and ‘A few’ have a slightly different meaning. A few has a positive meaning, whereas ‘few’ has a slightly negative meaning.

 There are a few things to do in my town   vs   There are few things to do in my town.

  1. None is a pronoun which means zero, so it is not followed by a noun. It generally goes at the end of a sentence, or with ‘of the ….’

I’d like some coffee but there is none.       None of the guests have arrived yet. 

  1. No is used in positive sentences, to use it with negative sentences would be a ‘double negative; and therefore, a mistake. 

We don’t have no wine left. ⮽         We have no wine left.  ✅



Downloadable Exercises

(Un)Countable Nouns and Quantifiers – Exercise 1 Worksheet
(Un)Countable Nouns and Quantifiers – Exercise 1 Answers
(Un)Countable Nouns and Quantifiers – Exercise 2 Worksheet
(Un)Countable Nouns and Quantifiers – Exercise 2 Answers