Countable and Uncountable Nouns

Countable nouns can be counted and have plural forms; uncountable nouns name things we see as a mass and have no plural. The distinction controls which determiners and verbs you can use.

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Level A2 Nouns & Determiners

Summary

Countable nouns can be counted and have plural forms; uncountable nouns name things we see as a mass and have no plural. The distinction controls which determiners and verbs you can use.

countable: a/an, plural, many | uncountable: some, much, no plural

Examples

Common mistakes

• Saying 'an advice' or 'advices' — advice is uncountable.
• Using 'many' with uncountable nouns, e.g. 'many money' instead of 'much money'.

Related

Plural Nouns Much, Many, A Lot Of A Few and A Little

More nouns & determiners

Plural and Quantifiers: Some / Any A1

Use 'some' in positive sentences and offers/requests, and 'any' in negatives and most questions. They work with plural countable nouns and uncountable nouns.

Plural Nouns A1

Most English nouns add -s to show more than one. Nouns ending in -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, or -x take -es, and a noun ending in consonant + y changes y to -ies.

Possessive 's A1

Add 's to a noun to show ownership or relationship. For plural nouns already ending in -s, add only an apostrophe.

This, That, These, Those A1

These demonstratives point to things by number and distance. This/these are for things near you; that/those are for things farther away.

There Is and There Are A1

Use 'there is' and 'there are' to say that something exists or is present. The verb agrees with the noun that follows: singular takes 'is', plural takes 'are'.

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