Some nouns are countable – you can count them. These include:
apples, books, cars, trees
Some nouns are uncountable – you cannot count them. These include:
water, oil, rice, fruit, bread, information, money
Uncountable nouns have different grammar rules from countable nouns.
countable singular nouns
e.g. apple | countable plural nouns
e.g. apples | uncountable nouns
e.g. fruit |
Singular countable nouns always need a determiner:
a, this, that, my, the etc.
Look at that cat!
Can I have an apple?
Is this your bag? |
Plural countable nouns do not need a determiner.
I like apples.
Dogs are friendly.
But they can be used with determiners:
Where are my shoes?
Are those pens yours? |
Uncountable nouns do not need a determiner.
I like fruit.
But they can use singular determiners:
This fruit is nice. |
|
You can count countable nouns.
Can I have five apples please? |
You cannot count uncountable nouns.
Can I have five breads please? |
Use singular verbs and determiners.
This apple is nice. |
Use plural verbs and determiners.
These apples are nice. |
Use singular verbs and determiners.
This bread is nice. |
| Some determiners can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns.
some, a lot of, lots of, loads of, plenty of, any
We’ve got some potatoes. We need some bread.
We don’t have any potatoes. We don’t have any bread. |
| Some determiners can only be used with countable nouns:
several, various, a few, many | Some determiners can only be used with uncountable nouns:
much, a bit of, a little |