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
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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. | |
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 | |
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