Count/Non-Count Nouns
Count nouns have two forms: singular and plural.
They can be used with numbers and quantifying expressions such as many, several, and few.
| One potato | two potatoes | several potatoes | few potatoes |
When used as subjects in present tense sentences, count nouns require the -s form of the verb in the singular and the base form of the verb in the plural.
| The dog sleeps. | The dogs sleep. | The bear has large claws. |
Non-count nouns have only one form. When used as subjects in present tense sentences, non-count nouns require the –s form of the verb.
| Juice contains many vitamins. | Honesty is the best policy. |
Some nouns can be either count or non-count.
| Job experience is essential | Some experiences can be funny. |
| Milk contains calcium. | Two milks, please. (informal) |
Both count and non-count nouns can be quantified. That is, they can be used with expressions which divide them into parts or groups which can be counted. For example,
| Two apples | Two bags of apples |
| One cookie | A box of cookies |
| milk | Two cartons of milk |
| sugar | A cup of sugar |
Sometimes a non-count noun is used to indicate a “group” of items, whereas individual items within the group are countable. For example,
| Non-count | Count |
| Money | dollars, bills, fives, cents, dimes, coins |
| Time | years, months, days, hours, minutes |
| Clothing | dresses, pants, shirts, socks, shoes |
| Furniture | Tables, chairs, sofas, lamps |
| Luggage | suitcases, briefcases, bags, carry-ons |
For Practice:
Countable or Non-Countable Nouns (from The Internet TESL Journal)
See also :
Speaking : Count and Non-count Nouns in Context
Vocabulary: Things We Don’t Count
Grammar : Subject-Verb Agreement
Grammar : Quantifiers
The Noncount Noun (from Grammar Bytes)
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