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PRESENTS

And some things they don’t want you

to know.

CountCNon-count

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Exercises

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What are COUNT NOUNS?

Look around the room or the classroom you're sitting in — the more "stuff" in the room, the better. Name some things that somebody must have carried into the room.

desks, chairs, flag, clock, computers, keyboards, projector, books, bookcases, pens, notebooks, backpacks, lights, students (Well, maybe the students walked in under their own power!)

Now name some things that are part of the room itself.

floor, wall, ceiling, windows, door, chalkboard

You can imagine there being more than one of everything you've named so far — although you might have to have more than one room to have more than one floor or ceiling. These are all COUNT NOUNS, things that you can count.

Usage Notes:Count nouns can be pluralized when appropriate. See the section on Plurals for help with the proper formation of noun plurals. We can use expressions such as

many bottles few bottles a few bottles

These nouns, both singular and plural, can be preceded by the appropriate definite and indefinite articles — the with both singular and plural, a or an with singular count-nouns. Singular count nouns can be preceded by this and that and by every, each, either, and neither. Plural count nouns can be preceded by these and those and by some, any, enough, and the zero article. The phrase number of is accompanied by count nouns. Count nouns cannot be preceded by much. The phrase amount of is also a sure sign that you are not dealing with a count noun.

Can be counted as one or more.

pen, computer, bottle, spoon, desk, cup, television, chair, shoe, finger, flower, camera, stick, balloon, book, table, comb, etc.

Take an s to form the plural.

pens, computers, bottles, spoons, desks, cups, televisions, chairs, shoes, fingers, flowers, cameras, sticks, balloons, books, tables, combs, etc.

Work with expressions such as (a few, few, many, some, every, each, these, and the number of).

a few pens, a few computers, many bottles, some spoons, every desk, each cup, these televisions, the number of chairs, a few shoes, a few fingers, many flowers, some cameras, every stick, each balloon, these books, the number of tables, many combs, etc.

Work with appropriate articles (a, an, or the).

a pen, the computer, a bottle, the spoon, a desk, the cup, a television, the chair, a shoe, the finger, a flower, the camera, a stick, the balloon, a book, the table, a comb, etc.

Do NOT work with much (for example, you would never say much pens or much computers).

Count Nouns

a car (singular) cars (plural)

a chair chairs

an apple apples

a camera four cameras

count nouns use singular and plural verbs and pronouns:

There is an apple. (singular) There are some apples. (plural)

I like that chair. ("that" is singular). She likes those chairs. ("those" is plural)

A car is an expensive thing to own. Cars are an expensive form of transportation.

Apples taste good

Digital cameras make photography easy. They are fun to use.

The camera is very nice.

Count Nouns

How many chairs are there? How many chairs are there? There is one chair There are two chairs

How many cameras are there? How many cameras are there?

There's one camera There are four cameras

Non-count nouns

Non-count nouns (or uncounted nouns) are usually things which cannot be counted, such as rice or water. Non-count nouns have a singular form, but when they are indefinite, we either use the word “some” or nothing at all instead of an article.

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.

Cannot be counted. They usually express a group or a type.

water, wood, ice, air, oxygen, English, Spanish, traffic, furniture, milk, wine, sugar, rice, meat, flour, soccer, sunshine, etc.

Generally cannot be pluralized.

Work both with and without an article (a, an, or the), depending on the context of the sentence.

Sugar is sweet.

The sunshine is beautiful.

I drink milk.

He eats rice.

We watch soccer together.

The wood is burning

•We ate some rice and milk. •I hope to see some sunshine today. •This meat is good. •She does not speak much Spanish. •Do you see any traffic on the road? •That wine is very old.

Work with expressions such as (some, any, enough, this, that, and much).

Do NOT work with expressions such as (these, those, every, each, either, or neither).

Know the different categories of non-count nouns.

The chart below illustrates the different types of non-count nouns. Remember that these categories include other nouns that are count. For example, lightning, a natural event [one of the categories], is non-count, but hurricane, a different natural event, is a count noun. When you don't know what type of noun you have, consult a dictionary that provides such information.

Category Examples

Abstractions advice, courage, enjoyment, fun, help, honesty, information, intelligence, knowledge, patience, etc.

Activities chess, homework, housework, music, reading, singing, sleeping, soccer, tennis, work, etc.

Food beef, bread, butter, fish, macaroni, meat, popcorn, pork, poultry, toast, etc.

Gases air, exhaust, helium, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, pollution, smog, smoke, steam, etc.

Groups of Similar Items baggage, clothing, furniture, hardware, luggage, equipment, mail, money, software, vocabulary, etc.

Liquids blood, coffee, gasoline, milk, oil, soup, syrup, tea, water, wine, etc.

Natural Events electricity, gravity, heat, humidity, moonlight, rain, snow, sunshine, thunder, weather, etc.

Materials aluminum, asphalt, chalk, cloth, concrete, cotton, glue, lumber, wood, wool, etc.

Particles or Grains corn, dirt, dust, flour, hair, pepper, rice, salt, sugar, wheat, etc.

The following are non-count nouns:Abstract nouns:

advice

art

beauty

confidence

courage

crime

education

enjoyment

experience

fun

grammar

happiness

education

hate

health

help

homework

honesty

hospitality

importance

information

intelligence

justice

knowledge

laughter

life

love

luck

music

news

noise

nutrition

patience

patience

pride

progress

slang

time

truth

unemployment

vocabulary

work

Groups with individual parts

cash

change

clothing

equipment

food

fruit

furniture

garbage

hardware

homework

jewelry

junk

junk

luggage

machinery

mail

makeup

money

news

postage

research

scenery

slang

traffic

Things with no definite form:

Liquids

beer

blood

coffee

cream

gasoline

Honey

juice

milk

oil

shampoo

soup

tea

water

wine

Gases

air

carbon monoxide

fire

fog

hydrogen

oxygen

pollution

smoke

steam

Solids

butter

cheese

cotton

film

flour

glass

ice

ice cream

meat

powder

salt

soap

sugar

toothpaste

wood

wool

Things that have tiny parts too small to count

corn

dirt

dust

grass

hair

rice

salt

sugar

wheat

Natural phenomena

darkness

dew

electricity

fire

fog

gravity

heat

humidity

light

lightning

rain

snow

sunshine

thunder

weather

wind

Ailments

cancer

cholera

flu

heart disease

malaria

polio

smallpox

strep throat

Academic subjects

art

biology

chemistry

economics

engineering

history

linguistics

literature

mathematics

music

physics

poetry

psychology

science

LanguagesRussian, Spanish, French, etc.

????????Words that can be count and non-count

Food (non-count)chickenlambliverfish

Animal or animal part (count)a chickena lamba livera fish

non-countwinefoodfruitmeateducationexperience

count (means "a kind of ___")a wine, winesa food, foodsa fruit, fruitsa meat, meatsan educationan experience

non-countglass (the material)paper (the material)iron (the metal)fire (the gas)time (an abstract idea)

counta glass (something to put liquid in)a paper (a report or newspaper)an iron (for pressing clothes)a fire (one specific occurrence of fire)a time, times (a specific occurrence or period)

How can something be BOTH a COUNT NOUN and a MASS NOUN?

If we conceive of the meaning of a noun as a continuum from being specific to being general and abstract, we can see how it can move from being a count noun to a mass noun. Consider, for example, the noun experiences. When I say

I had many horrifying experiences as a pilot.

I'm referring to specific, countable moments in my life as a pilot.

When I say,

This position requires experience.

I'm using the word in an abstract way; it is not something you can count; it's more like an idea, a general thing that people need to have in order to apply for this job.

If I write

The talks will take place in Degnan Hall.

these talks are countable events or lectures. If I say

I hate it when a meeting is nothing but talk.

the word talk is now uncountable; I'm referring to the general, abstract idea of idle chatter.

Evils refers to specific sins — pride, envy, sloth, and everyone's favorite, gluttony — whereas evil refers to a general notion of being bad or ungodly.

One more example: "I love the works of Beethoven" means that I like his symphonies, his string quartets, his concerti and sonatas, his choral pieces — all very countable things, works. "I hate work" means that I find the very idea of labor, in a general way, quite unappealing. Notice that the plural form means something quite different from the singular form of this word; they're obviously related, but they're different.

What is the relationship between plastic and plastics, wood and woods, ice and [Italian] ices, hair and hairs?

Further, as noted earlier, almost all mass nouns can become count nouns when they are used in a classificatory sense:

They served some nice Brazilian wines. There were some real beauties in that rose garden. We had some serious difficulties in this project.

But some things cannot be made countable or plural: we cannot have furnitures, informations, knowledges, softnesses, or chaoses. When in doubt, consult a good dictionary.

What are ABSTRACT NOUNS?

Here is a list of ABSTRACT NOUNS for you to think about. Can you touch or see any of these things in the physical sense? Can you count any of them? Can you create sentences in which some of these words can be used as plurals?

peacewarmthhospitalityinformationangereducationmelancholysoftnessviolence

conductcourageleisureknowledgesafetyshoppingjusticechaosprogress

speedexperiencetimefriendshiptroubleworkculturevirtue

tasteevillibertydemocracydeathgriefpiety

Usage Notes:

Because they refer to ideas, concepts, it is difficult to see how abstract nouns can be pluralized. In fact, many of them cannot be. The abstract nouns in the first two columns (above) cannot be pluralized; the abstract nouns in the second two columns can be. The section below discusses what happens to an abstract noun when it is pluralized.

The griefs of the nation are too much to bear.

The editors took liberties with our prose.

She formed many friendships at college.

In terms of quantifiers and words that precede these words, what we say about the non-count nouns, above, can be said about abstract nouns.

Exercises

There are two exercises here, after you have finished each exercise, click “Check Answers” to see how you did.

When you are ready, press “Continue”.

Continue

Count and Non-count Nouns Grammar Quiz

•I've had so coffee today, I can't stop shaking.

•When we moved we packed up all of our except for the kitchen table.

•I don't care for it when women wear a lot of .

•They have two in their home.

•Did you hear the terrible storm with last night?

CHECK ANSWERS

much

furniture

makeup

dogs

thunder and lightning

many

furnitures

makeups

dog

thunder and lightning

1 banana

Count

Non-Count

2 fruit

Count

Non-Count

3 apple

Count

Non-Count

4 peach

Count

Non-Count

Easy Count or Non-Count NounsPut an “x” in the correct box.

5 water

Count

Non-Count

6 strawberry

Count

Non-Count

7 corn

Count

Non-Count

8 orange juice

Count

Non-Count

CHECK ANSWERS