Countable Nouns and Uncountable Nouns

Countable Nouns	Uncountable Nouns
1. Countable Nouns are nouns which can be counted. Examples :   A student        Two students      A ball        Three balls	1. Uncountable nouns are nouns which cannot be counted. Examples:                    Butter                       Milk      rice
2. The words ‘many’, ‘a few’, ‘several’ and ‘ a number of’ are used with countable nouns. Examples : a) There are many people at the circus. b) The clerk spent a few hours sorting the documents. c) He bought several story books at the book fair. d) A number of people was killed in the earthquake.	2. The words ‘a little’ and ‘much’ are used with uncountable nouns. Examples: a) The boy spilled a little ink on the floor. b) There was too much milk that we could not finish.

 

3.  The words ‘some’, ‘a lot of’ and ‘plenty of’ are used with both countable nouns and uncountable nouns.

Countable noun	Uncountable noun
a) There are some cars in the car park. b) There are a lot of flies around the dustbin. c) She needs plenty of flowers to make a wreath.	a) There is some sand on the floor. b) There is a lot of rubbish near the gate. c) I drink plenty of water every day.

 

4. ‘Any’ may be used with both countable nouns and uncountable nouns. It is used in questions and negative statements.

Countable noun	Uncountable noun
a) Do you have any idea? b) I did not find any nails in the toolbox.	a) Did you give any money to her? b) There isn’t any juice in the bottle.