COUNTABLE AND

NONCOUNTABLE

NOUNS

Use of A/An/The

An Initial vowel

• An apple

• An airplane

A Initial consonant

• A book

• A kangaroo

Use of A/An/The

Pay attention to words beginning

with U and H.

• A university / An umbrella

• A house / An hour

Nouns can be:

Countable Non-countable

… we can count: cat,

woman, pencil, etc.

… we cannot count:

milk, safety, rice, etc.

• They have a plural

form

• They have no plural

• They can have “a,

an” or a number

before.

• Usually cannot have

“a, an” or a number

before.

Chicken

Countable: The animal

• We have ten cows and

fifteen chickens on our farm.

Uncountable: The food

• Would you like some chicken?

Paper

Countable: Individual documents

• I showed my papers to the immigration

agent.

Uncountable: Paper in general

• I need to buy some paper – our printer

is all out.

Time

Countable: Specific events, moments in

time

• We’ve been to Tokyo three times.

Uncountable: The general concept of time

• I didn’t have enough time

to finish reading the book.

Hair

Countable: Individual strands of hair

• The last time I was at that restaurant, I

found two hairs in my food!

Uncountable: Hair in general

• My sister has blonde hair.

Room

Countable: Specific places in a building.

• Our house has five rooms: the kitchen,

bedroom, bathroom, living room, and

family room.

Uncountable: “Room” meaning “space” in

general.

• I’ll make some room for these new books

in the bookshelf.

Memory

Countable: Specific objects or ideas.

• I have fond memories of the volleyball

games my friends and I used to play in

college.

Uncountable: The ability to remember (in

general)

• I have a terrible memory. I always forget

people’s names!

Coffee / Water / Beer / Tea / Soda

Countable: When asking for a specific

number of these drinks

• Could you bring us three coffees and

two herbal teas?

Uncountable: When talking about the

drink in general

• I drink a lot of coffee, but I don’t drink

very much beer.