English grammar
Countable and uncountable nouns 📕
Some nouns can be counted. Other nouns cannot be counted. This affects which words you use with them.
Countable nouns
You can count them: one, two, three. They have a plural form.
one apple, two apples
a chair, three chairs
a job, many jobs
Uncountable nouns
You cannot count them. They have no plural form, and they take a singular verb.
water, milk, rice, money, information, advice, furniture, homework, news, weather
✗ I need some informations.
✓ I need some information.
✗ Can you give me an advice?
✓ Can you give me some advice?
✗ The news are good.
✓ The news is good.
Words used with countable and uncountable nouns
| Countable | Uncountable |
| a / an: a car | no a / an: milk |
| many: many cars | much: much milk |
| a few: a few cars | a little: a little milk |
| How many cars? | How much milk? |
Some, any and a lot of work with both: some cars, some milk.
How to count uncountable things
Use a word for a container or an amount:
a glass of water
a piece of advice
a slice of bread
a bottle of milk
a kilo of rice
two cups of coffee
💡 Some words are uncountable in English but countable in other languages. Check the dictionary if you are not sure.