count and noncount nouns

Level Three

Lesson 34

Your knowledge of count and noncount nouns improves your overall understanding of English grammar. Do you know the differences between these two groups? 

34a. count nouns✍🏾

A count noun is a noun with both singular and plural forms. These nouns are generally countable: 

 

singular

a book

a tie

a cup 

a problem

an elephant 

an egg

a trip

 

plural

books

ties

cups

problems

elephants 

eggs 

trips

34a. count nouns✍🏾

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  • Lisa is getting ready for a trip.
  • She’s laying out her clothes. 
  • She’s packing a belt. 
  • She’s also going to pack an extra pair of shoes. 
  • She’s going to bring an extra camera, too.  Now she has two cameras. 

34b. noncount nouns

A noncount noun is noun that has only a singular form. These nouns represent things that are generally not countable due to the nature in which they exist. 

  • Rice comes in a bag. (We don’t count every grain of rice. There are too many.) 
  • Jerry put gas in his gar. (Words for liquids are usually noncount nouns.) 
  • There’s water coming from the hose. (You can’t count water.) 
  • We enjoyed the silence of the evening. 
  • The traffic around here is getting worse.  (Traffic is a constant flow of vehicles, so it’s considered uncountable.)

34b. noncount nouns

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  • You can buy gas at a gas station. 
  • You can also buy oil there. 
  • Food is also available. 
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  • Construction is a necessary part of life in a city. 
  • How much construction is there where you live? 

Practice

Write in your notebook. ✍🏾

Directions: Indicate if the noun in bold in each sentence is a count noun or a noncount noun. 

1. He has some work to do.  (count / noncount) 

2. I bought some apples. (count / noncount) 

3. The traffic is moving very slowly. (count / noncount) 

4. There’s a cat on the chair. (count / noncount) 

5. The fruit in the basket is very colorful. (count / noncount) 

6. The school gave us a lot of information. (count / noncount) 

7.  How many people were at event? (count / noncount) 

8. That’s a very important question. (count / noncount) 

9. The accommodations at the hotel were outstanding. (count / noncount) 

10. Honesty is an important part of a relationship. (count / noncount) 

 

The answers are below. 

 

Answers: 

1. noncount noun

2. count noun

3. noncount noun

4. count noun

5. noncount noun

6. noncount noun

7. count noun

8. count noun

9. count noun

10. noncount noun

 

In the next lesson, you will learn about the modal verb “can.”  

Lesson Thirty-five

Level Three