Count and non-count nouns
A count noun is one that can be counted.
- Book- one book, two books, three books………….
- Student – one student, two students, three students…………
- Person- one person, two people, three people………….
A non- count is one that cannot be counted.
- Milk – you cannot say: one milk, two milks……..
It is possible, however, to count some non- count nouns it the substance is placed in a countable container.
Glass of milk – one glass of milk, two glasses of milk…………
Some determine can be use only with count or non-count nouns, while other can be used with either. Memorize the works in the following table.
With count nouns | with non-noun |
A(a), the, some, any This, that, these, those None, one, two, three…. Many A lot of A (large, great) number of A few Fewer……..than More…….than | The, some, any This, that None Much A lot of A large amount of A little Less……than More….than |
It is very important to know if a noun is count or non- count. Be sure that you know that plurals of irregular count nouns. The following list contains some irregular count nouns that you should know.
Person – people Foot – feet woman - women child - children Mouse – mice man – men tooth - teeth |
The following list contains some non-count nouns that you should know.
Sand news measles food soap mumps information economics Physics air meat advertising mathematics politics homework money |
Note: although advertising is a non- count noun, advertisement is a count noun. It you wish to speak of one particular advertisement, you must use this word.
There are too many advertisements during televisions shows.
There is too much advertising during television shows.
Some non- counts, such as food, meat, money, and sand, may be used as count nouns is order to indicate different types.
This is one of the foods that my doctor has forbidden me to eat. (indicates a particular type of food)
He studies meats. (for example, beef, pork, lamb, etc.)
The word time can be either countable or non-countable depending on the context. When it means an occasion, it is countable. When it means a number of hours, days, years, etc, it is non-countable.
We have spent too much time on this homework.(non-count)
She has been late for class six times this semester. (count)
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