Count and Non-Count Nouns

Count Nouns

Count nouns refer to people, places, or things that can be counted. They can be made plural, usually by adding -s or -es at the end.

Here is a chart of some count nouns, the categories into which they fit, and their singular and plural forms:

Non-Count Nouns

Non-count nouns are used to describe a quality, action, thing, or substance that can be poured or measured. They also refer to a whole category made up of different varieties or a group of things that is made up of many individual parts. They do not have a plural form.

Here are some examples of non-count nouns and the categories into which they fit:

Distinguishing between count and non-count

Here is a chart of individual items within a category (the count nouns), and the name of the category (the non-count nouns).

The ‘Much and Many rule’

• “Many” is used with count nouns
• “Much” is used with non-count nouns

Complicated cases

Some nouns, like “time,” can be used as either a count noun or a non-count noun.

How much time did it take for you to drive to school?

This is a non-count noun because it refers to a category that contains smaller items (think of it as a “group” of minutes).

How many times did you take the test before you passed?

This is a count noun, because you can count exactly how many separate times you took the test.

Here are some other nouns that can be used as both count nouns or non-count nouns:

• beauty
• fire
• death
• gossip
• food

Resources

If you’re still not sure how to identify non-count nouns and count nouns, you can look them up in the dictionary.

Longman’s Dictionary

• n for countable
• n[U] for uncountable
• n[C] for both countable and uncountable.

Newbury House English Learner’s Dictionary

• N COUNT for countable nouns
• N UNCOUNT for uncountable nouns.