Nouns in English can be classified or grouped together in many different ways: people, places or things, proper or common nouns, count or non-count nouns, etc. For my next three posts I am going to focus on the differences between count and non-count nouns (“non-count” or “noncount” nouns are also sometimes called “mass” nouns). Knowing the difference between count and non-count nouns is important for a number of reasons:
- Knowing when to use the plural –s ending correctly
- Knowing whether to use a definite article (the) or indefinite article (a or an) with the noun
- Knowing which words to use to express quantity of the noun, for example: much or many (This will be discussed in the last post in this series, in two days.)
To begin, the main difference between count and non-count nouns is not a secret; count nouns are objects or things that can be counted, while non-count ones are objects or things that cannot be counted. Simple, right? Well, it is a little bit more complicated than that! Count nouns refer to things that can be separated or divided into units that are distinct from one another. Count nouns usually refer to things that can be seen or heard. Non-count nouns or mass nouns refer to things that are seen as a whole (or a mass), which cannot be divided into distinct parts. Non-count nouns usually refer to things that are abstract or that have collective meaning.
Here is one helpful way to think about the difference between count and non-count nouns: Think of baking a cake. You will need to make a batter* to make a cake. Before putting the batter into the oven to cook the cake, you cannot divide it into parts because it is a liquid mix. Once the batter has been baked, it is solid enough to be cut or divided into pieces. Non-count nouns are like the cake batter which forms a mass, and the pieces of cake are like the count nouns, which may be numbered and divided into pieces and distributed.
Here are some more examples count and non-count nouns:
| Count |
Non-count |
| storm(s) |
weather |
| table(s), chair(s), couch(es) |
furniture |
| smile(s) |
happiness |
| assignment(s) |
homework |
Here are some common categories of non-count nouns that may help you remember which types of nouns are most often non-count. Note: These same categories will also include some count nouns, but thinking about these categories may help you remember some of the common non-count nouns that exist in English.
| Category |
Examples |
| Abstractions |
fun, help, honesty, information, intelligence, knowledge, patience, etc. |
| Activities |
homework, housework, music, reading, singing, sleeping, soccer, etc. |
| Some Foods |
beef, bread, butter, fish, macaroni, meat, popcorn, pork, poultry, toast |
| Gases |
air, oxygen, nitrogen, smog, smoke, steam, etc. |
| Groups of Similar Items |
clothing, luggage, equipment, money, vocabulary, etc |
| Liquids |
blood, coffee, gasoline, milk, oil, soup, water, etc. |
| Natural Events |
electricity, gravity, heat, humidity, moonlight, weather, etc. |
| Materials |
aluminum, concrete, cotton, glue, wood, etc. |
| Particles or Grains |
dirt, dust, hair, rice, salt, pepper, sugar, etc. |
Even though knowing about these categories often helps people remember which nouns are count or non-count in English, really learning which nouns are count and non-count only comes with practice.
Now, here are some important rules to remember when using count versus non-count nouns:
Count nouns can be pluralized by adding a final -s to the nouns.
- Non-count nouns cannot (usually) be pluralized by adding -s (I’ll tell you more about this tomorrow.)
- Indefinite articles (a or an) cannot be used with non-count nouns
- Definite and indefinite articles can be used with count nouns
In my post tomorrow I will discuss some exceptions to these rules, then in the post the day after tomorrow I will cover how to express quantity with count and non-count nouns.
* batter = a (semi)liquid mixture of flour, egg, and milk or water used in cooking
Comments:
Sandy Landers:
My granddaughter asked me a question with regard to the following sentence:
Sandy had special reason to focus her attention on ancient Israel.
My granddaughter feels that the indefinite article “A” should be placed in front of “special.” I have forgotten a lot of my grammar using “A” in a sentence. I get my count & non-count nouns/verbs mixed up.
Could you help me out-the grandma, with this question of my nine year old granddaughter?
Gabriele:
@Sandy Landers Sandra,
This is a great sentence to look at regarding count vs. non-count nouns.
Here is your sentence again: Sandy had special reason to focus her attention on ancient Israel.
In this sentence you are asking whether the word “reason” is a count or non-count noun (the word “special” is an adjective describing the reason.)
So, the question at hand is whether the word “reason” is a count or non-count noun. The answer is: count. We can count reasons; i.e. one reason, two reasons, three reasons, etc.; a person can have multiple different reasons for doing something; reasons don’t only form in masses that can’t be separated and discussed individually. So, the sentence you ask about above should have “a” in it. It reads better as:
Sandy had a special reason to focus her attention on ancient Israel.
I hope that helps you and your granddaughter.
-Gabriele