There's a sandwich with some milk for you.
In English, it is important to understand the difference between nouns you can count, and nouns you can’t count:
Countable Nouns
Countable nouns are things you can count. With these nouns, it is possible to say a/an, one, two, three, etc:
- person
- computer
- car
- fish (animal)
- apple
- egg
- man
- girl
There's a laptop on the table.
She has two dogs.
Three girls are playing.
Countable nouns can have singular (one) and plural (more than one) forms. Singular nouns often follow a or an:
A / An = 1 thing or person
Use a before b / c / d / f / g / h / j / k / l / m / n / p / q / r / s / t / v / w / x / y / z
- a bear
- a table
- a phone
- a song
- a man
Use an before a / e / i / o / u
- an umbrella
- an English teacher
- an apple
- an egg
- an inch
Use an before "hour" because the h is not pronounced:
- See you in an hour!
Use a before "university" because it is pronounced like "yuniversity":
- There's a university in this city.
Plural Nouns
The plural form of a countable noun usually ends in s:
A cow is eating grass.
Two cows are eating grass.
I am playing a video game with my friend.
I am playing a video game with my friends.
Spelling of Plural Countable Nouns
...s
Add an s if there are 2 or more of a noun:
- bananas
- eggs
- ducks
- bears
- computers
...es
Add es if the noun is plural and ends with ...s / ...sh / ...ch / ...x
- peaches
- classes
- buses
- addresses
- foxes
- dresses
- taxes
...ies
If a noun is plural and ends with ...y, change the y to ies
- family → families
- city → cities
- strawberry → strawberries
- lady → ladies
- country → countries
...ves
If a noun is plural and ends with ...f or ...fe, change the f/fe to ves
- life → lives
- wolf → wolves
- leaf → leaves
- half → halves
- wife → wives
Special Nouns
Some plural nouns do not end with an s:
- mouse → mice
- goose → geese
- person → people
- man → men
- woman → women
- tooth → teeth
- foot → feet
- child → children
- fish → fish
Uncountable Nouns
We cannot say a/an, one, two, three, etc. with uncountable nouns. They do not have singular or plural forms.
- music
- money
- love
- fish (food)
- water
- milk
- sugar
- information
Please give me 30 moneys.- Please give me money.
I want to drink a water.- I want to drink water.
Could you please give me an information?- Could you please give me information?
Uncountable nouns usually fall under the following categories:
Examples
| Food | bread, chocolate, cheese, meat, fish |
| Powders / Grains | sugar, rice, flour |
| Materials | plastic, metal, wood, paper |
| Liquids | gas, water, juice, milk |
| Abstract Nouns | love, happiness, information, hope |
We can use special words to count uncountable nouns:
- a piece / slice of bread, cake, etc.
- a bottle of juice, water, etc.
- a glass of milk, juice, etc.
- a cup of coffee, tea, etc.
- a bowl of rice, soup, etc.
- a jar of jam, honey, etc.
- a piece of jewelry, furniture, information
Countable or Uncountable?
Some nouns are both countable and uncountable with little difference in meaning:
She is buying coffee.
She is buying a coffee. (a cup of coffee)
Also possible with juice, water, cola, milk, etc.
The child is eating ice cream.
The child is eating an ice cream. (an ice cream cone)
There's hair in my soup!
That's a hair in my soup! (a strand of hair).
I always put sugar in my tea.
I always put two sugars in my tea. (packets of sugar)
I ate salad for dinner.
I ate a salad for dinner. (a bowl of salad)
We heard noise outside.
We heard a noise outside. (a particular sound)
Sometimes, the countable and uncountable meanings of a noun are very different:
a chicken
chicken
a fish
fish
a smoke
smoke
a room
room
Subject Verb Agreement
If a noun is uncountable or is singular, it needs a singular verb (it). If the noun is plural, it needs a plural verb (they):
A person is sitting.
This pizza is delicious.
The birds are flying.
A/An & Some
A and an are used with singular countable nouns. Some is used with plural countable nouns or uncountable nouns:
I have a new computer.
We bought some bananas at the store.
Let's get some food.
He's riding an elephant.
There are some children in the classroom.
Do you want some water?
Exercise
Open the exercise to begin the activity. Follow the instructions in the document.