A noun is a word that refers to person, place, thing, event, substance or quality; can be either countable or uncountable.
Countable nouns have singular and plural forms
while uncountable nouns can be used only in the singular form.
In
English grammar, words that refer to people, places or things are called nouns.
There are several ways to classify nouns. One way is whether they are countable
(also known as count) or uncountable (also known as non-count) nouns. Countable
nouns, as the term suggests, are things that can be counted.
They
have singular and plural forms.
E.g.
•
table,
tables; month, months; pen, pens.
A countable
noun becomes plural by adding s at
the end of the word. Of course, there are nouns that form plurals in other
ways.
E.g.
•
man,
men; child, children; goose, geese.
In contrast, uncountable nouns
cannot be counted. They have a singular form and do not have a plural form
– you
can’t add an s to it, e.g. dirt, rice, information and hair. Some uncountable nouns are
abstract nouns such as advice and knowledge.
E.g.
•
Her jewellery is designed by a well-known
designer.
•
I needed
some advice, so I went to see the
counsellor.
Some nouns can be countable or uncountable
depending on the context or situation.
E.g.
•
We’ll
have two coffees (countable).
•
I don’t
like coffee (uncountable).
You cannot refer to a singular countable noun on its own. It is usually preceded by an article, either the indefinite article – a, an – or the definite article the.
Indefinite Article
When the countable noun is mentioned for the first
time, you use an indefinite article a
for words beginning with a consonant sound or an if the noun begins with a vowel sound. However, when a countable
noun is mentioned for the second time, it is usually preceded by the definite
article the.
E.g.
•
I saw a (indefinite article) cat yesterday.
The (definite article) cat was grey with black stripes.
• The girl was wearing a
(indefinite article preceding word
with a consonant sound “you”) uniform but
it looked faded. The (definite article)
uniform was old.
•
I took an (indefinite article preceding
word with a vowel sound “um”) umbrella as it was beginning to rain. It did not help because the (definite article) umbrella was faulty.
Sometimes when uncountable nouns are treated as
countable nouns, you can use the indefinite article.
E.g.
•
Please
select a wine that you like.
Definite Article
You can use the
with countable nouns when you want to refer to a specific person or thing.
E.g.
•
The baby
stared at the moon in fascination.
•
Please
take me to the clinic near the
coffee shop. I’m not feeling well.
The indefinite article is not used with
uncountable nouns. However, the definite article the can be used with uncountable nouns when referring to specific
items.
E.g.
•
I found the luggage that I had lost.
•
I
appreciated the honesty of the salesman.
The noun fruit
is usually considered as an uncountable noun.
E.g.
•
Fruit is good for your health.
When
referring to a single piece of fruit, you would say,
•
She had
only a piece of fruit for lunch!
However, when referring to different kinds of
fruit, you may use fruit as a
countable noun.
E.g.
•
I love
to shop at that supermarket –
they
have a wide variety of tropical fruits.
Similarly,
you may use an indefinite article for uncountable nouns when you are referring
to a single item.
E.g.
•
a piece
of furniture, a bottle of water, a grain of rice.
Countable
and uncountable nouns may also be used with quantifiers. These are words that
express amount or quantity. Common examples are some, any, more, few, little, several.
However, there are some quantifiers that can be
used with only countable nouns: many, few, a few, fewer, several.
E.g.
•
The
citizens came to the meeting with many
suggestions on how to improve their neighbourhood.
•
Fewer tourists
visited that area as it was known to be
unsafe.
Some other quantifiers can be used with only uncountable nouns: much, little, a bit of.
E.g.
•
Would
you like a bit of pepper in your
soup?
•
There’s
very little dessert left.
Some quantifiers may be used with both countable
and uncountable nouns: all, some, any,
lots of, plenty of, enough.
E.g.
•
He has enough courage to face the bullies.
•
We have some plates for the party tonight.
Tracy will bring more.
Countable
nouns may take singular or plural verbs.
E.g.
•
Our neighbour is singing at the competition
tonight.
•
Our neighbours are singing at the
competition tonight.
However, uncountable nouns are considered singular
and may take only singular verbs.
Nouns such as luggage,
furniture and jewellery are
uncountable nouns and take singular verbs.
E.g.
•
The furniture in this house needs to be replaced.
• The apparatus
for the next experiment has been set
up.
•
My luggage has been checked in.
Uncountable nouns ending with s may pose a problem to users of English.
These
nouns have the plural ending s, but
they take a singular verb.
E.g.
•
The news is not good.
•
Mathematics is a very
important subject.
All uncountable nouns associated with clothes,
such as shorts, jeans and briefs, are
plural uncountables. They cannot be
used in the singular form or with numbers. We cannot say for example a shorts or two shorts. Instead we say:
E.g.
• Can you lend me a pair of shorts? I didn’t bring mine.
