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Count and Non-Count Nouns

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

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

Here is a chart of some Count Nouns, the categories in which they fit, and their singular and plural forms.

Count Nouns
Persons		Places		Things
Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
boy teacher janitor assistant president student athlete secretary duchess	boys teachers janitors assistants presidents students athletes secretaries duchesses	shop restaurant field area office station laboratory post office zoo	shops restaurants fields areas offices stations laboratories post offices zoos	watch hose lawn mower computer disk table knife penny handout staple	watches hoses lawn mowers computer disks tables knives pennies handouts staples

Here are some examples of Non-Count Nouns, and the categories in which they fit.

Non-Count Nouns
Poured/Measured	Qualities	Actions
shampoo milk sugar paint	friendliness honesty integrity reliability	signing/ to sign standing/ to stand running/ to run driving/ to drive

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

Items in Category	Head of Category
Count	Non-Count

Items in Category	Head of Category
Count	Non-Count

strawberries bananas peaches apples	fruit
televisions posters tables chairs	stuff
secretaries assistants computer aides librarians	staff

pants shirts shorts socks	clothing
automobiles trains planes bicycles	transportation
history professors sociology teachers art instructors	faculty

Here is a chart of words and categories that are usually count nouns, and words or categories that are usually non-count nouns.

*Usually count* nouns**
Persons	Places	Things
child/ren teacher/s student/s plumber/s lawyer/s psychologist/s historian/s economist/s biologist/s reporter/s dean/s coordinator/s researcher/s	store/s mall/s park/s bar/s office/s school/s home/s station/s church/es deli/s cafeteria/s shop/s airport/s	shoe/s car/s door/s house/s key/s letter/s chair/s box/es cow/s poster/s glass/es ball/s

*Usually non-count* nouns**
Things	Qualities	Actions	Fields of Study
water stuff money advice proof equipment dust homework fun information ink luck	dependability honesty loyalty sincerity integrity	walking/to walk typing/to type jumping/to jump thinking/to think swimming/to swim	psychology history social work economics biology English anatomy philosophy religion theology

Some nouns, like the word 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?	Here, time 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?	Here, time 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 and non-count nouns:

	Used as a Count Noun	Used as a Non-Count Noun
beauty	Miss Gallaudet is a beauty.	Other students envied her beauty.
fire	Will you please light a fire in the fireplace?	John Doe's home was destroyed by fire.
death	They had a death in the family.	Death is a tragic thing.
gossip	Susan is a gossip.	Gossip can destroy people's reputations.
foods	Supermarkets have aisles for different foods.	The animals at the zoo wanted food.

The Much and Many Rule:

Many is used with count nouns.	Much is used with non-count nouns.
How many papers do you have to write?	How much homework did you have last night?
There were too many books required for that class.	I had to read so much literature for my English class.

the graphic of two different groups of words used for count nouns and non-count nouns

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.

Developed by Ellen Beck, Rachel Mingo and Nelson Treece for English Works! 1997.