Uncountable Nouns
Uncountable nouns are substances, concepts etc that we cannot
divide into separate elements. We cannot "count" them. For example, we cannot
count "milk". We can count "bottles of milk" or "litres of milk", but we cannot
count "milk" itself. Here are some more uncountable nouns:
- music, art, love, happiness
- advice, information, news
- furniture, luggage
- rice, sugar, butter, water
- electricity, gas, power
- money, currency
We usually treat uncountable nouns as singular. We use a singular
verb. For example:
- This news is very important.
- Your luggage looks heavy.
We do not usually use the indefinite article a/an with
uncountable nouns. We cannot say "an information" or "a music". But we can say
a something of:
- a piece of news
- a bottle of water
- a grain of rice
We can use some and any with uncountable nouns:
- I've got some money.
- Have you got any rice?
We can use a little and much with uncountable
nouns:
- I've got a little money.
- I haven't got much rice.
| englishclub.com Tip |
| Uncountable nouns are also called "mass nouns". |
|
Here are some more examples of
countable and uncountable nouns. When you learn a new word, it's a good
idea to learn whether it's countable or uncountable.
Countable
Nouns
Nouns that can be Countable and
Uncountable |
