How to identify countable and uncountable nouns

Types of nouns

proper India

concrete a book

countable noun

abstract an idea common

concrete clothing uncountable

abstract courage

Proper nouns and common nouns

All nouns fall into one of two classes They may be either proper nouns or common nouns

Proper nouns

A proper noun (sometimes called a 'proper name') is used for a particular person, place, thing or idea which is, or is imagined to be unique It is generally spelt with a capital letter Articles are not normally used in front of proper nouns, but [> 3.9.4 3.31] Proper nouns include for example

Personal names (with or without titles) Andrew Andrew Smith

Mr Andrew Smith President Kennedy Forms of address Mum Dad Auntie Uncle Fred

Geographical names Asia Berkshire India Wisconsin Place names Madison Avenue Regent Street

Months, days of the e g April Monday Easter Christmas

week festivals and Seasons are usually spelt with a small

seasons [> Apps 24 48] letter but sometimes with a capital

spring or Spring For other names [> 3.22 3.27 3.31]

First names commonly used in other languages often have their English equivalents (e g Charles for Carlos, Karl, etc) Well-known foreign place names are normally anglicized e g Cologne for Koln, Prague for Praha Rome for Roma, Vienna for Wien

Common nouns

Any noun that is not the name of a particular person, place, thing or idea is a common noun We can use a/an the or the zero article in front of common nouns [> Chapter 3]

How to identify countable and uncountable nouns

All common nouns fall into one of two sub-classes they may be either countable nouns (sometimes known as unit or count nouns) or uncountable nouns (sometimes known as mass or non-count nouns)

The distinction between countable and uncountable nouns is fundamental in English, for only by distinguishing between the two can we understand when to use singular or plural forms and when to use the indefinite, definite and zero articles a/an the and 0 [> 3.2-3] or the appropriate quantifier a few much many, etc [> 3.1,5.1]

Unfortunately, we cannot always rely on common sense (using the idea of counting as a guide) to tell us when a noun is countable or uncountable For example, the noun information is uncountable in English, but its equivalent in another language may refer to an item or items of information and will therefore be countable [> 2.17]

Experience is uncountable, but we can refer to an experience to mean an event which contributes to experience

They want someone with experience for this job

I had a strange experience the other day

Many nouns which are normally uncountable can be used as countables in certain contexts [> 2.16.3] This suggests that strict classifications of nouns as countable or uncountable are in many cases unreliable It would be better to think in terms of countable and uncountable uses of nouns For detailed information about individual nouns, consult a good dictionary

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