Look at these examples to see how to use countable and uncountable nouns in a sentence.
I'm making a cup of tea.
There's some money on the table.
Have we got any bread?
How many chairs do we need?
How much milk have we got?
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
- Grammar test 1
Read the explanation to learn more.
Grammar explanation
Nouns can be countable or uncountable. Countable nouns can be counted, e.g. an apple, two apples, three apples, etc. Uncountable nouns cannot be counted, e.g. air, rice, water, etc. When you learn a new noun, you should check if it is countable or uncountable and note how it is used in a sentence.
Countable nouns
For positive sentences we can use a/an for singular nouns or some for plurals.
There's a man at the door.
I have some friends in New York.
For negatives we can use a/an for singular nouns or any for plurals.
I don't have a dog.
There aren't any seats.
Uncountable nouns
Here are some examples of uncountable nouns:
| bread | rice | coffee | information |
| money | advice | luggage | furniture |
We use some with uncountable nouns in positive sentences and any with negatives.
There's some milk in the fridge.
There isn't any coffee.
Questions
In questions we use a/an, any or how many with countable nouns.
Is there an email address to write to?
Are there any chairs?
How many chairs are there?
And we use any or how much with uncountable nouns.
Is there any sugar?
How much orange juice is there?
But when we are offering something or asking for something, we normally use some.
Do you want some chocolate?
Can we have some more chairs, please?
We also use some in a question when we think the answer will be 'yes'.
Have you got some new glasses?
Other expressions of quantity
A lot of (or lots of) can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns.
There are lots of apples on the trees.
There is a lot of snow on the road.
Notice that we don't usually use many or much in positive sentences. We use a lot of instead.
They have a lot of money.
However, in negative sentences we use not many with countable nouns and not much with uncountable nouns.
There are a lot of carrots but there aren't many potatoes.
There's lots of juice but there isn't much water.
Go to Countable and uncountable nouns 2 to learn more.
Try this exercise to test your grammar again.
- Grammar test 2
Hi! I have a question.
Why could bread and cake both be countable and uncountable?
Thank you!
Hi alianazihah,
In the information on this page bread is listed as uncountable. You can also find several comments explaining this below, including one from me which gives several phrases used for describing bread in countable ways (a loaf of bread, a slice of bread etc).
Cake, on the other hand, can be both countable and uncountable. We use it as a countable noun when we are talking about individual cakes such as muffins or eclairs - items which you can buy numbers of: I'd like three cakes, please.
We use cake as a uncountable noun when we are thinking of a quantity which we divide before eating or serving. In this case we can say 'a cake' but we can also say 'some cake' and 'a piece (slice) of cake'
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Is paper a countable or uncountable noun?
Hello Jmj,
Paper can be either.
When we mean paper for writing on it is uncountable: I need some paper.
If we want to ask for one piece of paper then we have these options: I need a piece of / a sheet of paper.
When, on the other hand, we want to talk about a newspaper the word is countable: I buy two newspapers every day.
We can also use the countable word to mean documents, especially formal documents such as contracts: I left the papers on your desk for you to sign.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
thank you very much, i'm learning English.
Hello. Could you please help me choose? Why? I think both are OK.
- My father has a lot of (friendship, friendships).
Thank you.
Hello Ahmed Imam,
I think the most natural thing would be to say '...a lot of friends'. However, of the two you have here I think 'friendships' is the best choice if you want to say how popular he is.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello. I was teaching my student using this lesson, and when we were doing the Grammar test 2, we came across sentence 4, "I need some information about train times." My student's answer was "a lot of information" but it was not accepted. Can you please tell me why only "some" can be accepted in this case? I've gone over the theory part but I can't see any reason why "a lot of information" can't be accepted. Thank you so much.
Hello maccachi,
The quantifier 'a lot of' is not grammatically incorrect here but it's hard to think of a context in which it would be used.
We would say 'some information' whenever asking for information unless for some reason we felt the need to warn the other person that we are asking for something unusual. For example, if I had a very long list of questions then I might say 'a lot of information' as a kind of apology, with the sense of 'Sorry I have so many questions'. However, even then we would probably phrase it differently:
"Hi. I need some information about train times. I've got a lot of questions actually - sorry about that!"
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello, there! Can you tell me if I say "There aren't many potatoes", it means that "There are some potatoes"? Do these sentences have the same meaning or there is a slight difference? Thank you!