Count vs. Noncount Nouns

Before forming plurals correctly, it is important to understand the difference between count and noncount nouns.

Count nouns are the nouns that we can physically count (e.g. one table, two tables, three tables), so they make a distinction between singular and plural forms.

Noncount nouns are the nouns that cannot be counted, and they do not make a distinction between singular and plural forms. Although these nouns may refer to large quantities of things, they act like singular nouns grammatically.

Noncount nouns:

Never take the plural ending “s”
Always take a singular verb
Cannot be used with the indefinite article “a/an” and are frequently used with no article at all
Are used with collective quantity words like “a lot of,” “some,” “any,” “much,” or “more,” instead of count words like “many,” “several,” “two,” or “few.”

If you work on an academic paper, keep these noncount nouns in mind because they are often misused: money, research, advice, knowledge, information, and evidence (NOT moneys, researches, advices, etc.).

The following categories of words frequently contain noncount nouns:

Category	Words	Examples
Abstractions	Beauty, revenge, knowledge, progress, poverty	Ignorance causes poverty.
Liquids and gases	water, beer, air, gasoline, milk	Gas is cheaper than oil. Wine is my favorite beverage.
Materials	gold, silver, wood, glass, san	He had a will made of iron. Gold is more valuable than silver.
Categories of food	rice, flour, cheese, salt, yogur	Bread is delicious. Meat and cheese are sources of protein.
Languages	French, English, Korean	Navejo is a complex language. Do you speak German?
Academic fields	physics, astronomy, music	Philosophy is a difficult subject. My brother is majoring in biology.
Sports and games	tennis, golf, basketball	Do you play chess? Soccer is becoming more popular in America.
Weather	fog, wind, snow	Severe drought can cause famine. The city of Buffalo gets more snow than most cities in New York state.
Natural phenomena	gravity, nuclear energy, magnetism	Electricity is a form of energy. Newton discovered the principles of gravity.
Gerunds (verbal nouns)	running, singing, smoking	Swimming is excellent exercise. Sleeping during class is not recommended.
Groups of things of varying size and shape	jewelry, garbage, luggage, equipment	Fine jewelry is expensive. Trash was thrown everywhere i the room.

More rules for noncount nouns:

Rule	Explanation	Example
How do you denote a specific number or quantity of noncount nouns?	Use count nouns such as piece, ton, cup, etc. paired with of and a plural verb.	Ten pieces of jewelry were stolen.
What about general quantities?	Use general words such as more, much, a lot of, less, and a large quantity of, but keep your noncount noun singular.	We need to do more research. A lot of valuable information is contained in this paper.
What if the noncount noun is definite?	As soon as you specify a noncount noun by attaching a defining phrase to it, you must use the just as you would with any other noun.	The beauty of the night was overwhelming. The information that you gave me was valuable. (VS. Information is valuable.)
Do some non-count nouns take the ending –s?	Yes, some noncounts nouns, for example news, physics, and species, end in –s. This ending, however, is not a plural ending – this is simply the way a noun ends. These words will take a singular verb as any other non-count verb.	This news is important. Physics is my favorite subject.

Note: Some nouns can be used as either non-count or count nouns, and the meaning of these nouns changes slightly depending on the form being used. The non-count form refers to the whole idea or quantity, whereas the count noun refers to a specific example or type.

Noncount	Count
(1a) Linguistics is the study of language. (2a) To paint requires a lot of work. (3a) This wine is delicious.	(1b) Some languages, like English and Spanish, are international. (2b) This painting is a work of art. (3b) The wines of France are famous.

Adapted from: Grammar Choices for Graduate and Professional Writers by Nigel A. Caplan

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