Countable nouns can be counted, e.g. a chair, two chairs.

Uncountable nouns cannot be counted.

We normally do not add ‘a/an’ to them and do not make them plural.

They denote

1)  substances

– materials

wood, wool

– liquids

water, tea

– some food items

butter, meat

– chemicals, gases

calcium, oxygen

2) abstract nouns

love, peace , kindness

3) activities, sports

swimming, reading, volleyball

4) collective nouns

furniture, luggage, equipment, traffic

5) names of subjects

Mathematics, Physics, Geography

6) languages

English, Russian

7) other

advice, behaviour, chaos, damage, hair, information, money news, luck, work, progress, scenery, weather

More rules

• To refer to a specific example of an uncountable noun we can use a bit/a piece , an item , a slice, a lump of:

A bit/a piece of advice, gossip etc.:

An item of news, furniture, clothing

A slice of bread, meat, butter

A lump of sugar