Countable Nouns

By Johan, 19 August 2008 - 5:37pm
5
 
 
Contributing author(s): 
Matthew
Grammar name (English): 
Countable Nouns

Countable and uncountable nouns are different—they change things in the sentence around them like a or the and is or are. It is important to know if a noun is countable or not.

Countable and uncountable nouns behave differently—they change things in the sentence around them like a or the and is or are. It is important to know if a noun is countable or not.

Countable nouns are the same in two ways: 

Characteristic Example Mistake
Countable nouns can be counted

One coin, two coins, three coins

One ring, two rings, three rings

One money, two moneys, three moneys

One jewelry, two jewelries, three jewelries

Countable nouns can be singular and plural

One coin is..., many coins are....

One ring is..., many rings are....

one money is..., many moneys are...

one jewelry is..., many jewelries are...

Note: in the mistakes above, uncountable nouns (money and jewelry) are used like countable nouns.

Countable nouns are usually people, places, objects, or ideas which can be identified as individuals. If you can count it, it is countable. 

Category Examples of Countable Nouns
People and Animals

A person
A cow
A policeman

Places

A city
A farm
A school

Objects

A coin
A painting
A book

Ideas/concepts

An example
An idea
A design

Basic Rules For Using Countable Nouns

Singular countable nouns must be preceeded by a determiner like: "a"; "an"; "the"; "my"; "your"; "this"; and "that":

This is a cat.

This is cat.

Where did you park the car?

Where did you park car?

I like this movie.

I like movie.

Plural countable nouns can stand alone or have a determiner: 

Where are the children?

I like oranges?

Some determiners can only be used with countable nouns: "each"; "every"; "many"; "few"; and "several".

 

The nice lady gave each child an apple.

Thanks for dinner. Each food was very good.

("food" is uncountable)

I have many coins.

I have many money.

("money" is uncountable)

Notes: 

See also: