Uncountable nouns

Uncountable nouns

In English grammar, some things are seen as a whole or mass. These are called uncountable nouns, because they cannot be separated or counted.

Some examples of uncountable nouns are:

Ideas and experiences: advice, information, progress, news, luck, fun, work

Materials and substances: water, rice, cement, gold, milk

Weather words: weather, thunder, lightning, rain, snow

Names for groups or collections of things: furniture, equipment, rubbish, luggage

Other common uncountable nouns include: accommodation, baggage, homework, knowledge, money, permission, research, traffic, travel.

These nouns are not used with a/an or numbers and are not used in the plural.

We’re going to get new furniture for the living room.

Not: We’re going to get a new furniture for the living room. or We’re going to get new furnitures for the living room.

We had terrible weather last week.

Not: We had a terrible weather last week.

We need rice next time we go shopping.

Some nouns always have plural form but they are uncountable because we cannot use numbers with them.

I bought two pairs of trousers.

Not: I bought two trousers.

Other nouns of this type are: shorts, pants, pyjamas, glasses (for the eyes), binoculars, scissors.

Warning:

Some nouns which are uncountable in English are countable in other languages (e.g. accommodation, advice, furniture, information):

They can give you some information about accommodation at the tourist office.

Not: They can give you some informations about accommodations at the tourist office.

Can you give me some advice about buying a second-hand car?

Not: Can you give me some advices about buying a second-hand car?

A good learner’s dictionary will tell you whether a noun is countable or uncountable.

Quantity expressions (a bit/piece)

To refer to one or more quantities of an uncountable noun, expressions such as a bit of, a piece of, an item of or words for containers and measures must be used:

He bought a very expensive piece of furniture for his new apartment.

Maggie always has some exciting bits of news when she comes to see us.

I think we’ll need five bags of cement for the patio.

There’s a litre of milk in the fridge for you. And I bought you a bar of chocolate.

Determiners (my, some, the)

Uncountable nouns can be used with certain determiners (e.g. my, her, some, any, no, the, this, that) and expressions of quantity (e.g. a lot of, (a) little):

They gave me some information about courses and scholarships and things.

Have you heard the news? Fran’s getting engaged.

She’s been studying hard and has made a lot of progress.

There’s no work to do here, so you can go home if you like.

This milk’s a bit old, I’m afraid.

See also:

• Determiners (the, my, some, this)

Countable phrases for uncountable nouns

We can sometimes use countable noun phrases to talk about an individual example of the thing an uncountable noun refers to.

uncountable	countable
accommodation	a house, a flat, a place to live, a place to stay
baggage/luggage	a suitcase, a bag, a rucksack
bread	a loaf (of bread), a (bread) roll
lightning	a flash of lightning
luck	a stroke of luck
money	a note, a coin, a sum of money, a euro, a dollar
poetry	a poem
rain	a shower, a downpour, a storm
travel	a journey, a trip
work	a job, a task

Finding a place to live is difficult if you’re a student and you’ve got no money. (or Finding accommodation …)

Not: Finding an accommodation …

She brought two big suitcases and a rucksack with her.

Not: She brought two big luggages …

I read a poem once about someone riding a horse at night.

Not: I read a poetry …

We went on a trip to the Amazon when we were in Brazil.

Not: We went on a travel …