Countable Nouns

noun countability

The major division of English nouns is into "countable" and "uncountable".

Countable nouns are easy to recognize. They are things that we can count. For example: "pen". We can count pens. We can have one, two, three or more pens. Here are some more countable nouns:

  • dog, cat, animal, man, person
  • bottle, box, litre
  • coin, note, dollar
  • cup, plate, fork
  • table, chair, suitcase, bag

Countable nouns can be singular or plural:

  • My dog is playing.
  • My dogs are hungry.

We can use the indefinite article a/an with countable nouns:

  • A dog is an animal.
Countable nouns are also called "count nouns".

When a countable noun is singular, we must use a word like a/the/my/this with it:

  • I want an orange. (not I want orange.)
  • Where is my bottle? (not Where is bottle?)

When a countable noun is plural, we can use it alone:

  • I like oranges.
  • Bottles can break.

We can use some and any with countable nouns:

  • I've got some dollars.
  • Have you got any pens?

We can use a few and many with countable nouns:

  • I've got a few dollars.
  • I haven't got many pens.
"People" is countable. "People" is the plural of "person". We can count people:
There is one person here.
There are three people here.