homework countable or uncountable

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Homework - singular or plural?

• Thread starter Mr_Croft
• Start date Nov 19, 2007
• Nov 19, 2007

Senior Member

I haven't ( have not) done it. It is singular. My homework is singular. It names the collective tasks I have to do. Bienvenido mr_Croft! Note: Some dictionaries describe this noun as "uncountable". There are many threads here about uncountable nouns. You may find them by using the forum Search feature, or by looking up the word "uncountable" in the WordReference English dictionary. It will display threads with that word in the title: Forum discussions with the word(s) 'uncountable' in the title: Countable and uncountable, depending on context! Countable, uncountable: asparagus Countable, uncountable: homework Uncountable nouns - an exercise is the word "cheese" uncountable? Countable, uncountable: mail, e-mail Countable, uncountable: broccoli, orange Countable, uncountable: advice, bread, cabbage, hair, onions Countable, uncountable: chocolate, chocolates Countable, uncountable: food Countable, uncountable: news Two uncountable nouns become plural? Countable, uncountable: peanuts, people Should the verb be singular or plural after two uncountable nouns? Countable and uncountable, depending on context! uncountable luck Biker, Sponsor: UNCOUNTABLE??? is or are with a list of uncountable Countable, uncountable: help Countable, uncountable: snow Two types of uncountable nouns. the use of articles with uncountable nouns Countable, uncountable: patience "Advice" - uncountable??? Tip (countable or uncountable)  

The last time we talked about this, everyone but me said that homework is not countable. Countable, uncountable: homework But in this particular example, even I would say: I haven't done my homework. Have you done your homework? I haven't done it yet. - - - even if I have homework to do in several different subjects.  

• Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

Nouns: countable and uncountable

Countable nouns.

Some nouns refer to things which, in English, are treated as separate items which can be counted. These are called countable nouns. Here are some examples:

a car , three cars

my cousin , my two cousins

a book , a box full of books

a city , several big cities

Singular and plural

Countable nouns can be singular or plural. They can be used with a/an and with numbers and many other determiners (e.g. these, a few ):

She’s got two sisters and a younger brother .

Most people buy things like cameras and MP3-players online these days .

These shoes look old now.

I’ll take a few magazines with me for the flight .

Determiners ( the, my , some , this )

Singular and plural 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 .

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.

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.

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 …

Countable and uncountable nouns with different meanings

Some nouns can be used either countably or uncountably, but with different meanings.

Uncountable nouns used countably

Measures and examples.

Sometimes uncountable nouns are used countably, to mean ‘a measure of something’ or ‘a type or example of something’:

Can I have two teas and one coffee , please? (two cups of tea and one cup of coffee …?)

A: How many sugars do you want in your tea? (How many spoonfuls/lumps of sugar?) B: Just one, please .

To some degree we tend to eat the foods that we ate as children. (i.e. types of food)

Abstract nouns

Some abstract nouns can be used uncountably or countably. The uncountable use has a more general meaning. The countable use has a more particular meaning.

Nouns of this type include: education, experience, hatred, help, knowledge, life, love, sleep, time, understanding .

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Searching out and tracking down: talking about finding or discovering things

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About Words – Cambridge Dictionary blog

Commenting on developments in the English language

Countable or uncountable, and why it matters

by  Liz Walter

Many dictionaries for learners of English (including the one on this site) show whether nouns are ‘countable’ or ‘uncountable’, often using the abbreviations C and U. Countable nouns are things that you can count – one dog, two dogs, twenty dogs , etc. Uncountable nouns are things that you cannot count – water, sadness, plastic , etc.

It is important to know whether a noun is countable or uncountable, otherwise you are likely to make basic grammar mistakes. For example, countable nouns can have indefinite articles and can form plurals, but uncountable nouns cannot:

You should bring a coat. (‘coat’ is a countable noun)

I have three winter coats.

The teacher gave us a homework. (‘homework’ is an uncountable noun)

We have lots of homeworks.

If you have countable and uncountable nouns in your own language, you need to be very careful because they may not be the same ones. If I had £1 for every time one of my students has said or written ‘an advice’ or ‘some informations’, I would be very rich by now! In English, advice and information are both uncountable nouns, so they cannot have ‘an’ in front of them and they cannot be made plural.

Other common uncountable words that often cause problems are: equipment , furniture , transport , knowledge , countryside , traffic , research , progress , evidence , machinery.

You also need to know whether a noun is countable or uncountable in order to decide whether to say much or many . ‘Many’ is used with plural countable nouns and ‘much’ with uncountable nouns:

How many brothers and sisters do you have?

How much brothers and sisters do you have?

How much money do you have?

Some and any are used with plural countable nouns and uncountable nouns, but not with singular countable nouns:

We don’t have any eggs/sugar.

Would you like some mushrooms/cheese?

Do you have any coat?

Sometimes we may want to make an uncountable noun more like a singular countable one. We do this by using a quantity expression before it:

She gave us an advice/information.

She gave us a piece of advice/information.

We bought a few furnitures/clothings.

We bought a few items of furniture/clothing.

Finally, some uncountable nouns end in ‘s’. They include activities such as aerobics, athletics, gymnastics and darts ; academic subjects such as economics, linguistics, politics and physics and illnesses such as measles, mumps, rabies and diabetes . These nouns look like countable plurals, but they are uncountable and therefore need a singular verb:

Linguistics is a very interesting subject.

Aerobics makes you fit.

You will probably notice that some words in the dictionary are labelled both C and U. In my next post, I’ll look at some of these words and explain how nouns can be both countable and uncountable.

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48 thoughts on “ Countable or uncountable, and why it matters ”

It’s helpful…

Extremely helpful.

A little bit of a headache

Is it? Then you’ll HATE advanced English.

Thanks a lot, Liz, for this excellent explanation. It is clear and concise!

Need to talk to you about the use of an apostrophe though.

One uncountable noun ending in ‘s’ that could be added to the list is news. It is difficult for French students to use a singular verb -what is the news? the news is good- since les nouvelles is a plural and need a plural verb!

Yes, that’s a very good addition.

I loved the article but would have liked to see my personal pet peeve. The countable error I see everywhere I go is the “ten items or less” signs which should be “10 items or fewer”. I did know a checkout clerk who put up their own, corrected sign at their place of employment.

Joshua, see my post on just this subject: https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2014/05/28/less-or-fewer/

I guess maybe you can say: “This piece of news is good” to avoid confusion but I saw it is not very usual. This kind of confusion can happen also in my language, Italian.

Yes, we’d be more likely to say: ‘That’s good news’, but we could say for example ‘I have a piece of news I think you’ll like’.

Hi Liz , Thank you very much for posting this informative article about countable and uncountable nouns.To be honest, I always had a confusion of not having indefinite article before a noun ( I did not know until now that it was because they were uncountable nouns☺). So , keep your good work up of enlightening guys like us about the unseen patterns of grammar in Language of English.

Confusion is also uncountable…. NOT a confusion.

very best issues in my life I need such guidance …

Really now I got why it’s not informatiions…same is the with findings, repercussions etc

Thank you for this article It is very effective to understand a challenging topic I always struggle with!!

About the puzzle of “any” (Some and any are used with plural countable nouns and uncountable nouns, but not with singular countable nouns), which one should be more suitable, 1. Is there any question to ask the speaker? 2. Are there any questions to ask the speaker? Thanks a lot.

The second one is correct. The first one is not correct.

Hello, Liz. I’ve been following some of your posts and they’re all extremely helpful. Thank you for the good work made available through the blog. I’ve seen a few times in American series, though not much frequently, people saying “a water”… For example: A: I went to get her water and she ran away. B: Did you let her all by herself here and went to get her a water? (I imagine a water equals a glass of water, in the context of the scene)

Do people in England also say such a thing?

Thanks in advance,

It sounds quite unlikely to me. In theory, it’s possible in the context of being in a pub or cafe, but it would be much more common to say ‘some water’ or ‘a bottle/glass of water’.

Hi Liz, thanks a lot for the reply.

Yeah, it does seem unlikely to me too, especially for being a non-native speaker and having always been pointed out to by teachers that it’s completely wrong to say such a thing. I guess that’s quite Ame. If you ever want to check it out, it happened in the series Suits, season 01 – episode 06, at the moment 05:36. The precise words were “You left her alone to get her a water?”.

Hello, Liz. Thank you for your articles. Could you explain why did you omit ‘a’ before ‘cafe’ in your previous answer: ‘…it’s possible in the context of being in a pub or cafe…’? Thanks.

Denis – because if you link two countable nouns with ‘and’ or ‘or’, you only need to put an article in front of the first one, although it is not wrong to put them twice.

Yes thank you 😎

Thanks, Liz. It’s a great article on grammar.

It is emerging issue ,thanks for making blog.

Thanks,but how correct is it to use ‘much’ on a countable noun like MONEY instead of ‘many’?.Example;how much do have with you Liz,one US dollar says Liz.Anticipating ur response via my email

We say ‘how much’ as a short form of ‘how much money and money is uncountable: that’s why it’s ‘much’. Dollar is countable, so you’d have to say ‘How many dollars do you have?’ although that’s a very unlikely sentence.

But we can count money

We have to think about the word, not the item. We can’t say one money, two money.

I have a rather odd question. ‘Money’ is listed in the dictionary as an uncountable noun. However its older plural form ‘monies’ has been listed as a plural noun as well. Now as both a life long speaker and a teacher I’ve never used it though I have occasionally come across its use in spoken (I always dismissed it as a spoken error) and a student’s question has left me confused.

Very useful to Asian .Thank you!

I want to be in this group

I want to join in this group please

Very good. I need such guidance..

Hi Liz, I’ve said “Is there any problem?”. But according to your article, I should’ve said “Are there any problems?”

Yes, or ‘Is there a problem.’ However, I must say that your sentence doesn’t sound totally wrong to me – I think it might be possible in a fairly informal situation – just don’t write it in an exam!

Liz, could you comment some more words: salad, toast, pizza, cereal.

Salad and pizza can be C or U depending on whether you are talking about the food in general or a single portion/dish of it, as described above. Toast and cereal would be U in almost all cases, though it is possible to imagine a sentence such as ‘It is made from a mixture of four different cereals.’ I can’t think of a plausible context for making ‘toast’ countable, though someone else might!

Thanks for good post, I enjoy and I feel so easy to understand about articles.

Hi everyone, how can I do to improve my English? Fine some method, please.

My students struggle with “Do you like dog?” versus “Do you like dogs?” – I though this was an obvious place to go from the picture, but…

Hi Liz ‼ I just found that I always make mistakes when I am writing or speaking. I’m poor in English. Thanks very much for your help us 😁

Hi Liz, thank you very much. It helps us a lot. Could you please explain what’s wrong with “do you have any coat” and how to fix it?

See this part of my post: Some and any are used with plural countable nouns and uncountable nouns, but not with singular countable nouns:

Coat is a singular not a plural noun, so you need to say ‘Do you have a coat?’

Thank you, awesome!

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Grammar: Count and Noncount Nouns

Introduction to count and noncount nouns.

Count and noncount nouns vary from language to language. In some languages, there are no count nouns (e.g., Japanese). In addition, some nouns that are noncount in English may be countable in other languages (e.g., hair or information).

Errors with count and noncount nouns can result in errors with article usage and with subject verb agreement .

Count Nouns

What is a count noun.

Count nouns can be separated into individual units and counted. They usually have both a singular and a plural form. Most English nouns are count nouns.

• one phone, two phones
• one dog, two dogs
• one shirt, two shirts

However, a few countable nouns only have a plural form in English. Here are a few examples:

These are often used with some sort of quantifier, or quantity word , to show how they are counted (e.g., "a pair of" pants, "two pairs of" pants, "some " pants).

How are count nouns made plural?

Count nouns are usually made plural by adding an "-s" or an "-es."

• one boy, two boy s
• one folder, two folder s
• one box, two box es
• one church, two church es

If the noun ends in "-y," change the "-y" to "-ies" to make it plural.

• one family, two famil ies
• one party, two part ies

However, if a vowel precedes the "-y," add just an "-s" to make it plural.

• one toy, two toy s
• one donkey, two donkey s

If the noun ends in "-o," add "-es" to make it plural.

• one potato, two potato es
• one tomato, two tomato es

If the noun ends in "-f" or "-fe," change the "-f" to a "-v" and add "-es."

• one thief, two thiev es
• one hoof, two hoov es

Some count nouns have irregular plural forms. Many of these forms come from earlier forms of English.

• one foot, two feet
• one person, two people
• one tooth, two teeth
• one criterion, two criteria

When unsure of the plural form, please consult the dictionary. An English learner’s dictionary (such as Merriam-Webster, Cambridge, Oxford, or Longman) may be the most useful.

Important: Singular count nouns must have a word in the determiner slot. This could be an article, a pronoun, or a possessive noun (i.e., "a," "an," "the," "this," or a possessive noun). Please see our page on article usage for more information.

Noncount Nouns

What is a noncount noun.

Noncount (or uncountable) nouns exist as masses or abstract quantities that cannot be counted. They have no plural form. Although most English nouns are count nouns, noncount nouns frequently occur in academic writing.

Here are some common categories of noncount nouns. Like all things in English (and language in general), there may be exceptions.

A mass: work, equipment, homework, money, transportation, clothing, luggage, jewelry, traffic

A natural substance: air, ice, water, fire, wood, blood, hair, gold, silver

Food: milk, rice, coffee, bread, sugar, meat, water

An abstract concept: advice, happiness, health, education, research, knowledge, information, time

A game: soccer, tennis, basketball, hockey, football, chess, checkers

A disease: diabetes, measles, polio, influenza, malaria, hypothyroidism, arthritis

A subject of study: economics, physics, astronomy, biology, history, statistics

A language : Arabic, Chinese, Spanish, English

An activity (in the "-ing" form): swimming, dancing, reading, smoking, drinking, studying

Important: Noncount nouns do not use the indefinite articles "a" or "an." They can, however, use the definite article "the" if what is being referred to is specific. They can also use no article if what is being referred to is general (generic) or nonspecific. Please see our page on article usage for more information.

Double Nouns

Some nouns can be both count and noncount. When they change from a count to a noncount noun, the meaning changes slightly. In the noncount form, the noun refers to the whole idea or quantity. In the count form, the noun refers to a specific example or type. When the noun is countable, it can be used with the indefinite article "a" or "an" or it can be made plural.

Check the published literature in your field of study to determine whether specific nouns are used in a countable or an uncountable way. Sometimes, a noun that is generally countable becomes uncountable when used in a technical way.

Here are a few examples:

• Life is a gift. (noncount)
• She leads a very fulfilling life . (count = This specifies the type of life. It could be a boring life, a dangerous life, and so on.)
• I like cheese . (noncount)
• The cheeses of France are my favorite. (count = This specifies the type of cheese.)
• The study of language is called linguistics. (noncount)
• English is often considered an international language . (count)

Quantity Words

Quantity words are used to add information about the number or amount of the noun. Some quantity words can only be used with countable singular nouns (e.g., computer, pen, and crayon), some can only be used with countable plural nouns (e.g., printers, flashdrives, and keyboards), some can only be used with uncountable nouns (i.e., paper, ink), and some can be used with both plural countable nouns and with uncountable nouns.

With countable singular nouns (e.g., computer, pen, crayon):

• each computer
• every computer
• another computer

With countable plural nouns (e.g., printers, flashdrives, and keyboards):

• several printers
• a large number of printers
• a small number of printers
• not many printers
• too many printers
• many printers
• a few printers
• very few printers
• few printers
• fewer printers

With uncountable nouns (e.g., paper or ink):

• a great deal of paper
• a large amount of paper
• a small amount of paper
• not much paper
• too much paper
• a little paper
• very little paper
• little paper

With countable plural nouns and with uncountable nouns (e.g., printers, flashdrives, keyboards; paper, or ink):

• some printers
• any printers
• a lot of printers
• a lot of ink
• hardly any printers
• hardly any ink
• (almost) all printers
• (almost) all ink
• no printers
• none of the printers
• none of the ink
• not any printers
• not any ink
• other printers

Note the difference between "few/little" (almost none) and "a few/a little " (some, but not many/much). "Few/little" tend to have a negative connotation. "A few/a little" tend to be more positive.

• There are few solutions. (There are not many solutions.)
• There are a few solutions. (There are some solutions.)  
• He received little education. (He did not receive much education.)
• He received a little education. (He received some education.)

Nouns Video Playlist

Note that these videos were created while APA 6 was the style guide edition in use. There may be some examples of writing that have not been updated to APA 7 guidelines.

Writing Tools: Using a Dictionary for Grammatical Accuracy Video

Note that this video was created while APA 6 was the style guide edition in use. There may be some examples of writing that have not been updated to APA 7 guidelines.

• Writing Tools: Using a Dictionary for Grammatical Accuracy (video transcript)

Related Resources

Knowledge Check: Count and Noncount Nouns

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