Non-countable (Noncount) Nouns

What Are Non-countable (Noncount) Nouns? (with Examples)

A non-countable noun (or mass noun as it's also known) is a noun without a plural form.

Non-countable nouns refer to things that cannot be counted. Look at these examples:
Non-countable Noun>Attempt At Making It Plural
musicfive musics
furniturefive furnitures
tennisfive tennises
mercuryfive mercuries

Non-countable nouns are singular.

Examples of Non-countable (Noncount) Nouns

Non-countable nouns usually fall into one of the following categories:
CategoryExample
Concept bravery, honesty, information, intelligence, patience
Activity homework, playing, reading, sleeping
Food bread, butter, cheese, fish, milk
Gas air, helium, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, smoke
Liquid coffee, petrol, water, wine, beer
Material chalk, cloth, concrete, lumber, wood, metal
Item Category clothing, furniture, luggage, mail, money, software
Natural Phenomenon gravity, heat, humidity, rain, snow, sunshine, thunder
Particles dust, flour, rice, salt, sugar

Making Non-countable Nouns Plural

There are two methods to pluralize a concept expressed by a non-countable noun:

Method 1: Precede it with a [countable noun] + "of". For example: Method 2: Make the non-countable noun an adjective to a countable noun. For example: Generally, non-countable nouns cannot be pluralized. However, some can be pluralized when talking about categories of that noun. This is most common with non-countable nouns in the food and liquid categories. For example:

A Quick Test



SOME ADJECTIVES DON'T WORK WITH NON-COUNTABLE NOUNS

The following adjectives cannot precede a non-countable noun: these, those, each, every, either, and neither.

These adjectives are either for plural nouns or for plural ideas.

Read more about demonstrative adjectives.
Read more about indefinite adjectives.


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See Also

Read more about amount of, quantity of, and number of What are nouns? What are abstract nouns? What are collective nouns? What are compound nouns? What are concrete nouns? What are gender-specific nouns What are gerunds? What are verbal nouns? What are noun clauses? What are noun phrases?