Do you know what a countable noun is? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on countable nouns, including the definition, usage, example sentences, and more!
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Kevin
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November 21, 2021
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Common Questions
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What is a countable noun?
According to Ginger, countable nouns are individual people, animals, places, things, or ideas which can be counted. These have a specific quantity and can be used in their singular form and plural forms. This might be a single item or have units of measures. Singular nouns must use a singular verb, while plural nouns must use a plural verb. Ensure you have correct subject-verb agreement. There are many different types of nouns including abstract nouns, mass nouns, collective nouns, concrete nouns, and more. These can be used in positive sentences and negative sentences. The quality of an uncountable noun is that it does not have a tangible amount.
Many different languages also contain words that mean countable noun. You may notice that some of these translations of countable noun look and sound similar to one another. These are called cognates, which are words and phrases in different languages that likely have the same root or language of origin, causing them to sound the same. The below list of translations of countable noun is provided by Word Sense.
- German: zählbares Substantiv (neut.)
- Spanish: sustantivo contable (masc.), nombre contable (masc.)
- Japanese: 可算名詞 (かさんめいし, kasan meishi)
- French: nom dénombrable (masc.), nom comptable (masc.)
- Dutch: telbaar zelfstandig naamwoord (neut.), telbaar substantief (neut.)
- Russian: исчисля́емое существи́тельное (neut.)
- Portuguese: substantivo contável (masc.)
- Mandarin: 可數名詞, 可数名词 (kěshǔ míngcí)
What are examples of countable nouns?
A countable noun can be used in many different contexts in the English language. Trying to use a word or literary technique in a sentence is one of the best ways to memorize what it is, but you can also try making flashcards or quizzes that test your knowledge. Try using this term of the day in a sentence today! Below are many examples of countable nouns that can help get you started incorporating this tool into your everyday use. Try to use the term countable noun today or notice when someone else is using a countable noun.
Uncountable noun examples include things like rice, courage, soup, gases, thunder, mathematics, physics, dirt, chemistry, economics, London,
- We have three pieces of luggage on the carousel.
- We will pick up our things at baggage claim.
- I drank a cup of coffee this morning.
- I have three kids.
- I began sculpting with the lump of clay.
- The three waiters in the restaurant ate a big meal after their shift.
- I made a smoothie out of two bananas.
- The monkeys at the zoo were very friendly.
- I thought there was only one goose, but then a flock of geese came from around the corner.
- I laid out the forks for the dinner.
- After I moved in, I hung up some shelves.
- My grandmother gave me a piece of jewellery for my birthday.
- The linguists studied the speech patterns of different communities.
- The counsellor advised the student in their preparation for college.
- We adopted two puppies last weekend.
- When I was on vacation in Arizona, I rode a stubborn donkey.
- I went with my cousin to the county fair.
- I made a sandwich that had mozzarella cheese, basil and a tomato.
- I put on my favorite pair of pants for my interview and felt confident.
- I put two slices of cheese on my sandwich.
What are other grammar terms?
There are many different literary and grammatical techniques and devices that you might see when you are reading prose or poetry. It is important to recognize these terms because they are always used for some purpose. Knowing these devices can help readers understand the author’s deeper meaning and why they are using such a device. Take a look at the below list of grammatical devices from OED and see how many you know! Then try researching ones that are unfamiliar to you.
- dual
- past tense
- combining form (comb. form)
- dative
- definite article
- main clause
- antecedent
- vocative
- quasi-
- third-person
- intensifier
- second person
- non-finite
- verbal noun
- imperative (imper.)
- simple
- cognate object
- participle | past participle | present participle
- mood
- absolute (absol.)
- adverb (adv.)
- filler
- double object
- singular
- head
- anticipatory
- nominal relative | nominal relative clause
- progressive
- preposition (prep.)
- indirect speech
- attributive
- modify | modifier
- suffix
- complementary
- positive
- non-referential
- present tense
- adjective
- pro-form
- base form
- perfect
- noun (n.)
- predicative
- common noun
- zero
- personal pronoun
- mass noun
- ellipsis | elliptical
- optative
- feminine
- agree | agreement
- agent noun
- element
- indirect passive
- gender
- anaphoric
- active
- unmarked genitive
- direct speech
- auxiliary verb | auxiliary
- person
- parenthetical | parenthetically
- declarative
- suffix
- infinitive
- bare infinitive
- tense
- subjunctive
- collocation | collocate
- locative
- intransitive
- reflexive
- determiner
- subject
- noun phrase
- direct object
- that-clause
- masculine
- accusative
- instrumental
- adverbial | adverbially
- stem
- phrasal verb
- conditional
- neuter
- to-infinitive
- impersonal (impers.)
- first person
- object | direct object | indirect object
- phrase (phr.)
- concrete
- prepositional object
- subjective
- copular verb | copula
- superlative
- objective
- similative
- cataphoric
- causative
- interrogative
- count noun
- proper noun | proper name
- clause
- passive
- prefix
- indirect question
- inflection | inflected | inflectional
- possessive adjective
- indicative
- nominative
- past participle
- sentence adverb |sentence adverbial
- indefinite
- comparative
- appositive
- apodosis and protasis
- relative
- article
- morpheme
- collective noun
- parasynthetic
- present participle
- passive infinitive
- modal verb | modal auxiliary verb | modal auxiliary
- conjunction (conj.)
- apposition
- demonstrative
- finite
- compound | compounding
- indirect object
- abstract
- complement
- pronoun (pron.)
- interjection
- transitive
- prepositional phrase
- postmodify | postmodifier
- genitive
- verb (v.)
- protasis
- possessive
- periphrasis | periphrastic
- pleonasm | pleonastic
- possessive pronoun
- prepositional passive
- gerund
- main verb
- subordinate clause
- participial adjective
- direct question
- part of speech
- plural
- number
- special use
- construction
- case
- premodify | premodifier
- construed (const., constr.)
- combination
Overall, the word countable noun refers to a noun that is an individual item or is split into individual units. These can be singular or plural, and the plural form of a noun ends with s es, ss or ies added to the end often.
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