“Countable Noun” — English Grammar
What Is A “Countable Noun”?
The Grammatical Term: “Countable Noun” (sometimes mistakenly referred to as a, “Count Noun”*) is a Noun (representing a: person, place, thing, event, and [sometimes] an idea) which can be “Counted” — and is usually preceded by either a Number or an Article.
Examples Of “Countable” Nouns:
An Awesome Car
One Bad-Ass Apple
The Coolest Teacher In The Universe
Three Hip Dancing Gorillas And A Chubby Crying Baby
Two (Obviously) Very Intelligent Soldiers Who Clearly Know Exactly What They Are Doing
[sarcasm]
In these examples — The Articles: A, An, & The — along with the Numbers: One, Two, & Three — indicate how many of each Noun they are referring to. These Articles & Numbers are referred to as “Quantifiers” (yes — Articles also qualify as Quantifiers 😉 )… because they indicate the “Quantity” (how many) of the Nouns there are — or how many they are referring to.
What’s The Difference Between A “Countable Noun” & An “Un-Countable Noun”?
Countable Nouns are different from Un-Countable Nouns (again, mistakenly referred to as, “Non-Count Nouns”) because they refer to individual units. Un-Countable Nouns are Nouns which refer to things which — when increased in “size” or “amount” — do not necessarily increase in “number“. Instead — they increase in “mass” or “volume” (which is why some people logically call them, “Mass Nouns”. However, that term is very un-common.)
Notice! — Only Countable Nouns Can Be Pluralized (with an “-s” or “-es” ending). Un-Countable Nouns Are Never Pluralized. (However, there are a few “Un-Countable” Nouns which are considered to be “Countable” in British-English… Silly Brits 😆 )
Examples Of “Un-Countable” Nouns:
Wine
Sand
Coffee
Many “Un-Countable Nouns” are things which are intangible. In other words — they are not “physical” things. Some of these types of Nouns are things like: Ideas, Philosophies, Feelings, etc..
For Example:
Fright
Pain
Happiness
Because Un-Countable Nouns are never Pluralized, we use different types of Quantifiers when referring to these types of Nouns. Quantifiers such as: Some, A Lot, Much, A Little Bit, etc..
To learn more about Un-Countable Nouns in much greater detail, you can view the post specifically about that topic HERE. And to learn more about Grammar — in a way which is actually Interesting & Entertaining — Click Here.
Have An Excellent Day!
😉
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