COUNT AND NON-COUNT NOUNS

A count noun is one that can be counted.

Book-one book, two books, three books, . . .

Student-one student, two students, three students, . . .

Person-one person, two people, three people, . . .

A non-count noun is one that cannot  becounted.

Milk-you cannot say: one milk, two milk, . . .

It is possible, however,to count some non-count nouns if the substance is placed in a countable container.

Glass of milk-one glass of milk, two glasses of milk, . . .

Some determiners can be used only with count or non-count nouns, while others can  be used with either. Memorize the words in the following chart.

With count nouns	With non-count nouns
a(n), the, some, any this, that, these, those none, one, two,three, . . . many a lot of a large number of a great number of (a)   Few fewer . . . than more . . . than	the, some, any this, that none much (usually in negatives or questions) a lot of a large amount of (a)   Little Less . . . than More . . . than

It is very important to know if a noun is count or non-count. Be sure that you know the plurals of irregular count nouns. The following list contains some irregular count nouns that you should know.

person - people	child - children	tooth – teeth
foot – feet	mouse - mice	man - men
woman - women

The following list countains some non-count nouns that you should know.

sand	soap	physics	mathematics
news	mumps	air	politics
measles	information	meat	homework
food	economics	advertising*	money

*Note: although  advertising is a noun-count noun, advertisement is a count noun. If you wish to speak of one particular advertisement, you must use this word.

There are too many advertisements during television shows.

There is too much advertising during television shows.

Some non-count nouns, such as food, meat, money, and sand, may be used as count nouns in order to indicate different types.

This is one of the foods that my doctor has forbidden me to eat.

(indicates a particular type of food)

He studies meats.

(for example, beef, pork, lamb, etc.)

The word time can be either countable or non-countable depending on the context. When it means an occasion, it is countable. When it means a number of hours, days, years, etc., it is non-countable.

We have spent too much time on this homework. (non-count)

She has been late for class six times this semester. (count)

To decide if a noun that you are not sure of is countable or non-countable, decide if you can say : one ________ or a___________. For example, you can say “one book,” so it is a count noun. You cannot say “one money,” so it  is not a count noun. Also, of course, by the very nature of non-count nouns, a non-count noun can never be plural. Remember that, while some of the nouns in the list of non-count nouns appear to be plural because they end in –s, they are actually not plural. 

Sumber:

 Pyle, Michael A,M A dan Mary Ellen Munoz Page, M A, 1995. Cliffs Toefl Preparation Guide. 5th ed. U.S.A