What is the difference between countable and uncountable nouns?

Countable (count) nouns can take a/an, one, two, many, a few, several and have singular and plural forms (a tree, two trees). Uncountable (uncount) nouns do not usually go with a/an, one, two, many and mostly take a singular verb (water, advice, furniture).

How do count nouns form their plural?

Most add -s (goat/goats); nouns ending in -s, -ss, -tch, -sh, -x add -es (watch/watches); -y after a consonant becomes -ies (country/countries); -f/-fe becomes -ves (knife/knives); -o takes -s or -es (photo/photos, mango/mangoes); some change the vowel (tooth/teeth); some stay the same (sheep, deer); and some are irregular (child/children, man/men).

Which nouns always take a plural verb?

'Pair' nouns such as trousers, scissors, jeans and spectacles take a plural verb; 'police, people and cattle' take plural verbs; and nouns like clothes, belongings, contents, earnings, surroundings and savings are always plural and take plural verbs. But 'a pair of scissors' takes a singular verb.

What is a collective noun's verb?

A collective noun such as team, committee, family or government takes a singular verb when the group is seen as one body (The team has won) and a plural verb when its members act as separate individuals (The team have not prepared themselves).

Grammar Chapter 7: Countables and Uncountables

Q: How can uncountable nouns be counted?

Uncountable nouns are counted with a quantifying unit such as a glass of water, a piece of advice, a bar of soap, a sheet of paper, a loaf of bread, or in a restaurant as 'a tea' meaning a cup of tea.

Learn and Practise Grammar · Count & Uncount Nouns

English Grammar · Odisha Board Class 9 · Notes + Solved Activities + 25 Quiz

📖 Grammar Chapter 7 — Countables and Uncountables: Some nouns can be counted and some cannot. This chapter shows the difference, all the rules for making plurals, special nouns like pair nouns and collective nouns, and how to count the uncountable with phrases like ‘a piece of advice’.

A. Count & Uncount Nouns

Count Nouns (Countables)	Uncount Nouns (Uncountables)
take a/an, one, two, many, (a) few, several	do not usually take a/an, one, two, many
have two forms: singular & plural (tree / trees)	have no plural; mostly one form (water, advice)
plural count noun → plural verb (These trees grow.)	→ singular verb (Water is essential.)

A singular count noun and an uncountable noun take a singular verb; a plural count noun takes a plural verb.

B. Making Plurals of Count Nouns

Rule	Examples
Most nouns add -s	goat → goats, tree → trees
After -s, -ss, -tch, -sh, -x add -es	gas → gases, watch → watches, dish → dishes, fox → foxes
-y after a consonant → -ies	country → countries, lady → ladies, body → bodies
-f / -fe → -ves	calf → calves, knife → knives, leaf → leaves, wife → wives
-o → -s or -es	photo → photos, piano → pianos; mango → mangoes, potato → potatoes
oo → ee	tooth → teeth, foot → feet, goose → geese (but not ‘book’)
No change	people, sheep, deer, cattle
Irregular	man → men, woman → women, child → children, ox → oxen, mouse → mice

C. Special Nouns

‘Pair’ Nouns

Things with two equal parts joined at one point — trousers, scissors, binoculars, goggles, jeans, pyjamas, glasses, spectacles — take a plural verb (My trousers are new). But ‘a pair of…’ takes a singular verb (A pair of goggles is useful). We do not use ‘these/those’ directly before them.

Collective (Group) Nouns

A group noun (team, committee, crowd, public, government, council, army, company, family, audience) takes a singular verb when seen as one body (The team has won) and a plural verb when the members act as separate individuals (The team have not prepared themselves).

But police, people, cattle always take plural verbs (The police have caught the thief). And clothes, belongings, contents, earnings, surroundings, savings are always plural and take plural verbs.

D. Uncountable Nouns

We do not use a/an, several, a few or numerals before uncountables, and they mostly take a singular verb. But we can use: the (specific), possessives (my), demonstratives (this/that), some, a lot of, enough, a little, no, and much / any (mainly in questions and negatives).

Common uncountables: advice, accommodation, baggage, equipment, fun, furniture, grass, hair, health, homework, information, knowledge, leisure, luck, machinery, money, news, progress, scenery, traffic.

They fall into groups: Materials (wood, gold, cotton, steel, iron, cloth), Human feelings (happiness, anger, joy), Human activities (sleep, travel, work), Human qualities (pride, courage, bravery, honesty, kindness, beauty).

Uncountables ending in ‘s’ (but singular verb)

Some nouns look plural but are uncountable and take a singular verb — names of diseases (mumps, measles, diabetes), subjects of study (physics, mathematics, economics, politics) and sports (athletics, gymnastics, billiards). Mathematics is my favourite subject.

Counting the Uncountable

We count an uncountable with a quantifying unit: a glass of water, a piece of advice, a bar of soap, a sheet of paper, a block of ice, a tin of jam, a grain of wheat, a bottle of water. In a restaurant, a tea = a cup of tea, an ice-cream = a cone of ice-cream.

Different meaning in the plural: sand (material) / sands (large area); water (liquid) / waters (a large water body); work (labour) / works (a factory); glass (material) / glasses (spectacles); tin (metal) / tins (containers).

💡 Quick Recap

① Countables take a/an, one, two, many and have plurals; uncountables don't and take singular verbs. ② Learn the plural rules (-s, -es, -ies, -ves, -oes, teeth/feet, children/men…). ③ Pair nouns & ‘police/people/cattle’ take plural verbs. ④ Collective nouns: singular as a body, plural as individuals. ⑤ Count the uncountable with ‘a piece of / a glass of / a bar of…’.

Solved Textbook Activities (with answers)

2Activity 2 — Sort the list into Countables (A) and Uncountables (B).

Column A — Countables: newspaper (done), egg, pen, book, magazine, potato, scale, bottle, bag, jar, mug. Column B — Uncountables: water (done), bread, tea, milk, cheese, soap, coffee, paper, wheat flour, paste, sugar, jam.

3Activity 3 — Correct the wrong plural forms in Rita's diary.

tooths → teeth · partys → parties · countrys → countries · leafs → leaves · potatos → potatoes · tomatos → tomatoes · cowes → cows · sheeps → sheep · foots → feet · toyes → toys · storys → stories

4Activity 4 — Pair nouns: tick the right alternatives.

(a) The above things have two equal parts. (b) They are joined at one point. (c) Together they make one object. (d) We do not use plural markers like ‘these’ and ‘those’ with them.
(Other such words: jeans, pyjamas, glasses, spectacles.)

5Activity 5 — Choose the correct word.

(i) Look at my new jeans. (ii) Please give my regards to your parents. (iii) Please cut this with scissors. (iv) Where is my left shoe? (v) I have kept my savings in a bank. (vi) Where did you keep my clothes? (vii) Please take out the contents of the box. (viii) The surroundings of the school look great.

6Activity 6 — Fill with uncountable-noun words (box: a lot of, no, that, a little, much, enough, some, his, any).

(i) I was guided by his advice. (ii) I have a little knowledge of computer. (iii) You need enough money to buy this. (iv) Do you have much work to do? (v) Where did you get that news? (vi) I got some help from him. (vii) This room is crowded with a lot of luggage. (viii) They have no food for the family. (ix) They haven't left any work for me.

7Activity 7 — Arrange the uncountables under Materials / Human feelings / Human activities / Human qualities.

Materials: wood (done), coal, gold, rice, cotton, steel, cloth, water, tea, soap, iron. Human feelings: happiness (done), anger, joy. Human activities: sleep (done), travel. Human qualities: pride (done), courage, bravery, respect, cruelty, honesty, beauty, kindness.

8Activity 8 — Uncountable used as countable.

a tea = a cup of tea (done) one coffee = a cup of coffee a chocolate = a bar / piece of chocolate an ice-cream = a cone / cup of ice-cream

9Activity 9 — Match each uncountable with its quantifying unit.

a bar of soap (done) a glass of milk / water a piece of advice (also a piece of paper) a sheet of paper a block of ice a tin of jam a grain of wheat a bottle of water

10Activity 10 — Correct the countable/uncountable errors in the dialogue.

do a work → do some work / do a job clean the furnitures → clean the furniture many homeworks → much homework Mathematics are → Mathematics is I need times → I need time all the works → all the work do the cleanings → do the cleaning a good news → good news my homeworks → my homework some waters → some water some soaps → some soap detergent powders → detergent powder kitchen equipments → kitchen equipment made of glasses → made of glass made of woods → made of wood