Countable Noun

Definition

Countable noun can be defined as “Countable nouns are nouns that can be counted.”

Explanation

Countable noun is a noun which can be counted whether available in the form of singular or plural. Examples of countable nouns are like dog, tree, house, friend, book, orange, cat, animal, man, person, bottle, box, coin, chair, dollar, cup, plate, fork, bag, table, suitcase, etc.

We use singular verbs with the singular countable nouns whereas plural verbs are used with the plural countable nouns. Countable nouns are very easy to recognize in the sentence.

For example:

• There are almost 15 restaurants in Delhi where I like to go.
• We took many photographs when we went to Nainital.
• My book is in the study room.
• I lit a candle daily in the nearest church.
• My class teacher likes my painting very much.
• I saw a big brown dog daily in my neighborhood.

Rules to be Followed

Some of the rules concerning countable noun are mentioned below with proper examples:

1) Countable nouns can be in singular form (such as goose, hand, computer, office, man, woman, person, boy, bed, pencil, ball, strawberry, newspaper, etc) or plural form (such as geese, computers, hands, men, offices, beds, pencils, boys, women, people, strawberries, newspapers, balls, etc). Here are some examples of singular and plural forms:

• My dog is playing there. (singular)
• There are many dogs barking together. (plural)
• I see a red bus daily. (singular)
• There are various yellow buses in my school. (plural)

2) Following examples are showing the proper use of indefinite articles (a or an) with countable nouns:

• I need a laptop.
• My dad bought a new car.
• My mom gifted me a nice teddy.
• My sister is a girl.

3) We can use ‘an’ with countable nouns only when the next word starts with a vowel letter (means a, e, i, o, u):

• I have an apple for my lunch.
• She is an actress of south Indian movies.
• I have an inkpot to gift my friend.
• My father is an artist.
• I saw an insect in the garden.
• A dog is an animal.

4) Use of words (like a, the, an, my, this) with singular countable nouns. We can use ‘the’ with a singular countable noun when it has already been introduced.

• You want an orange.
• Where you saw my bottle?
• My mom need a rabbit. Here is the rabbit.
• Did you buy a new teddy? Yes, this is the new teddy.

5) Use of words ‘some’ and ‘any’ with countable nouns:

• I have got some apples.
• Have you got any cycle?
• I saw some donkeys.
• I have not saw any boy.

6) Use of words ‘few’ and ‘many’ with countable nouns:

• I have only few dollars.
• I have many pens.

7) People is plural countable noun whereas person is singular countable noun:

• I saw three people there.
• Here is a person having sticks.

8) Conversion of uncountable nouns into countable nouns:

• I drink milk daily. (uncountable noun)
• I drink two glasses of milk daily. (countable noun)
• Drinking sufficient water is good habit. (uncountable noun)
• Drinking eight glasses of water daily is very good for health. (countable noun)

Exercises for You

We have provided below some countable noun exercises in order to help you to improve your knowledge about countable noun. You need to get detail information about countable noun provided above and check your skill by doing following exercises.

1. Only some children are playing in the garden.
2. I have taken 3 tea from morning.
3. Homi Jehangir Bhabha was an Indian scientist.
4. My mom has used two dry fruits in making cakes.
5. One classroom has many windows.
6. I have used two feviquicks to fix my broken pencil.
7. Waiters are not much professional in this restaurant.
8. My father drinks two big glasses of milk after breakfast.
9. My mother prepares many dishes on Diwali.
10. Drivers never take risk to drive on slippery roads.
11. Only some policemen become faithful to their job.
12. I bought three bottles of cold drink for our picnic.
13. I like to drink a glass of juice in the morning.
14. Only successful candidates can join the camp.
15. The given exercises on this website are very interesting.
16. Dehydrated people should drink a lot of water.
17. Illiterate people take help from special government program.
18. I met my friends walking along the beach.
19. I have few breads.
20. I have only one guava.
21. I like to eat red tomatoes.
22. I do not like to share my apple.
23. I have a nice ball.
24. My dog is very fluffy.
25. My parrot copies everyone.

Answers: 1 – plural, 2 – plural, 3 – singular, 4 – plural, 5 – plural, 6 – plural, 7 – plural, 8 – plural, 9 – plural, 10 – plural, 11 – plural, 12 – plural, 13 – singular, 14 – plural, 15 – plural, 16 – plural, 17 – plural, 18 – plural, 19 – plural, 20 – singular, 21 – plural, 22 – singular, 23 – singular, 24 – singular, 25 – singular.

Related Topics:

Noun
Proper Noun
Common Noun
Compound Noun
Uncountable Noun
Collective Noun
Possessive Noun
Concrete Noun
Abstract Noun
Singular Noun
Plural Noun