Countable and Uncountable Nouns: Why 'Information' Has No Plural

Why can you have three books but not three informations? English divides nouns into those you can count and those you can't. Getting this right removes some of the most common errors in written English.

Countable nouns

Countable nouns can be counted individually. They have singular and plural forms:

• one book, two books
• a chair, five chairs
• an idea, many ideas

They take a/an in the singular and can follow numbers.

Uncountable nouns

Uncountable (or mass) nouns can't be counted directly. They have no plural form, and don't take a/an:

• water, rice, sand, milk (substances)
• advice, information, knowledge, research (abstract ideas)
• furniture, luggage, equipment, traffic (collections of things)
• news, homework, progress, weather (other common ones)
• happiness, music, love, time (abstract or general)

Common mistakes

• an advice → a piece of advice or some advice
• informations → information or some information
• luggages → luggage or pieces of luggage
• furnitures → furniture or items of furniture
• the news are good → the news is good
• researches → research (as a noun), though studies works for the plural idea

How to count uncountable nouns

Use a unit or container word:

• a piece of advice, information, news, furniture
• a glass of water
• a slice of bread
• a bar of chocolate
• a loaf of bread
• an item of clothing

Quantity words

With countable nouns: many, few, a few, fewer, several, a number of, one, two...

• There are many books. Few people came.

With uncountable nouns: much, little, a little, less, a great deal of, an amount of

• There isn't much time. Little progress was made.

With both: some, any, a lot of, plenty of, no, enough

• Some books. Some advice.

Nouns that can be both

Some nouns have both countable and uncountable uses, often with different meanings:

• coffee: I love coffee (U); Two coffees, please (C, cups of coffee).
• paper: I need some paper (U, material); Read the papers (C, newspapers, documents).
• time: We have time (U); Three times (C, occasions).
• hair: She has long hair (U); There's a hair in my soup (C, single strand).
• experience: You need experience (U); It was a strange experience (C, event).
• light: Turn on the light (C); Sunlight (U).

Dictionaries label each sense as C, U or both.

Why other languages differ

A word that's countable in one language may be uncountable in another. Advice and information are often plural in other languages, which is why learners are prone to say advices.

How to check

Look for the C or U label in a dictionary. If you're unsure, ask: can I say "one ___, two ___"? If not, it's probably uncountable.

Verb agreement

Uncountable nouns take singular verbs: The information is useful. The furniture was expensive.

Practice

Correct these: "She gave me many advices." "The luggages were heavy." "We need more informations." Then write three of your own sentences using uncountable nouns with unit words.

Check whether a noun is countable with English Dictionary →