Special types of Countable and Uncountable Nouns

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Welcome to your Special Types of Countable and Uncountable Nouns lesson! In this topic we talk about:
• Nouns whose meanings change
• Some uncountable nouns
Take the quizzes when you’re ready! If you’re having problems, use the comment box to contact our English Teachers.

Nouns whose meanings change

Lots of nouns can be used as both countable and uncountable nouns. Usually this means that the meanings change:

Countable

Uncountable

“You’re going to the beach? Have a good time!“

time = moment

“I have to go, I haven’t got much time.”

time = minutes / seconds

“They had lots of memorable experiences during their holiday.”

experiences = things that happened

“They hired me because I had lots of experience.”

experience = knowledge through actions

“The hotel was great, it had eight rooms!“

rooms = bedrooms

“There was enough room for eight couples.”

room = space

“Waiter! There’s a hair in my soup!“

hair = a single hair

“I love your hair! Where did you get it done?“

hair = all the hair on a head

“Can I read your paper when you’ve finished?“

paper = newspaper

“The photocopier doesn’t have enough paper.”

paper = blank paper

Liquids (beer / coffee / water) are usually uncountable, if you use the countable version, you mean “a glass of…” or “a cup of…”:

“Can I have some beer please?” or “Can I have a beer please?”
(a beer = a glass of beer)

“Do you want some coffee?” or “Do you want a coffee?”
(a coffee = a cup of coffee)

Some uncountable nouns

Here are some nouns that are usually uncountable:

accomodation	advice	baggage	behaviour
bread	chaos	damage	furniture
information	luck	luggage	news
permission	progress	scenery	traffic
weather	work

“A” and “an” cannot be used with these nouns:

“You’ve made lots of progress in English.”
(not “…~~a progress~~…“)

“Do you have any baggage with you, madam?“
(not “…~~a baggage~~…”)

We also are unable to put an “s” at the end, as they are not usually plural:

“I don’t have permission to be here!”
(not “…~~permissions~~…“)

“Do you have accommodation for tonight?”
(not “…~~accommodations~~…“)

Despite ending in an “s”, “News” is uncountable, not plural:

“The news was great!”
(not “The news ~~were~~ great.“)

“Travel” (the noun) means traveling in general, not a trip or a journey:

“We spend a lot of money on travel.”
(travel in general)

“We had a great trip to France.”
(not “…a great ~~travel~~…“)

“They had a great journey around the island.”
(not “…a great ~~travel~~...”)

Here are some more examples of nouns changing in their countable and uncountable forms:

Countable	Uncountable
*“That was a good suggestion.”*	*“That was some good advice.”*
*“Those two chairs are wooden.“*	*“All our furniture is wooden.”*
*“We took three bags.”*	*“We took some luggage.”*
*“It’s a beautiful day today.”*	*“It‘s lovely weather today.”*
*“What a beautiful view!“*	*“What beautiful scenery!“*
*“I’m looking for a job.”*	*“I’m looking for some work.”*