What are countable nouns?

 A countable noun is a word for something you can count. You can say one dog, two dogs, ten dogs. That makes dog a countable noun.

Ask yourself: Can I put a number in front of it? If yes, it is a countable noun.

• one chair
• two books
• three ideas
• four mistakes
• five cities

Countable vs things you cannot count

Some nouns are not countable. You cannot say one water or two advices. These are called uncountable nouns.

• YOU CAN COUNT THESE: a coin, a question, a box, a table
• YOU CANNOT COUNT THESE: money, advice, weather, progress

Singular and plural

Countable nouns have two forms: singular (one thing) and plural (more than one thing). Most plurals just add -s or -es.

• cat → cats
• box → boxes
• city → cities
• child → children
• tooth → teeth

Always use "a" or "an"

When you use a single countable noun, you almost always need to put a or an in front of it. You cannot leave it alone.

• A dog is an animal.
• She has a cat.

Use "many" and "few" — not "much"

With countable nouns, use many, few, and several. Do not use much because that is for uncountable nouns.

• many questions
• a few ideas
• several mistakes
• how many chairs?

Some nouns can go both ways

A few nouns can be countable or uncountable. It depends on what you mean. For example:

• Experience as a skill you build up over time → uncountable: "She has experience."
• Experience as one event that happened → countable: "It was a great experience."