noncountable

Cannot be enumerated

Noncountable describes nouns that cannot be counted as individual units and therefore don't take plural forms or indefinite articles.

Water, information, and furniture are noncountable—you can't have three waters or an information.

Also called uncountable or mass nouns.

Some nouns shift between countable and noncountable: Coffee is delicious versus I'll have two coffees.

substance

water

Clear essential liquid

riceStaple cereal grain
sandFine rock particles
sugarCrystalline carbohydrate sweetener

flour · air · milk · gold · wood · butter · oil · bread · grass · rain

abstract

information

Knowledge about something

adviceGuidance on decisions
knowledgeUnderstood facts and skills
happinessJoyful emotional state

love · music · time · money · news · weather · traffic · furniture · luggage · equipment

grammar

noncount

Not individually enumerable

singularOne in number
collectiveJointly organized group
aggregateCombined sum total

indivisible · continuous · unquantifiable · abstract noun · determiner · partitive · quantifier · indefinite · generic

infinite

boundless

Without any boundaries

limitlessWithout any boundaries
endlessWithout termination or boundary
immeasurableBeyond any quantification

inexhaustible · unbounded · continuous · seamless · unbroken · whole · indeterminate · indefinite · measureless

Opposites

grammatical number classification

noncountablecountable

Able to be tallied

count · discrete · enumerable · quantifiable · individuated

Family

count, countable, counts, counted, counting, counter, counters, recount, recounts

Familiarity: Top 1,000,000
Profile: Used worldwide · Timeless · Abstract · Rated G