Change Avatar
What Are Countable Nouns?
Countable and uncountable nouns are two different types of nouns that help to form a solid subject in a sentence.
Countable Nouns
Countable nouns are those that you can actually count. If you can put an article in front of the noun, such as a, an, or the, then it is countable.
They come in two forms: singular & plural. Let’s explore these a bit further…
Singular Nouns work with articles, such as a or an to indicate one item.
Plural nouns are more than one singular item, and you can give it a number. In order to form a plural noun, you add an s to the end of the word. But it does get a bit more complicated than that, because there are some specific ways to pluralize nouns based on their endings.
QUICK TIP!
Making singular nouns into plural nouns often gets tricky, because there are certain spelling rules you need to follow. Take a look here for the most common spelling rules, and commit them to memory:
| Noun Ending | Spelling Rule | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Most nouns | add S | cat ➤ cats dog ➤ dogs pancake ➤ pancakes |
| Ends in s, z, x, sh, or ch | add ES | class ➤ classes waltz ➤ waltzes box ➤ boxes dish ➤ dishes church ➤ churches |
| Ends in consonant followed by y | Change Y to I and add ES | berry ➤ berries baby ➤ babies sky ➤ skies |
| Ends in vowel followed by y | add S | essay ➤ essays day ➤ days |
| Ends in consonant followed by o | add ES | hero ➤ heroes tomato ➤ tomatoes |
| Ends in vowel followed by o | add S | rodeo ➤ rodeos studio ➤ studios |
| Ends in f or fe | Change F or FE to V, & add ES | shelf ➤ shelves knife ➤ knives |
| Ends in us | Change US to I | octopus ➤ octopi fungus ➤ fungi |
