Countable and Uncountable Nouns: Lettuce, Advice and More

Is lettuce countable or uncountable? It is a good question, because the honest answer is both. You can buy two lettuces at the market, and you can put some lettuce on a sandwich. The same plant is one thing in the first sentence and a mass of leaves in the second. English lets many nouns do this, and it is also why learners trip over words such as advice, information and furniture. This guide gives you the tests, the traps and a way to count what cannot be counted.

The basic difference

Countable nouns (also called count nouns) name things that can be counted one by one. They have a singular and a plural form, and you can put a number in front of them: a chair, two chairs, seven chairs. Uncountable nouns (mass nouns) name things that are treated as a mass, a substance or a concept. They have no ordinary plural, and you cannot put a number directly in front of them: some furniture, not a furniture or seven furnitures.

The reference article makes an important point: the distinction is grammatical, not about the nature of the thing. Furniture is made of separate pieces, and you could count them, but English treats the word furniture as a mass. Other languages do not always make the same choice, which is why a word that is countable in your first language may be uncountable in English.

Four quick tests

The plural test. Can you make it plural in a natural way? Chair becomes chairs. Furniture does not become furnitures.

The article test. Can you put a or an in front of it? A chair works. A furniture does not.

The number test. Can a number modify it directly? Seven chairs works. Seven furniture does not. You need a unit: seven pieces of furniture.

The quantifier test. Some words go with countable nouns, and others with uncountable ones.

• With countable nouns: many, few, several, a number of. Many chairs. A few chairs.
• With uncountable nouns: much, little, a great deal of. Much furniture. A little furniture.
• With both: some, any, no, all, a lot of. Some chairs. Some furniture.

Remember too that how many is used for countable nouns and how much for uncountable ones: How many chairs do you need? How much furniture do you have?

Less or fewer?

A traditional rule says to use fewer with countable nouns and less with uncountable ones: fewer chairs, less furniture. Careful writers still follow it, and teachers often ask for it. The reference article notes that less has long been used with countable nouns as well, so the rule is disputed in everyday speech. In an exam or a formal report, follow the traditional rule. In casual speech, you will hear both.

The usual suspects

Some uncountable nouns are famously hard for learners because the same word is countable in many other languages. These are always uncountable in standard English:

• advice: She gave me some good advice. (not an advice or advices)
• information: I need more information.
• furniture: They bought new furniture.
• luggage and baggage: Her luggage was lost.
• homework: I have a lot of homework.
• equipment: The gym has modern equipment.
• news: The news is good. (it looks plural but takes a singular verb)
• research and evidence: There is strong evidence for this.
• weather: The weather is nice.

Many have a countable cousin that names one instance: a piece of advice, a fact or a detail (for information), a suggestion, a job (for work), a trip (for travel). Learning the pair is useful. Travel is the activity (uncountable), and a trip is one journey (countable).

How to count the uncountable

When you want to count something that is uncountable, use a unit word. English has a large set.

• a piece of advice, two pieces of advice
• a piece of furniture
• a loaf of bread, a slice of bread
• a glass of water, a bottle of water
• a bit of news
• an item of luggage

Foods and drinks work this way too, which brings us back to lettuce. A head of lettuce and a leaf of lettuce both count the uncountable mass.

Nouns that can be both

Many nouns switch, and the switch changes the meaning slightly.

• Lettuce. Wiktionary lists it as both countable and uncountable. As a countable noun it means the plant, so you can say two lettuces. As an uncountable noun it means the leaves eaten as a vegetable: Add some lettuce to the salad. The plural is lettuces.
• Coffee. I will have coffee (the drink, uncountable) and I will have two coffees (two cups, countable).
• Chicken. We have three chickens in the garden (animals) and I ate some chicken (meat).
• Paper. I need some paper (material) and She wrote two papers (essays or newspapers).
• Hair. She has long hair (all of it) and There is a hair in my soup (one strand).

A useful way to see this: the uncountable use refers to the stuff, and the countable use refers to a kind, a portion or an individual item.

Common mistakes

• Adding -s to an uncountable noun. Informations and advices are errors. Use information and advice, or add a unit: pieces of advice.
• Using a or an. An advice is wrong. A piece of advice is right.
• Using many with an uncountable noun. Many information is wrong, and much information is right.
• Treating news as plural. The news are bad is wrong. The news is bad.
• Forgetting that meaning can change the type. Experience is uncountable when it means knowledge from doing things (She has a lot of experience) and countable when it means an event (It was a strange experience).

For a related puzzle about which part of speech a word is in a sentence, the parts of speech guide gives quick tests, and the irregular verbs guide covers another part of English where the exceptions repay a little study.

Practice set

Choose the correct option.

1. She gave me (an advice / some advice / advices).
2. How (much / many) furniture do you have?
3. There are (less / fewer) chairs than people.
4. I bought two (lettuce / lettuces) at the market.
5. Add some (lettuce / lettuces) to the salad.
6. The news (is / are) good today.
7. Correct this sentence: I need informations about the course.
8. How would you count advice?

Answers: 1. some advice. 2. much (furniture is uncountable). 3. fewer (chairs are countable). 4. lettuces (two plants). 5. lettuce (the leaves, uncountable). 6. is. 7. I need information about the course. 8. By adding a unit: a piece of advice, two pieces of advice.

Making it stick

Learn each noun with its sentence frame instead of memorizing a list. Write some advice and a piece of advice on the card, not just advice. Review the frames over several days, as described in how spaced repetition works, and after a few weeks the right form will feel natural.

How Wordabulary fits in

Wordabulary finds your level with a placement assessment, then gives you practice and quizzes matched to it. Word pages show example sentences, so you can see how a noun behaves with some, many and a before you use it yourself.