Nouns can be the subject of a sentence, and every complete sentence requires both a subject and a verb. The verb must change, or conjugate, to agree with the subject.

Before we begin writing sentences, we need to understand what a noun is and how it behaves.

Just like people can be described in more than one way—tall, athletic, musical, creative—nouns also have more than one characteristic. 

In Lesson 1, we learned about concrete nouns and abstract nouns. These nouns can also belong to other classifications, such as countable nouns, uncountable nouns, collective nouns, and double nouns.

Countable Nouns

Countable nouns are nouns you can count. You can say: one, two, three, and so on.

Examples:

• one dog
• two chairs
• three books
• four students

Countable nouns can be singular or plural. In Lesson 4, you will learn how to change singular nouns into plural nouns.

Uncountable Nouns

Uncountable nouns, also called non-count nouns or mass nouns, are nouns you cannot count individually. However, some uncountable nouns can be measured, weighed, or placed into containers to show quantity.

You usually cannot say:

• one rice
• two sugars
• three furnitures

The word furniture is uncountable, so it is not usually made plural.

So, when we use an “of” phrase, we often keep the noun as a mass noun while using a countable container, measurement, or unit to show quantity.

Instead, you can say:

• a bowl of rice
• two teaspoons of sugar
• three pieces of furniture
• a glass of water
• a pound of rice

In these examples, rice, sugar, furniture, and water stay uncountable. The countable words are bowl, teaspoons, pieces, glass, and pound.

Uncountable nouns often name substances, materials, abstract ideas, or categories.

Examples:

• rice
• sugar
• dirt
• tea
• water
• furniture
• coffee
• love
• freedom
• money

The way a noun is used can depend on context. For example, coffee can be uncountable when it refers to the drink in general, but it can become countable when it refers to cups or servings of coffee.

Examples:

• Coffee helps me wake up.

In this sentence, “coffee” refers to the drink in general.

• I ordered two coffees.

In this sentence, “coffees” means two cups of coffee.

• I ordered two cups of coffee.

This keeps “coffee” uncountable and uses “cups” as the countable noun.

Collective Nouns

Collective nouns name a group of people or things that are considered as one whole.

Examples:

• a team
• a choir
• a herd
• a colony
• a crowd
• a deck
• a litter
• a fleet
• a forest

A collective noun can be singular or plural, depending on how many groups there are.

Examples:

• The beehive produces honey.

This sentence refers to one group of bees.

• The six beehives produce honey.

This sentence refers to six groups of bees.

In the first sentence, “beehive” is singular, so the verb is “produces.”

In the second sentence, “beehives” is plural, so the verb is “produce.”

This is why noun classifications matter: the subject and verb must agree.

Collective nouns with “of” Phrases

A prepositional phrase with the preposition “of” often follows collective nouns.

We will study prepositional phrases later. For now, just notice the pattern:

• a forest of trees
• a choir of singers
• a team of players
• a herd of cows
• a colony of bees
• a deck of cards
• a fleet of ships
• a crowd of people
• a litter of kittens

The collective noun comes first. Then the “of” phrase tells us what the group contains.

Double Nouns

Some nouns can be both countable and uncountable, depending on how they are used in a sentence. These are sometimes called double nouns.

A double noun changes from countable to uncountable when its meaning changes.

For example:

• Please, hand me the tea.

In this sentence, tea may refer to a cup of tea.

• Tea is grown in many countries.

In this sentence, tea refers to the substance in general.

Countable Use	Uncountable Use
I ordered two coffees.	Coffee helps me wake up.
She had three experiences abroad.	Experience is important.
We bought two chickens.	We ate chicken for dinner.
He told many truths.	Truth matters.

More Examples:

Double nouns are important because the meaning of the noun affects whether the verb should be singular or plural.

Words of Wisdom

“A wise person knows that silence can be just as powerful as speaking.”