Countable vs. Uncountable Nouns - Countable Nouns - English (General Studies) - NDLA

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Countable vs. Uncountable Nouns

Written by: Sonja Nygaard Joki, Karin D. Løken and Per Lysvåg.
Last updated 21.10.2022

Countable Nouns

CC BY-SA 4.0

Nouns which refer to things we can count are countable.

The plural of a countable noun is formed by adding the ending (e)s:
Stamp-stamps, temperature- temperatures, idea- ideas, refugee-refugees, church-churches

If the noun ends in a –y with a consonant in front, the -y is turned into -ie in the plural:
Country-countries, territory-territories. But: day- days

These nouns with an -o at the end have es in the plural: cargo-cargoes, domino-dominoes, echo-echoes, embargo-embargoes, hero-heroes, potato-potatoes, tomato-tomatoes, torpedo-torpedoes, veto-vetoes.