Zählbare und unzählbare Substantive

Countable and uncountable nouns

A noun is countable when it’s possible to combine it with a numeral directly. For example, the word ‘dog’ can be counted with numerals: ‘three dogs’; other words like ‘sand’ cannot: ‘three sands'. When a word cannot be combined directly with a numeral, we say that it is uncountable.

We can only count an uncountable noun with another word between the numeral and the noun: ‘three buckets of sand’.

In German, certain expressions combine better with countable nouns, while others combine better with uncountable ones Usually countable nouns pluralize.

Countable noun(zählbares Substantiv)	Uncountable noun (unzählbares Substantiv)
Er hat viele Hunde gesehen. (He had many dogs.)	Er hatte viel Macht. (He had much power.)
Wir haben wenige Bücher. (We have few books.)	Wir haben wenig Zeit. (We have little time.)
Sie hat mehr Häuser als du. (She has more houses than you.)	Sie hat mehr Butter als du. (She has more butter than you.)
Wie viele Computer hast du? (How many computers do you have?)	Wie viel Geld hast du? (How much money do you have?)
Ihr habt ein Handy auf dem Boden gesehen. (You saw a cell phone on the floor.)	Ihr habt eine Lache Wasser auf dem Boden gesehen. (You saw a pool of water on the floor.)

Although the countability feature of German nouns coincides with English nouns, some nouns have different countability types. The noun ‘hair’ is usually translated in German in the plural form ‘Haare’: ‘I had my hair cut.’ and ‘Ich habe mir die Haare schneiden lassen.’ Solve the exercises to master the countable and uncountable nouns!