Some nouns in English are grammatically countable, while some are noncountable (also called uncountable). These usually make sense if you think about the objects – you can count shoes or books, but you can’t count water or research. Noncountable nouns tend to be physical objects (gases, liquids, small objects) that would be difficult to count (rice, coffee), ideas (information, prosperity), or gerunds and infinitives (swimming, to swim).
Uncountable nouns can be counted with the help of a container noun (three cups of water, three liters of water) or by becoming an adjective of kind or purpose (three research papers, three research projects). Units of measurement can also be used to count noncount nouns (“a liter of water,” “a kilogram of rice”). These two categories of noun also have different quantifiers that correspond to them. and they follow different rules of article use.
Many of the conceptual nouns used in academic writing, such as “research” or “information,” are noncountable. Nouns that end in “-ity” or “-ion” tend to be noncountable. Be careful: although often the countability of nouns makes sense, it may not be the same as in other languages.
| Incorrect | Correct |
| I need to do some researches about this. | I need to do some research about this. |
