 Countable and uncountable nouns Part 2 from espressoenglish.net In the last lesson, you learned about the difference between countable and uncountable nouns. But did you know that some nouns can be countable or uncountable, depending on the situation? For these words, the uncountable form usually refers to the general idea, and the countable form usually refers to a specific item or specific instance. Here are some examples. Chicken is countable when talking about the animal. We have 10 cows and 15 chickens on our farm. Chicken is uncountable when talking about the food. I don't eat much chicken. I prefer fish. Paper is countable when talking about individual documents. I showed my papers to the immigration agent. It's uncountable when talking about paper in general. There's too much paper in the printer. It's causing a jam. The word time is countable when talking about specific moments. We've been to Paris five times. The word time is uncountable when talking about the general concept of time. I'm very busy and I have little free time. Hair is countable when talking about individual strands of hair. I found two hairs in my food at the restaurant, gross. It's uncountable when talking about all your hair. My sister has black hair, not black hairs. Room is countable when talking about specific places in a house, apartment, office, etc. Our apartment has three rooms. Room is uncountable when talking about space in general. I'll make some room for these new books in the bookshelf. Coffee, water, tea, beer, and soda are countable when asking for specific number of these drinks. Could we have two coffees and three waters? They're uncountable when talking about the drink in general. He drinks too much coffee. Thanks for watching English Tips from Espresso English. If you liked this video, please share it.