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Definition of research

 (Entry 1 of 2)

Definition of research  (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

intransitive verb

• disquisition
• examination
• exploration
• inquisition
• investigation
• delve (into)
• inquire (into)
• investigate
• look (into)

Examples of research in a Sentence

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'research.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Middle French recerche , from recercher to go about seeking, from Old French recerchier , from re- + cerchier, sercher to search — more at search

1577, in the meaning defined at sense 3

1588, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Phrases Containing research

• marketing research
• market research
• operations research
• oppo research

research and development

• research park
• translational research

Dictionary Entries Near research

Cite this entry.

“Research.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/research. Accessed 26 Apr. 2024.

Kids Definition

Kids definition of research.

Kids Definition of research  (Entry 2 of 2)

More from Merriam-Webster on research

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Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about research

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What does the noun research mean?

There are seven meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun research , three of which are labelled obsolete. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

How common is the noun research ?

How is the noun research pronounced, british english, u.s. english, where does the noun research come from.

Earliest known use

The earliest known use of the noun research is in the late 1500s.

OED's earliest evidence for research is from 1577, in ‘F. de L'Isle’'s Legendarie .

research is apparently formed within English, by derivation; modelled on a French lexical item.

Etymons: re- prefix , search n.

Nearby entries

• rescuing, adj. 1574–
• resculpt, v. 1926–
• resculpting, n. 1940–
• rescussee, n. 1652–1823
• rescusser, n. 1632–1704
• rese, n. Old English–1600
• rese, v.¹ Old English–1450
• rese, v.² Old English–1582
• reseal, v. 1624–
• resealable, adj. 1926–
• research, n.¹ 1577–
• re-search, n.² 1605–
• research, v.¹ 1588–
• re-search, v.² 1708–
• researchable, adj. 1927–
• research and development, n. 1892–
• researched, adj. 1636–
• researcher, n. 1615–
• researchful, adj. a1834–
• research hospital, n. 1900–
• researching, n. 1611–

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Meaning & use

Pronunciation, compounds & derived words, entry history for research, n.¹.

research, n.¹ was revised in March 2010.

research, n.¹ was last modified in September 2023.

oed.com is a living text, updated every three months. Modifications may include:

• further revisions to definitions, pronunciation, etymology, headwords, variant spellings, quotations, and dates;
• new senses, phrases, and quotations.

Revisions and additions of this kind were last incorporated into research, n.¹ in September 2023.

Earlier versions of this entry were published in:

OED First Edition (1906)

• Find out more

OED Second Edition (1989)

• View research, n.¹ in OED Second Edition

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Citation details

Factsheet for research, n.¹, browse entry.

• Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

Meaning of research in English

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• He has dedicated his life to scientific research.
• He emphasized that all the people taking part in the research were volunteers .
• The state of Michigan has endowed three institutes to do research for industry .
• I'd like to see the research that these recommendations are founded on.
• It took months of painstaking research to write the book .
• absorptive capacity
• dream something up
• modularization
• nanotechnology
• non-imitative
• operational research
• think outside the box idiom
• think something up
• uninventive
• study What do you plan on studying at university?
• major US She majored in philosophy at Harvard.
• cram She's cramming for her history exam.
• revise UK I'm revising for tomorrow's test.
• review US We're going to review for the test tomorrow night.
• research Scientists are researching possible new treatments for cancer.
• The amount of time and money being spent on researching this disease is pitiful .
• We are researching the reproduction of elephants .
• She researched a wide variety of jobs before deciding on law .
• He researches heart disease .
• The internet has reduced the amount of time it takes to research these subjects .
• adjudication
• interpretable
• interpretive
• interpretively
• investigate
• reinvestigate
• reinvestigation
• risk assessment
• run over/through something
• run through something

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Related word

Research | american dictionary, research | business english, examples of research, collocations with research.

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Translations of research

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of or relating to birds

Dead ringers and peas in pods (Talking about similarities, Part 2)

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This tool allows you to find the grammatical word type of almost any word.

• research can be used as a noun in the sense of "Diligent inquiry or examination to seek or revise facts, principles, theories, applications, et cetera; laborious or continued search after truth." or "A particular instance or piece of research."
• research can be used as a verb in the sense of "to search or examine with continued care; to seek diligently." or "to make an extensive investigation into." or "to search again."

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For those interested in a little info about this site: it's a side project that I developed while working on Describing Words and Related Words . Both of those projects are based around words, but have much grander goals. I had an idea for a website that simply explains the word types of the words that you search for - just like a dictionary, but focussed on the part of speech of the words. And since I already had a lot of the infrastructure in place from the other two sites, I figured it wouldn't be too much more work to get this up and running.

The dictionary is based on the amazing Wiktionary project by wikimedia . I initially started with WordNet , but then realised that it was missing many types of words/lemma (determiners, pronouns, abbreviations, and many more). This caused me to investigate the 1913 edition of Websters Dictionary - which is now in the public domain. However, after a day's work wrangling it into a database I realised that there were far too many errors (especially with the part-of-speech tagging) for it to be viable for Word Type.

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What Is a Noun? | Definition, Types & Examples

A noun is a word that represents a person, thing, concept, or place. Most sentences contain at least one noun or pronoun . For example, the sentences below contain anywhere from one to three nouns.

June is my favourite month .

Nouns are one of the main types of words in English, along with other parts of speech such as verbs. They are often, but not always, preceded by an article (‘the’, ‘a’, or ‘an’) or other determiner.

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Table of contents

How are nouns used in sentences, nouns vs pronouns, common vs proper nouns, countable vs uncountable nouns, concrete vs abstract nouns.

• Collective nouns

Other types of nouns

Frequently asked questions about nouns.

A complete sentence usually consists of at least a subject and a verb . The subject describes some person or thing, and the verb describes an action carried out by the subject.

In most cases, the subject is a noun or a pronoun. So the most basic role for a noun is to act as the subject for a verb that follows it.

David went out.

Nouns and pronouns can also play the role of object in a sentence. An object usually comes after the verb and represents something or someone that is affected by the action described. Objects can be direct or indirect:

• The direct object is someone or something that is directly acted upon by the verb.
• The indirect object is someone or something that receives the direct object.

Please give Jeremy some bread .

Noun phrases

When analysing sentence structure, it’s common to refer to noun phrases . A noun phrase is a noun or pronoun in combination with all the words that belong with it in the sentence, such as any articles, adjectives, or other determiners that modify the noun.

A noun phrase can consist of the noun or pronoun alone or of a much longer series of words (always including at least one noun or pronoun).

The boa constrictor is a well-known species of snake .

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Pronouns are a much smaller set of words (such as ‘I’, ‘she’, and ‘they’) that are used in a similar way to nouns. They are primarily used to stand in for a noun that has already been mentioned or to refer to yourself and other people.

Like nouns, pronouns can function as the head of a noun phrase and as the subject or object of a verb. You can have a complete sentence consisting of just a pronoun and a verb (e.g., ‘He walks.’), just as you could with a noun (‘Jack walks.’).

Unlike nouns, some pronouns (mainly the personal pronouns ) change their forms depending on the grammatical context they’re used in. For example, the first-person pronoun is ‘I’ when it’s used as a subject and ‘me’ when it’s used as an object, whereas a noun like ‘dog’ would look the same in both cases.

Have you ever met them before?

That is beside the point.

An important distinction is made between two types of nouns, common nouns and proper nouns.

• Common nouns are more general. A common noun refers to a class of person, place, thing, or concept, but not to someone or something specific.
• Proper nouns are the names of specific people, places, things, or concepts. They are always capitalised to distinguish them from common nouns.

Another important distinction is between countable and uncountable nouns :

• Countable nouns (also called count nouns ) refer to things that can be counted. They can be preceded by an indefinite article or a number, and they can be pluralised. Most nouns are countable (e.g., ‘fact(s)’).
• Uncountable nouns (also called noncount nouns or mass nouns ) refer to things that can’t be counted. They should never be preceded by an indefinite article or a number, and they cannot be pluralised (e.g., ‘information’).

A common mistake in English is treating uncountable nouns as if they were countable by pluralising them or using an indefinite article. The solution to these problems is usually to rephrase using a related term or phrase that is countable.

• My previous two researches indicated that …
• My previous two studies indicated that …
• It’s important to account for bias in a research .
• It’s important to account for bias in research.
• It’s important to account for bias in a research project.

A distinction is often made between concrete nouns and abstract nouns.

• Concrete nouns refer to physical objects, places, or individuals: things or people that can be observed with the senses, such as ‘apple’, ‘hill’, ‘zebra’, and ‘Dorothy’.
• Abstract nouns refer to concepts, ideas, feelings, and processes that can’t be physically located, such as ‘grammar’, ‘justice’, ‘sadness’, and ‘relaxation’.

There’s no grammatical difference between concrete and abstract nouns – it’s just a distinction that’s made to point out the different kinds of things nouns can refer to.

A collective noun is a word used to refer to a group of people or things, such as ‘team’, ‘band’, or ‘herd’. A collective noun can also be a proper noun – for example, the name of a specific company or band.

A collective noun may appear to be singular (e.g., ‘team’) or plural (e.g., ‘The Beatles’) in form, and there’s some disagreement about whether they should be treated as singular or plural grammatically. The following applies for US vs. UK English .

• In US English , it’s standard to treat collective nouns as singular, regardless of whether they look plural or not.
• In UK English , the same words may be treated as plural or singular depending on the context – for example, treated as plural when you’re emphasising the individual members of the group, singular when you’re emphasising the overall collective.

A gaggle of geese is the most threatening thing you’re likely to encounter at the park.

There are many nouns in English (more than any other part of speech), and accordingly many ways of forming nouns and using them. Some other important types of nouns are:

• Possessive nouns
• Attributive nouns
• Appositive nouns
• Generic nouns

A possessive noun is a noun that’s followed by an apostrophe (’) and the letter ‘s’ to indicate possession (e.g., ‘my father’s house’).

To indicate possession with a plural noun that ends in ‘s’, you just add the apostrophe after the ‘s’, and don’t add an extra ‘s’ (e.g., ‘my parents’ house’).

A gerund is a noun that is identical to the present participle (the ‘-ing’ form) of a verb. These are typically nouns that describe the same activity as the verb they were formed from, such as ‘driving’, formed from the present participle of ‘drive’.

Attributive nouns are nouns that are used like adjectives, to modify another noun. For example, ‘company’ is an attributive noun in the phrase ‘company policy’.

Even though attributive nouns work similarly to adjectives, they’re still classed as nouns. This is because they don’t fulfill all the requirements of adjectives. For example, they have to appear before the noun – it wouldn’t make sense to say ‘a policy that is company’.

An appositive noun (or appositive noun phrase) is a noun that comes after another noun to provide additional information about it.

If the appositive provides essential information (i.e., it wouldn’t be clear who or what you are referring to without it), it’s written without any extra punctuation. If it provides extra information that is not essential, it’s surrounded by commas .

A generic noun is a noun that is used to refer to a whole class of things (or people, places, etc.). They can be plural or singular, and they may appear with a definite article, an indefinite article, or no article.

The same noun may be used generically in some contexts and not others. For example, it would be equally possible to use the nouns in the sentences below in a non-generic way (e.g., ‘the people I know best are my brothers’; ‘my father operated a printing press’).

A noun is a word that represents a person, thing, concept, or place (e.g., ‘John’, ‘house’, ‘affinity’, ‘river’). Most sentences contain at least one noun or pronoun .

Nouns are often, but not always, preceded by an article (‘the’, ‘a’, or ‘an’) and/or another determiner such as an adjective.

There are many ways to categorize nouns into various types, and the same noun can fall into multiple categories or even change types depending on context.

Some of the main types of nouns are:

• Common nouns and proper nouns
• Countable and uncountable nouns
• Concrete and abstract nouns

Pronouns are words like ‘I’, ‘she’, and ‘they’ that are used in a similar way to nouns . They stand in for a noun that has already been mentioned or refer to yourself and other people.

Pronouns can function just like nouns as the head of a noun phrase and as the subject or object of a verb. However, pronouns change their forms (e.g., from ‘I’ to ‘me’) depending on the grammatical context they’re used in, whereas nouns usually don’t.

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• Abstract Noun | Definition, Examples & Worksheet
• Appositive | Examples, Definition & Punctuation
• Concrete Noun | Definition, Examples & Worksheet
• Demonstrative Pronouns | Definition, List & Examples
• Emphatic Pronouns | Examples, Definition & List
• First-Person Pronouns | List & Explanation
• Gerund | Definition, Form & Examples
• How to Tell If a Noun Is Countable or Uncountable | Examples
• Indefinite Pronouns | Definition, Examples & List
• Interrogative Pronouns | Definition, Examples & List
• Personal Pronouns | Definition, List & Examples
• Possessive Noun | Examples, Definition & Worksheet
• Possessive Pronouns | Examples, Definition & List
• Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement | Examples & Tips
• Reflexive Pronouns | Examples, Definition & List
• Relative Pronouns | Definition, List & Examples
• Second-Person Pronouns | List, Examples & Explanation
• Singular They | Usage, Examples & History
• Subject & Object Pronouns | Definition & Examples
• Third-Person Pronouns | List, Examples & Explanation
• What Is a Collective Noun? | Examples & Definition
• What Is a Common Noun? | Definition & Examples
• What Is a Plural Noun? | Examples, Rules & Exceptions
• What Is a Pronoun? | Definition, Types & Examples
• What Is a Proper Noun? | Definition & Examples

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Definition of research verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

• research (something) to research a topic/subject
• She's in New York researching her new book (= finding facts and information to put in it) .
• They began researching potential buyers for their product.
• The book has been meticulously/exhaustively/thoroughly researched .
• They spent days researching in the school library.
• research how, what, etc… We have to research how the product will actually be used.
• The site offers basic tips on how to research a topic.
• Students must research their chosen topic and write a dissertation.
• She spent several months researching the subject.
• She researches the history of experimental film.
• He researched the history of colonial Brazil to produce the exhibition.
• He is currently researching a biography of the writer Laurence Sterne.
• While researching this article, I discovered some fascinating facts.
• If you know what treatments are available then you can research your options.
• We spent months researching the feasibility of the idea.
• This meticulously researched volume was worth the wait.
• Everything in the film has been exhaustively researched, from the uniforms and guns down to the underwear the soldiers wear.
• The article was extensively researched, with the authors talking to hundreds of teenagers.
• This searing documentary about the atrocities of war is painstakingly researched but hard to watch.
• The book has been poorly researched.
• The experience of being a personal carer has been well researched.
• She spent some time researching what gaps there were in the childcare market.
• I researched how deaf people relate to music.
• Scientists are still researching whether or not booster shots will be needed after the initial inoculation.
• I spent two years carefully researching into his background.
• I have been researching on the internet.
• We can help you research more effectively online.
• He was researching for his thesis on Indian railways.
• exhaustively
• extensively

Definitions on the go

Look up any word in the dictionary offline, anytime, anywhere with the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.

Nouns are an all-star team of words and always have a player ready to step up to the plate, no matter the challenge. Common nouns, proper nouns, abstract nouns, and concrete nouns are our go-to nouns but there are many types of nouns ready to get in the game. To learn the difference between all these nouns, use this guide to link to in-depth articles about each type of noun.

What is a noun ?

A noun is a word that refers to a person, place, or thing. The category of “things” may sound super vague, but in this case it means inanimate objects, abstract concepts, and activities. Phrases and other parts of speech can also behave like nouns and can be the subject in a sentence, as in Jogging is a fun exercise . Here, the verb jogging acts like a noun and is the subject of the sentence.

Different types of nouns

1) common nouns.

Common nouns are words that refer to undefined or generic people, places, or things. For example, the country is a common noun that refers to a generic place while the word Canada is not a common noun because it refers to a specific place. Common nouns are only capitalized when they begin sentences or are used in the names or titles of something, as in Grand Canyon or Iron Man.

• common nouns: house, cat, girl, foot, country

2) Proper nouns

Proper nouns help distinguish a specific person, place, or thing. These words should be capitalized. The names and titles of things are always proper nouns, such as the brand name Starbucks and the personal name Jenny.

• proper nouns: Spain, Fido, Sony

3) Singular nouns

Singular nouns are nouns that refer to only one person, place or thing. For example, a cat is one animal and a banana is one fruit.

• singular nouns: house, cat, girl, foot, country

4) Plural nouns

A  plural   noun refers to more than one of something. Many singular nouns just need an S added at the end to make them plural (e.g.,  bee becomes bees ). For some nouns that already end with an S , you may need to add -es to the end to make their plural forms (e.g.,  classes and buses ). Some singular nouns also change spelling when made plural (e.g. countries and babies ).

• regular plural nouns: houses, cats, girls, countries

Not all nouns follow this pattern. Those that become plural in other ways are called irregular plural nouns . Some examples are man and men , wolf and wolves , foot and feet , and sheep and …  sheep.

• irregular plural nouns: person and people life and lives mouse and mice tooth and teeth

5) Concrete nouns

A concrete noun is something that can be perceived through the five senses. If you can see, hear, touch, taste, or smell something, it uses a concrete noun.

• concrete nouns: table, apple, rabbit, ear

6) Abstract nouns

Abstract nouns are intangible ideas that can’t be perceived with the five senses, such as social concepts, political theories, and character traits. For example, the abstract noun anger refers to an emotion and the abstract noun courage refers to a quality a person has.

• abstract nouns: love, creativity, democracy

7) Collective nouns

A collective noun  is a noun that functions as a singular noun while referring to a group of people or things. A collective noun refers to a group that functions as one unit or performs the same action at the same time. For example: the team plays in the main gym.

• collective nouns: crowd, flocks, committee, a sum of money

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8) compound nouns.

A compound noun combines two or more words into one. Compound nouns can appear as a single word, multiple words used separately, or words connected by hyphens.

• compound nouns: dry-cleaning, jack-in-the-box, toothpaste, haircut, output, ice cream, potato chip

9) Countable nouns

A countable noun (also known as a count noun ) is one that you can count. When you have three books or 10 pennies , you are describing a noun that is countable.

• countable nouns: table, apple, rabbit, ear

10) Uncountable nouns

An uncountable noun (also known as a mass noun ) is one that cannot be counted. For example, happiness cannot be counted. You don’t say that you have “a happiness” or “three happinesses.” Uncountable nouns typically don’t have plural forms.

• uncountable nouns: salt, seafood, luggage, advice

Nouns make up the majority of the English language. More nouns appear every year as people come up with new ideas, media, and technologies. However, a noun’s basic function never changes. It is a person, place, or thing, and it may be one or more of the types of nouns that we all know and love.

Nouns are great, but when you’re looking for clarity in writing, punctuation marks do the work! Learn about the major ones here.

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Introduction to nouns.

• Identifying nouns
• Introduction to singular and plural nouns
• Singular and plural nouns

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Types of Noun

The nine types of noun.

Table of Contents

Common Nouns and Proper Nouns

The nine types of common noun, more detail about the types of noun, (1) abstract nouns, (2) concrete nouns, (3) collective nouns, (4) compound nouns, (5) gender-specific nouns, (6) gerunds, (7) non-countable nouns (mass nouns), (8) countable nouns, (9) verbal nouns, noun phrases and noun clauses, video lesson.

• common nouns (e.g., man, dog, city)
• proper nouns (e.g., Simon, Bonzo, Paris)
• car, man, bridge, town, water, metal, ammonia
• Michael, Africa, Peking, The Tower of London, Uncle George, The Red Lion

(1) Abstract nouns

• fear, anger, comfort

(2) Concrete nouns

• gerbil, igloo, zoo

(3) Collective nouns

• team, gang, choir

(4) Compound nouns

• mother-in-law, bus stop, snowman

(5) Gender-specific nouns

• lady, boy, waiter
• singing, talking, thinking

(7) Non-countable nouns

• milk, water, patience

(8) Countable nouns

• coin, note, robot

(9) Verbal nouns

• development, drawing, attack
• abbey, banjo, camel, daughter, eclipse, fawn, gerbil, hatchet, igloo, jackal, kangaroo, locket, monsoon, nuts, owl, palm, quill, raspberries, sea, tavern, usher, vulture, wasps, xylophone, yacht, zoo
• band, board, choir, class, company, congregation, crew, crowd, gang, horde, jury, mob, group, pack, party, team, tribe, bunch, cluster, fleet, range, gaggle, herd, hive, school, shoal, pride, swarm, tribe

• mother-in-law
• forget-me-not
• black market
• board of members
• washing machine
• actor, boy, brother, emperor, father, gentleman, grandfather, grandson, headmaster, husband, man, master, mister, nephew, prince, son, steward, uncle, waiter, wizard
• actress, aunt, daughter, empress, girl, granddaughter, grandmother, headmistress, lady, lioness, lioness, madam, mistress, mother, niece, princess, princess, sister, stewardess, stewardess, tigress, tigress, waitress, waitress, wife, witch, woman
• Running the tap will clear the air pocket.
• She is known for talking quietly.
• My highlight was visiting New York.
• I like baking .
• I need some baking powder.
• She was baking a cake.
• The quick development of the process is essential.
• Quickly developing the process is essential.
• aardvark, backbone, coin, daffodil, eagle, face, gorilla, house, igloo, jaguar, koala, log, man, note, orange, package, queen, robot, suitcase, table, udder, vacation, waltz, xylophone, yacht, zombie
• I am responsible for the funny drawing of the monster.
• I am responsible for drawing the funny monster.
• Noun Phrase . A noun phrase is a group of two or more words that is headed by a noun. For example:
• How much is the doggy in the window ?
• Noun Clause . A noun clause is a clause (i.e., a group of words with its own subject and verb) that plays the role of a noun. For example:
• Whatever you wish is my command.
• How much is he ?
• It is my command.

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• Writing Tips

What’s the Plural of Research?

2-minute read

• 22nd March 2022

Research is an example of a mass noun (also known as an uncountable noun or a non-count noun ). Mass nouns can cause confusion, especially if English isn’t your first language , because they aren’t pluralized like most other nouns. In this post, we’ll explain how to use research correctly in your writing . 

Research: Detailed Study

Research means the systematic study of a subject . Regardless of how much study you’re referring to, you should always use the singular form of this noun :

The research is conclusive.

The team did a great deal of research.

We cannot draw conclusions without further research .

It’s very rare for research to take the plural form. So, if you were to write “researches” in an essay or paper , it would look like a mistake. If you want to be specific about the amount of research done, we suggest using a countable noun that can be pluralized instead:

A study / 16 studies

An investigation / two investigations

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An analysis / several analyses

Alternatively, you can combine research with a countable noun:

Three separate research programs were carried out.

I did four pieces of research .

In these examples, research is still written in the singular form, but programs and pieces are plural because we’re referring to more than one of them.

Summary: What’s the Plural of Research?

Research is an example of a mass noun, and you should always write it in the singular form. There’s also a plural form (researches), but it’s very uncommon, and if you use it in your writing, it could look like a mistake.

If you need more help with spelling or word use, check out our blog for more writing tips. If you want an expert to check your writing for errors, our proofreading team is always available. You can even send us your first 500 words to be proofread for free .

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What is the Plural of Research?

What is the plural form of the word "research"? The plural form (meaning multiples) of the base word "research" is "Researches." Nouns can identify places, people, animals, and other things. They are the basic materials required to construct sentences. There are different types of nouns , including proper nouns , common nouns , compound nouns , collective nouns , abstract nouns , and countable and uncountable nouns.

What is the plural of Research?

The plural form of the word "research" is "Researches". Forming plural nouns can be difficult. To form the plural form of the word, you'll base it on the last letter or last two letters of the singular word form.

The word "research" is considered a countable and/or uncountable noun . This is different than a common noun .

Sentence examples for the plural of "Research"

• Example 1: There are multiple Researches.
• Example 2: I can see multiple Researches.
• Example 3: Over there could be more Researches.

For more examples, see the definition of the word research .

My experience with plural forms...

When it comes to plural forms, I was always confused! Just like you, I would be looking up the singular words plural formation...

Here are some really simple tricks that helps me remember plural forms:

• Did you know that most plurals are formed by adding an -s to the end of the word? Yes!
• If the noun ends in a consonant plus "–y," form the plural by swapping the "–y" for "–ies."
• If the noun ends in "–ch," "-s," "-sh," "-x," or "-z," form the plural by adding "–es."

Fact checked: Content is rigorously reviewed by a team of qualified and experienced fact checkers. Fact checkers review articles for factual accuracy, relevance, and timeliness. Learn more.

About the author

Dalia Y.: Dalia is an English Major and linguistics expert with an additional degree in Psychology. Dalia has featured articles on Forbes, Inc, Fast Company, Grammarly, and many more. She covers English, ESL, and all things grammar on GrammarBrain.

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What are countable and uncountable nouns?  - Easy Learning Grammar

• whether or not the noun gives us information about  singular  and  plural number .
• the other words that can be used in the same noun phrase.
• things that are not normally thought of as countable.
• qualities or abstract ideas.
• Verbal nouns, which are formed from the present participle of verbs, can also be used as uncountable nouns.

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