Countable Meaning
/ˈkaʊn.tə.bəl/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjCapable of being counted; having a quantity.
adjFinite or countably infinite; having a one-to-one correspondence (bijection) with a subset of the natural numbers.
Sentence Examples
"Apple" is a countable noun, so it makes grammatical sense to have five apples.
"Happiness" is not a countable noun. It would make no sense to have 18 happinesses.
The indefinite article is used before countable nouns.
CEFR Practice Quiz
In grammar, a ____ noun can be used with numbers and has a plural form.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
In English grammar, nouns like "chair" and "book" are ____, meaning they can be pluralized and used with numbers.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English countable, equivalent to count (“to enumerate”) + -able.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"In these extracts the word abuse is used in the sense of ‘an individual piece of invective’ or ‘an abusive comment’ and is clearly a countable noun."
— 2014, James Lambert, “Diachronic stability in Indian English lexis”, in World Englishes, page 112:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
In grammar, a ____ noun can be used with numbers and has a plural form.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
In English grammar, nouns like "chair" and "book" are ____, meaning they can be pluralized and used with numbers.