Evidence: Countable or Uncountable? | Mastering Grammar

(Last Updated: 21 October 2024)

Is Evidence Countable or Uncountable?

In general English, evidence is always an uncountable noun. Therefore, it is not used in the plural, and it never comes after the indefinite article an or a number. If you need to talk about a single item of evidence, you can say a piece of evidence:

✅ You need to evaluate the evidence from both sides before making a decision.
❌ You need to evaluate the evidences from both sides before making a decision.

✅ The CCTV footage was used as a piece of evidence in the trial.
❌ The CCTV footage was used as an evidence in the trial.

✅ Let me show you three pieces of evidence.
❌ Let me show you three evidences.

✅ There is a lot of evidence to support the claim.
❌ There are many evidences to support the claim.

✅ There is clear evidence that extensive reading is valuable in language education.
❌ There is a clear evidence that extensive reading is valuable in language education.

✅ The investigator found a vital piece of evidence.
❌ The investigator found a vital evidence.

The entry for the noun evidence (senses 1 and 2) in the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

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Examples from the Media

There's little evidence to suggest that timing has any influence on total sales of a given iPhone model, but the release date has a direct impact on the financial period during which revenue is recorded. —The Washington Post (2022)

The moral crux of the matter is that it is very wrong, and counterproductive to Tony Kevin's professed aim, to simply accuse the Australian government and our armed forces of callously letting 353 people drown with so little evidence or objective argument to support the proposition. —The Sydney Morning Herald (2002)

Williams had been arrested the same day on grand theft auto and burglary charges, and was long thought to be a person of interest in the case but could not be connected by evidence. However, technology from a United Kingdom-based company has now allowed a fingerprint to be identified from a piece of evidence left at the scene. —Daily Mail (2021)

She turns the object over with a twig carefully, in case it's a piece of evidence. —Toronto Star (2018)

Real-World Examples of Misuse

(Source: St. Paul's Convent School, Primary Section)
(Also by the Same School: 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8)

(Source: HKUGA Primary School)
(Also by the Same School: 1/2)