Many English learners have problems with countable and uncountable nouns.

Sometimes the noun 'experience' is countable and sometimes it's uncountable.

Here is a short explanation that may help you to decide when to use the countable or the uncountable noun.

The word experience is also a verb, but the information below just applies to the nouns.

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THE NOUN EXPERIENCE – COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE

Experience (noun - countable)

* something that you have done or that has happened to you
* something personally encountered, undergone, or lived through
* a particular event, action, incident or incidents that affects one or more persons.

- I had an unpleasant experience at the dentist's office.
- I enjoyed hearing about his experiences in Africa.
- It was interesting hearing about his experiences as a policeman.
- I did meet him once and it was an experience I shall never forget.
- Fighting in the war was an experience that would haunt him for the rest of his life.
- A tour of Australia is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
- I know from past experience that you can’t judge someone by their appearance.
- I had a really strange experience last week.

Experience (noun - uncountable/non-countable)

* the process of getting knowledge or skill or becoming familiar with something from doing, seeing, or feeling things.
* acquired knowledge from what you have done, or seen, or learnt.
* knowledge and skill that is gained through time spent doing a job or activity
* the length of time that you have spent doing something such as a particular job
* the process of doing and seeing things and of having things happen to you
* the knowledge and understanding that you get from life and from being in a lot of different situations

- You don’t need any experience to work here.
- We would like to find someone with more experience.
- She has business and teaching experience
- Some applicants have limited experience
- Some applicants have considerable/extensive experience
- The best way to learn is by experience.
- Do you have any experience working with kids? (Did you ever work with them?)
- The best way to learn is by experience. (… by doing things).
- I know from experience that Tony never keeps his promises. (Knowledge)
- I don’t think she has the experience for this job. (… Doesn’t have enough knowledge or skill)
- In my experience, people generally smile back if you smile at them. (Seeing/observing)
- The experience of pain (what pain feels like) varies from one person to another.
- Do you have any experience of working internationally? (Skill gained by doing something).
- The new job will provide you with invaluable experience.
- We need someone who has experience in marketing and sales.
- He has experience in repairing computers. (… gained by taking courses and/or doing work)

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• "Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes" [Oscar Wilde]
• “Experience is the best teacher”