GRAMATICA INGLESA I

TYPES OF NOUNS:

Nouns can be grouped into a small number of classes which differ in meaning and
grammatical behaviour. The first distinction is between common and proper nouns. Common
nouns can be either countable or uncountable.

Countable nouns refer to entities which can be counted: they have a singular and a plural
and they can also be definite or indefinite signaled by articles: i.e. a cow, the cow; cows,
the cows.

Uncountable nouns refer to something that cannot be counted; they do not vary for
number. They cannot occur with the indefinite article a(n), but they allow a contrast
between definite and indefinite: the milk, milk.

Proper nouns have no contrast for number or definiteness: they are singular and definite
i.e. Sue, Chicago have no options.

common countable common uncountable proper

indefinite definite indefinite definite

singular a cow the cow milk the milk Sue

plural cows the cow ___ ___ ____

Countability is partly a matter of how we view the world rather than how the world really is.
For example furniture and traffic are uncountable nouns in English although they refer to
separate items (e.g. chairs, cars).

Countable nouns refer to persons, objects, places (e.g. student, chair, town)

Uncountable nouns refer to substances, materials, liquids, gases (e.g. steel, water, air)

The same noun can sometimes be both countable and uncountable, but with a difference
of meaning.

I think these are eggs from our new chickens. countable

‘Would you like some chicken for dinner?’ uncountable
‘I think I would like some wine please’ uncountable
The wines of France are famous worldwide. countable

Although it may sound like a contradiction there a few plural uncountable nouns, they
are plural because they have an –s plural ending and they are used with plural determiners but
they have no singular form e.g

She usually wears those awful trousers and clothes she buys second-hand.
‘Do you want these scissors?’
Letters of thanks have been arriving since last week.
 Proper nouns need no articles and have no plurals although sometimes they can have
modifiers which add a descriptive label to someone already known. On some occasions they
can also have possessive determiners.

The doctor said little Harry’s illness could have been prevented.
‘Did I tell you that our Joanie is arriving tomorrow?

When generalizing, the plural is used without an article:

Dolphins are very friendly creatures.

People often worry too much about things that are not really important.

NUMBER IN NOUNS:

Number is the term for the contrast between singular and plural, it affects nouns,
pronouns, determiners and verbs. The number in nouns is usually given by an inflectional suffix.
The overwhelming majority of nouns form the plural by adding the ending (e)s. The
normal spelling is s but:

If the word end in s, z, x, sh or ch the spelling is –es e.g. buses, glasses, foxes, bushes,
watches.

If a singular noun ends in a consonant + y the ending is ies e.g ladies, copies, armies,
flies.

If a singular noun ends in a vowel + y an s is added e.g. days, keys, essays, boys.

If a singular noun ends in o the plural spelling is sometimes –oes e.g. potatoes, volcanoes
and sometimes os e.g. pianos, radios, videos.

There is also a change in the pronunciation of the final s:

/iz/ cases, watches, ashes, bridges, vases, barges

/s/ cats, maps, acts, sticks, steps, myths

/z/ boys, dogs, times, unions, papers, companies

A small number of native words have irregular plurals:

changing the vowel: man-men, woman-women, foot-feet, tooth-teeth, goose-geese,

mouse-mice

adding en: child-children, ox-oxen

f changes to v: calf-calves, wife-wives, knife-knives, leaf-leaves, life-lives, shelf-shelves,
thief-thieves, wolf-wolves. However some add an s: roofs, beliefs, chefs, chiefs, proofs

Some words that are borrowed from Latin and Greek keep their original plural, although often
the regular plural is an alternative:

alumnus-----alumni
curriculum-----curricula
datum----data
crisis----crises
criterion----criteria
syllabus----syllabi
formula----formulae
axis----axes
diagnosis----diagnoses
phenomenon----phenomena

Zero plurals are plural forms that do not change from singular to plural e.g. fish,
salmon, deer, sheep, hundred, dozen, foot, mile (when used as part of a numerical quantity)
aircraft, dice, series, species. They can be used with singular or plural concord.
There are nouns that look singular but are plural: e.g. people, police, staff, cattle
There are others that look plural but are really singular e.g.: news, measles, mumps, checkers,
draughts

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