DEFINITE AND INDEFINITE ARTICLES

PLURAL OF NOUNS

DEFINITE ARTICLE
'The' is used:

1. to refer to something which is known by the two interlocutors:

Example: ‘Where is the bathroom?’
‘At the first floor.’
2. to refer to objects we regard as unique:
Examples: the sun, the moon, the world
3. before superlatives and ordinal numbers:
Examples: the highest building, the lowest price, the first page
4. with adjectives, to refer to a whole group of people:
Examples: The Japanese are very hard working people.
They are going to build shelters for the poor.
5. with names of geographical areas and oceans:
Example: Have you ever crossed the Atlantic?
6. with decades, or groups of years:
Example: He grew up in the seventies.
EXCEPTIONS TO USING THE DEFINITE ARTICLE
There is no article:
 with names of countries (if singular)
Germany is an important economic power.
(But: I'm visiting the United States next week.)
 with the names of languages
French is spoken in Tahiti.
What do you like better, Italian or French?
 with the names of meals.
Where are you having dinner tonight?
 with people's names (if singular):
Caroline is not coming to the party.
(But: We're having lunch with the Smiths tomorrow.)
 with titles and names:
Prince Charles is Queen Elizabeth's son.
Dr. Swan is one of the best-known surgeons in town.
(But: the Queen of England, the Pope.)
 with professions:
Engineering used to be a useful career once.
She will go into teaching after she graduates.
 with names of shops:
I'll get the card at Smith's.
Can you go to Harrods’s for me?
  With uncountable nouns:
Milk is often added to tea in England.
War is destructive.
 with the names of individual mountains, lakes and islands:
Mount Saint Michel has a very interesting story.
Have you visited Long Island?
 with most names of towns, streets, stations and airports:
Saint Lazar Station is in Paris.
Can you direct me to Bond Street?
He is flying from Băneasa.
 in some fixed expressions, for example:
by car at school
by train at work
by air at University
on foot in church
on holiday in prison
on air (in broadcasting) in bed

INDEFINITE ARTICLE
A / AN
Use 'a' with nouns starting with a consonant and an with nouns starting with a vowel.
NOTE:
An before an h mute - an hour, an honor.
A before u and eu when they sound like 'you': a European, a university, a unit
The indefinite article is used:
 to refer to a particular member of a group or class
Examples:
 with names of jobs:
I am a teacher.
What does Mrs. Stevens do?
She is a doctor.
 with nationalities and religions:
Mr. Scot is a Canadian.
Kate is a Catholic and her boy friend is an Orthodox.
 with names of days:
She was born on a Tuesday , on the 13th of November.
 with singular nouns, after the words 'what' and 'such':
What a shame!
He's such an annoying character.
 meaning 'one', referring to a single object or person:
The thief took a diamond necklace and a valuable painting.

Notice also that we usually say a hundred, a thousand, a million.

THE PLURAL OF NOUNS

Generally, the nouns make the plural by adding an –s.

 plan – plans; student – students; manager – managers

A noun ending in –y preceded by a consonant makes the plural with –ies.

a fly – flies; a city – cities; a lady – ladies
A noun ending in –o makes the plural with –es.
potato – potatoes; tomato –tomatoes
Exception: radio – radios
A noun ending in –f or –fe transforms its termination in –ves.
wife – wives; life – lives; leaf – leaves; knife – knives
There are some irregular formations for noun plurals:
man – men woman – women child – children
foot – feet tooth – teeth mouse – mice
ox – oxen goose – geese die - dice
Some nouns of foreign origin have a special plural:
basis – bases crisis – crises analysis – analyses
thesis – theses parenthesis – parentheses hypothesis – hypotheses
datum – data erratum – errata phenomenon – phenomena
criterion – criteria stratum – strata oasis – oases

Some nouns have a plural form but take a singular verb.

News is good. They have accepted you to be part of their team.
Athletics is good for young people.
Mathematics was very difficult of me at school.
Darts is a popular game in England.
Billiards is played all over the world.

Some nouns have a plural form and take a plural verb: customs, congratulations, tropics,
wages, spectacles, outskirts, goods, wits, etc.
All her savings are in the Romanian Savings Bank.
My jeans are black.
Those spectacles are not mine.

COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

Countable nouns are for things we can count. They usually have a singular and plural form.
Example: a shop – two shops; the secretaries; a few ideas;
Uncountable nouns are for the things that we cannot count. They are often the names for
abstract ideas or qualities.
Example: advice, furniture, anger, sugar, tea, water, air, iron, money, fear, luggage, etc.
We cannot use a/an with these nouns. To express a quantity of one of these nouns, use a
word or expression like:
some, a lot of, a piece of, a bit of, a great deal of, an item of...
Examples:
 Could you give me some information about the profile of this job?
 Go and buy three loaves of bread from the baker’s.
 He gave me a great deal of advice before my interview.
 She has got a lot of valuable furniture.
 I would like a bit of milk in my tea, please.
 I haven’t got any item of knowledge concerning statistics.

Some nouns are countable in other languages but uncountable in English. Some of the
most common of these are:
accommodation news
advice progress
baggage traffic
behavior travel
bread trouble
furniture weather
information work
luggage

POSSESIVES

Possessive pronouns and possessive adjectives show whom the thing belongs to.

Persona Possessive Possessive

l adjective pronoun
pronoun
I my mine
you your yours
he his his
she her hers
it its its
we our ours
they their theirs

NOTE: In English, possessive adjectives and pronouns refer to the possessor, not the
object or person that is possessed.
Examples of possessive adjectives:
Jack has a brand new BMW. This is his car.
My sister has inherited a splendid condo. That is her condo.
Haven’t you met my wife yet?
Of course I’ve met your wife.
Examples of possessives pronouns:
‘Can I borrow your stapler? I can’t find mine.’
‘I can see two white Alfa Romeo. Which one is yours?’