NOUNS

Nouns are :
-abstract: love, freedom, beauty etc.
-proper: Joe, Europe etc.
-group: family, team, crowd, group etc
-common: chair, hat, boy etc..

Countable/Uncountable nouns
Countable nouns are nouns which we can count. They have singular and
plural forms. We usually form the plural by adding -s.
Spelling-exceptions
1.Nouns ending in -s,-z,-x,-ch,-sh add -es in the plural: bus/buses, glass/glasses,
buzz/buzzes, box/boxes, watch/watches, brush/brushes.
Some of nouns double the final consonant: quiz-quizzes
2. Nouns ending in -o, take -s:
-when ,,O” is preceided by a vowel: kangaroos, radios, studios, zoos.
-with some proper nouns: Filipinos, Neros, Romeos
-in abreviations: kilos, photos, pros
-with some foreign nouns: concertos, pianos, solos, sopranos, etc
Some nouns add -es : echoes, heroes, Negroes, potatoes, tomatoes
Some nouns have two plural forms: mementos-mementoes, volcanos-
volcanoes, zeros-zeroes
3. Nouns ending in -y preceided by a consonant, turn -y in -i and take -es: city-
cities, factory-factories. This rule doesn’t appy:
-after vowels: boy-boys, play-plays
-with proper nouns: The Kennedys
-compound nouns: stand-bys.
4. Letters, numbers and abbreviations form the plural by add an ,,’ ” and -s:
A’s, 1920’s, MP’s
The plural of compound nouns
1. Most of compound nouns take -s at the element: classrooms, forget-me-
nots, grown-ups, horse races,
2. Some compound nouns which are formed of a noun+ a preposition, take
-s to the first element: mothers-in-law, passers-by
3. Nouns in which the first element is ,,man” or ,,woman”, transform the
two elements in the plural: men singers, women-doctors.

Irregular plural
Man-men
Woman-women
Foot-feet
Goose-geese
Tooth-teeth
Mouse-mice
Louse-lice
Ox-oxen; child-children; person-people

Calf-calves, elf-elves, half-halves, knife-knives, leaf-leaves, life-lives, self-

selves, shelf-shelves, thief-thieves, wife-wives, wolf-wolves.
Some nouns ending in -f have regular plural: cliff-cliffs, roof-roofs, safe-
safes.

UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
1. Many types of food: flour, butter, meat, cheese, spaghetti, rice, sugar
etc.
2. Liquids: coffee, lemonade, oil, petrol, wine, water etc
3. Materials: crystal, wood, plastic, wool, silver, glass etc
4. Abstract nouns: knowledge, beauty, justice, freedom, education, love
etc
5. Others: research, luggage, baggage, hair, weather, behaviour, advice,
news, accommodation, information, fun, equipment, litter, rubbish,
furniture, jewellery, money etc
We use the following nouns with uncountable nouns to show
quantity:
-a piece of cake/paper/news/advice/information/furniture
-a glass/bottle of water
-a jar of jam/honey
-a loaf/slice of bread
- a cup of tea
-a kilo of meat
-a tube of toothpaste
 - a bar of chocolate/soap
-a can of soda
-a carton of milk
- a bowl of sugar/soup

Uncountable nouns:
-always take singular verbs: Gold is more expensive than silver.
-do not go with a/an/one/two : Water is good for you.
-can be used alone or with some/any/much/little/the/my
Don’t forget to buy some coffee.

Some nouns can be used as countable or uncountable, with a

difference in meaning.
EG. Would you like a glass of lemonade?
Tina can’t see without her glasses.
The vase is made of glass.

He went to buy a paper.

He wrote my number on a piece of paper.
Don’t forget to bring all the necessary papers.

She has go dark hair.

There is a hair in my soup.

I bought an iron .
This chair is made of iron.

We use singular verb forms with:

a. Nouns which refer to school subjects: economics, physics,
mathematics, politics etc
b. Nouns which refer to sports: gymnastics, athletics etc
c. Nouns which refer to games: billiards, dominoes etc
d. Nouns which refer to illnesses: measles-pojar, mumps-oreion,
rickets-rahitism
e. The word ,,news”: The news isn’t very encouraging.
 f. Plural nouns when we talk about an amount of money, a time period,
weight, distance etc .Eg. Five hunded thousand pounds was donated
to build a new hospital.
g. Group nouns such as: jury, family, team, group, crew, crowd, class,
audience, committee, council, army, club, press, government,
company etc when we mean the group as a unit. But we use plural
verbs when we mean the individuals who make the group.
EG. The jury is ready to give a verdict .(we mean the jury as unit)
The jury are all staying at the Park hotel .(we mean the
individual members of the jury)

We use plural verb forms with:

1. Nouns such as> clothes, people, police, stairs, looks, surroundings,
outskirts, premises, earnings, wages, cattle, etc
Eg. Designer clothes are rather expensive.
2. Nouns which refer to objects that consist of two parts such as>
trousers, binoculars, shorts, shoes, gloves, pyjamas, tights, glasses,
earrings, socks, scissors etc

GENDER OF NOUNS

With some nouns indicating names of person, the gender is expressed through
different words:
Brother-sister
King-queen
Father-mother
Gentleman-lady
Man- woman
Monk-nun
Mr-Miss, Mrs
Nephew-niece
Uncle-aunt

With some nouns, the difference in gender is marked by a suffix:

-we add the suffix -ess to form the feminine from masculine:
Actor-actress
Count-countess
Duke-duchess
Heir-heiress
Host-hostess
Master-mistress
Negro-negress
Prince-princess
Waiter-waitress

-with some nouns, we add the suffix -ine: hero-heroine

-or adding a suffix to the feminine form:
1. -er: widow-widower
2. -groom: bride-bridegroom
Some nouns have the same form for the feminine and masculine: artist, cook,
cousin, doctor, foreigner, friend, guest, inhabitant, musician, neighbour,
parent, professor, person, pupil, relative, speaker, student, teacher, writer.

Gender of animate nouns

1. The nouns for big animals are considered of masculine gender, being
replaced by the pronoun ,,he”: The horse was rather wild at first, but
soon he became more manageable.
2. With some animals, the difference masculine-feminine is formal marked
, situation in which the nouns are replaced by the pronouns ,,he”
or ,,she”: The mare whinnied when she saw her master.
The difference in gender is marked:
-lexically: horse- stallion-mare
Ox- bull-cow
Sheep: ram-ewe
Pig: boar-sow
Deer: stag-hind
-morpologically: lion-lioness, tiger-tigress

Nouns for small animals are considered neutral and are replaced by the
pronoun ,,it”: I saw a frog by the lake. It was big and ugly.
The difference in gender are:
-cock-hen
-Dog-bitch
-drake-duck
-gander-goose

Cock sparrow-hen sparrow

He goat-she goat
Tom cat-she cat
Male frog-female frog
Jack-ass- Jenny-ass