UNIT 2

SINGULAR-PLURAL FORMS
COUNT-NONCOUNT

SINGULAR AND PLURAL

(a) NOUN + -s: Friends are A final –s or –es is added to make a noun plural
important Friend : a singular noun
NOUNS + -es: I like my Friends: a plural noun
classes

SPELLING : FINAL -s vs –es

(b) Song  songs
(c) Glass  glasses
(d) Toy  toys
(d) Baby  babies
For most words (whether a verb or a noun), simply a final –s
is added to spell the word correctly.
Final –es is added to words that ends in –sh, -ch, -s, -z, and –x
For words that end in –y:
In (d): if –y proceeded by a vowel, only –s is added.
In (e): if –y is preceded by a consonant , the –y is changed
into –i and –es is added

IRREGULAR PLURAL NOUNS

(a) man – men mouse – mice The nouns in (a) have irregular plural
child – children foot – feet forms
Some nouns that end in :
(b) echoes (c) photos (d)mosquitoes  –o add –es to form the plural, as in (b)
heroes pianos /mosquitoes  –o add only –s to form in the plural,
potatoes videos volcanoes as in (c)
 –o add either –es or end –s to form
the plural, as in (d)
(e) knife – knives Some nouns that end in :
half- halves  –e or –fe are changed to –ves in the
plural, as in (e) and (f).
(f) belief – beliefs  –f simply add –s to form the plural,
roof- roofs as in (g)and (h).
- Some nouns have the same singular
(g) deer fish means sheep
and plural form (e.g., One deer is…
series species
Two deer are ….)
(h) criterion – criteria cactus – cacti - Some nouns that English has borrowed
formula – formulae basis – bases from other languages have foreign
index – indices datum - data plurals, as in (h).
phenomenon-phenomena thesis-theses
hypothesis-hypotheses crisis-crises
stimulus- stimuli medium-media
curriculum-curricula syllabus-sillabi
COUNT NOUN AND NONCOUNT NOUNS

(a) I bought a chair. Sam bought Chair is a count noun, chairs are items that can
three chairs. be counted
(b) We bought some furniture. Furniture is a noncount noun. In grammar
INCORRECT: We bought a furniture furniture cannot be counted
INCORRECT: We bought some
furnitures
SINGULAR PLURAL
COUNT NOUN a chair chairs A count noun:
one chair two chairs (1) may be preceded by a/an in
some chairs the singular
(2) takes a final –s/-es in the
plural
NONCOUNT furniture A noncount noun:
NOUN some furniture (3) is not immediately preceded
by a/an
(4) has no plural form; does not
take a final –s/-es

NONCOUNT NOUNS

Notice in the following: Most noncount nouns refer to a “whole” that is made up of
different parts
(a) I bought some earrings, necklaces,
rings and bracelets. In other words,
I bought some jewelry.
(b) I put some sugar in my coffee
(c) I wish you luck
(d) Sunshine is warm and cheerful
(e) Ann has brown hair.
(f) Ann has a hair on her jacket.
(g) I opened the curtains to let some
light in.
(h) I turned off the lights before I left
my house.
In (a): jewelry represents a whole group
of things that is made up of similar but
separate items.
In (b): sugar and coffee represent whole
masses made up of individual particles or
elements. To express a particular
quantity, some noncount nouns may be
preceded by unit expressions: e.g. , a
glass of water, a loaf of bread, a piece of
paper, a bowl of soup, etc.
In (c): luck is an abstract concept, an
abstract “whole”. It has no physical form:
you can’t touch it, you can’t count it.
In (d): phenomena of nature, such as
sunshine, are frequently used as
noncount nouns.
Some nouns can be as either count nouns
or noncount nouns, but they have
different meaning, as in (e), (f), (g), and
(h).

NOTE: for more examples of irregular singular-plural nouns and uncountable nouns, see the
appendices.

NOUNS AS MODIFIERS
 (a) The soup has vegetables in it. It is
vegetable soup.
(b) The building has offices in it. It is an office
building.
(c) The test lasted two hours. It was a two-
hour test.
(d) His daughter is seven years old. He has a
seven-year-old daughter.
When a noun is used as a modifier, it is in its
singular form, as in (a) and (b).
When a noun used as a modifier is combined
with a number expression, the noun is
singular and a hyphen (-) is used, as in (c) and
(d).

SOME COMMON NONCOUNT NOUNS

(a) Whole groups made up of similar items:

Baggage, clothing, equipment, food, fruit, furniture, garbage, hardware, jewelry, junk,
luggage, machinery, mail, money,/cash/change, postage, scenery, traffic.
(b) Fluid: water, coffee, milk, oil, blood, gasoline, etc.
(c) Solid: ice, bread, cheese, meat, gold, iron, silver, glass, paper, wood, wool, etc.
(d) Gases: steam, air, oxygen, smoke, pollution, etc.
(e) Particles: rice, chalk, corn, dirt, grass, hair, salt, sugar, etc.
(f) Abstractions: beauty, confidence, education, fun, happiness, advice, time, homework,
work, grammar, vocabulary, energy, etc.
(g) Language: Arabic, Chinese, English, etc.
(h) Fields of study: chemistry, engineering, history, mathematics, etc.
(i) Recreation: baseball, soccer, chess, etc.
(j) General activities: driving, studying, swimming, walking, etc (other gerunds).
(k) Natural phenomena: weather, dew, fog, heat, rain, snow, thunder, wind, light, sunshine,
electricity, fire, gravity, lightning.

A. State whether the statements are correct or incorrect.

1. a. There are many mouses in our house.
b. There are many mice in our house.

2. a. Some churches in our country are old buildings.

b. Some churchs in our country are old buildings.

3. a. I need to buy some furniture for my new apartment.

b. I need to buy some furnitures for my new apartment.

4. a. If you drink too much coffees, you will feel dizzy.

b. If you drink too much coffee, you will feel dizzy.

5. a. Hendra Wijaya is such an honest boy.

b. Hendra Wijaya is such a honest boy.
B. Choose the Correct Answer

1. My scissors sharp enough. I am going to buy a new one.

(A) is not (C) does not
(B) are not (D) do not

2. Long before are able to speak or understand a language, they communicate

through facial expressions and by making noises.
(A) child (C) children
(B) childs (D) childrens

3. The police to interview Fred about robbery.

(A) want (C) wants
(B) are wanting (D) were wanted

4. Mathematics my best subject at school.

(A) is not (C) not does
(B) are not (D) do not

5. The trousers you bought for me fit me.

(A) is not (C) does not
(B) are not (D) do not

6. My hometown has , thunder, fog, sleet, and snow in the winter months.
(A) rains (C) rain
(B) rained (D) raining

7. It would be better to check your if you go to the post office.

(A) mailing (C) mail
(B) mails (D) mailes

8. We are going to cook these on the barbeque.

(A) steak (C) steakes
(B) steakoes (D) steaks

9. usually inherit some characteristics from their father and some from their mother.
(A) childrens (C) children
(B) childes (D) childs

10.There was not much in the pool so we did not swim.

(A) waters (C) watering
(B) water (D) watered

C. Choose the letter of the underlined word that is not correct

1. To make a yummy fruit salad we need some apples, tomatos, water melons, and papayas.
A B C D

2. The informations you gave to the detective was misleading, so you should clarify it soon.
A B C D
3. Organisms that lack hard parts, such as worms and jelly fishes have left a meager
geologic A B C D
record.

4. Homeworks are not only given to the pupils in Junior high school but also to the
children in A B C D
elementary school.

5. Art of colonial America was very functional, consisting mainly of useful objects
such as A B C
furnitures and household utensil.
D

6. George had a good luck when he first came to a state

university. A B C
D

7. In 1959 it was naively predicted that eight or ten computer would be sufficient to
handle A B
all of the scientific and business needs in the United States.
C D

8. After spending most of his life travelling round the world, he is now writing a book about
A B C
his experiences.
D

9. I know I always feel great in bright sunshines, during the summer

months. A B C D

10. I had a pair of knifes on the table, which I was going to use later for
dinner. . A B C
D