SKBE1003

Nouns
Part 1

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1. Definition
A. the name of a person, place, thing, or idea
B. everything we can see or talk about
C. something we can touch
D. something we cannot touch

Questions
1. Which one can be used to define NOUNS?

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2. Types of Nouns

A. Countable vs Uncountable
Nouns
B. Singular vs Plural Nouns
C. Collective Nouns
D. Possessive Nouns

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 2. Types of Nouns:
A. Countable vs Uncountable
Nouns
B. Singular vs Plural Nouns
1. State the forms for Count Nouns.
2. Give Example of Singular & Plural Nouns.
3. Do we need a determiner for a singular count
noun? Example?
4. State the forms of Plural Nouns.
5. Do we need a determiner for a plural count
noun? Example?
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 Countable Nouns
 Count nouns have two forms: singular and plural.
 Singular count nouns refer to one person or thing:
a book; a teacher; a wish; an idea
 Plural count nouns refer to more than one person or
thing:
 books; teachers; wishes; ideas
 Singular count nouns
 Singular count nouns cannot be used alone. They
must have a determiner:
 the book; that English teacher; a wish; my latest
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idea
Plural forms
 We usually add –s to make a plural noun:
 book > books; school > schools; friend > friends
 We add -es to nouns ending in –ss; -ch; -s; -sh; -x
 class > classes; watch > watches; gas > gases
 When a noun ends in a consonant and -y we make the plural in -ies...
 lady > ladies; country > countries; party > parties
 …but if a noun ends in a vowel and -y we simply add -s:
 boy > boys; day > days; play > plays
 Some common nouns have irregular plurals:
 Man > men; woman > women; child > children; foot > feet;
person > people
 Plural count nouns do not have a determiner when they refer to people or
things as a group:
 Computers are very expensive.
Do you sell old books? 6
 Uncountable nouns

Are the sentences below correct?

a. We ate a lot of foods

We ate a lot of food

b. We bought some new furnitures

We bought some new furniture

a. That’s a useful information

That’s useful information

Questions:

i. Can we use indefinite articles?

ii. Can we use quantifiers?
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 Uncountable Nouns

 Some nouns in English are uncountable nouns.

 We do not use uncountable nouns in the plural and we do not use
them with the indefinite article- a/an.
 We can use some quantifiers with uncountable nouns:
 He gave me some useful advice.
 They gave us a lot of information.
 Uncountable nouns often refer to:
• Substances: food; water; wine; salt; bread; iron
• Human feelings or qualities: anger; cruelty; happiness; honesty;
pride;
• Activities: help; sleep; travel; work
• Abstract ideas: beauty; death; fun; life 8
 Although substances are usually uncountable nouns...

 Would you like some cheese?

 Coffee keeps me awake at night.
 Wine makes me sleep.

 ... they can be also used as count nouns:

 I’d like a coffee please. = I’d like a [cup of] coffee.

 They sell a lot of coffees. =They sell a lot of [different
kinds of] coffee.
 They had over twenty cheeses on sale.=They had over
twenty [types of] cheese on sale.
Study the nouns below:

advice, knowledge, baggage, luggage,

equipment, machinery, furniture, money,
homework, news, information, traffic

Questions:

i. Change them into plural forms. Example?

ii. Can we change them into countable? How?
Example? 10
 Common uncountable nouns
 There are some common nouns in English, like accommodation,
which are uncountable nouns even though they have plurals in
other languages:
 Let me give you some advice.
 How much luggage have you got?
 If we want to make these things countable, we use expressions
like:
 a piece of...pieces of...a bit of...bits of...an item of...items
of…
 Let me give you a piece of advice.
 That’s a useful piece of equipment.
 We bought a few bits of furniture for the new apartment.
 She had six separate items of luggage.
 but we do not use accommodation, money and traffic in this
way.
Are all the nouns below singular?

army, audience, committee, company, crew,

enemy, family, flock, gang, government,
group, herd, media, public, regiment, staff,
team

a. either as singular nouns or as plural nouns

b. the group as a single thing
c. the group as several individuals

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 Some nouns, like army, refer to groups of people, animals
or things, and we can use them either as singular nouns or
as plural nouns.
 We can use these group nouns either as singular nouns or
as plural nouns:
 My family is very dear to me.
I have a large family. They are very dear to me. (= The
members of my family…)
 Sometimes we think of the group as a single thing:
 The audience always enjoys the show.
 The group consists of two men and three women.
 Sometimes we think of the group as several individuals;
 The audience clapped their hands.
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Are all the nouns below plural?

glasses, jeans, knickers, pincers, pants,

pliers, pyjamas, scissors, shorts, spectacles,
tights, trainers, trousers, tweezers

a. These binoculars is / are very expensive.

b. These trousers is / are very expensive.

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 To make it clear we are talking about one of
these items, we use a pair of …

I need a new pair of spectacles.

 I’ve bought a pair of blue jeans.

 If we want to talk about more than one, we

use pairs of …

 We’ve got three pairs of scissors, but they are

all blunt.
I always carry two pairs of binoculars.
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 Quiz
Complete the sentences with a singular or plural count noun.

The fairy told the girl she could make three ________. (Wish/wishes)
I think her ________ watch far too much television. (Child/children)
Look! The ________ has just stolen that man's hat! (Monkey/monkeys)
It's difficult being a ________ these days. (Parent/parents)
Why do ________ always come in threes? (Bus/buses)
Does anyone know the ________ to the station? (Way/ways)
________ are usually shorter than men. (Woman/Women)
A lot of ________ use this street. (Lorry/lorries)
He's the sort of ________ you can trust. (Person/people)
I can hear something in the roof. Have you got ________? (Mouse/mice)
The ________ they wanted to buy has been sold. (House/houses)
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The most interesting ________ I have visited are in Asia. (Country/countries)
 Proper Nouns
12. What is a Proper Noun?
13. Give examples of Proper Nouns?

a. Names of people, places and organisations

b. Festivals
c. Someone’s title
d. The names of books, films, plays and
paintings
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Reference:

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-
grammar/nouns

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