NOUNS

common and proper,

singular, plurals
 Read this story.
Paul's girlfriend, Paula, was very beautiful.
However, she was deaf. On her birthday Paul sent
her a very expensive bird. It was a very colourful
parrot which could sing in English and recite poetry.
The following day he called at his girlfriend's flat
and asked:
P: What did you think of the bird?
G: It was a little tough when I took it out of the
oven, (Paula said with a smile), so I boiled it with a
little salt and msg. It was delicious.
 Read this story and find what’s
wrong! Focus on NOUNS.
Paul's girlfriend, Paula, was very beautiful.
However, she was deaf. On her birthday Paul sent
her a very expensive bird. It was a very colourful
parrot which could sing in English and recite poetry.
The following day he called at his girlfriend's flat
and asked:
P: What did you think of the bird?
G: It was a little tough when I took it out of the
oven, (Paula said with a smile), so I boiled it with a
little salt and msg. It was delicious.
 Common and Proper Nouns
■ A COMMON NOUN names a general person,
place, thing, or idea. Common nouns begin
with a lowercase letter, unless found at the
beginning of a sentence or part of a title.
■ A PROPER NOUN names a specific person,
place, language, nationality, religion, historical
periods/events, styles of arts, days/months and
holidays. Proper nouns begin with a capital
letter.
 TASK 1: Which ones are common
and which are proper nouns?
1. The sky was a canvas of blues and whites. (Common nouns)
2. My teacher was glad to see me this morning. (Common
nouns)
3. Persib practices every day from 4:00 p.m. (Proper nouns)
name of football club in Indonesia
4. How did the glass get broken? (Common nouns)
5. The United States was founded in 1776. (Proper nouns) name
of country
6. My friend Janice lives next door to me. (Proper nouns) name
7. The happiness of the group is very important. (Common
nouns)
8. I love Mondays. (Proper nouns) day
 TASK 2:
Identify and correct noun errors!
1. They are wearing cirebonese Batik. (They are
wearing Cirebonese batik.)
2. I took introduction to Linguistics last year and I
found Linguistics interesting. (I took to linguistics
last year and i found linguistics interesting.)
3. We can’t wait for Summer. ( We can't wait for
summer)
4. She was born in the late of the Twentieth Century.
(She was born in the late of the twentieth century)
5. My Uncle, Uncle Ade, gave me a surprising Gift,
bmx. (My uncle, uncle Ade, gave me a suprising
 Some notes of English nouns
■ English nouns are encoded with number
(singular/plural) and agree with verbs in
number.
■ My student is assisting my research project.
■ My students are assisting my research project.
■ English plural nouns are generally affixed by –
s/-es except for a small group of nouns with
irregular plural forms.
 Some notes of English nouns
■ Some examples of irregular plural forms:
■ sheep - sheep
■ woman – women
■ child – children
■ foot – feet
■ person – people
■ focus – foci
■ analysis – analyses
■ phenomenon - phenomena
 Some notes of English nouns
■ Some nouns look plural but take a singular
verb.
news The news is at 6.30 p.m.
athletics Athletics is good for young people.
linguistics Linguistics is the study of language.
darts Darts is a popular game in England.
billiards Billiards is played all over the world.
 Some notes of English nouns
■ Some nouns have a fixed plural form and take
a plural verb. They are not used in the singular,
or they have a different meaning in the
singular.
■ Nouns like this include: trousers, jeans,
glasses, savings, thanks, steps, stairs, customs,
congratulations, tropics, wages, spectacles,
outskirts, goods, wits
■ My trousers are too loose.
■ Her jeans look fabulous.
 TASK 3: Decide if the nouns before the
spaces are countable (C) or uncountable (U)

1. Countable
2. Uncountable
3. Countable
4. Uncountable
5. Uncountable
6.
7. Countable
8. Uncountable
9.
10. Countable
11. Uncountable
12. Uncountable
 TASK 4: The students who wrote the
following paragraph made mistakes with
nouns, plurals and quantity words.
Correct the errors.

When I saw my two ancient suitcases, I knew it was time to buy

some new luggage. I looked in the windows of all the stores in
the center of town. But all I saw was clothing. I tried on thr
dresses, but I didn't buy one. At last, I saw a wonderful bag
made of Spanish leather, but it was very expensive and I didn't
have any money. I decided to go shopping other day.
 SOUVENIR: Surf the net (google) and write
valid examples for variations in plural forms.
1. mouse – mice – mouses? (mouse - mice)
2. syllabus – syllabi – syllabuses? (syllabus - syllabi - syllabuses) It is
acceptable both syllabi and syllabuses for plural
3. person – people – persons?(person - people - persons) Persons is archaic,
and it is safe to avoid using it, except in legal writing.
4. fish – fish – fishes? (fish - fish
5. datum – data – datums? – datas? (datum - data) Data is plural in form but
is used with both plural and singular verbs.
6. octopus – octopi – octopuses? (octopus - octopuses)
7. analysis – analyses – analysises? (analysis - analyses)
8. research – research – researches?(research - research) research is a mass
noun, we have to write it in a singular form. We can also write researches
for plural but it is very uncommon.