Singular or Plural????

Women? Womans? Woman?

2001 by Ruth Luman

References

A noun is a word used to name a person, animal, place, thing, and abstract idea. Nouns are usually the first words which small children learn. Examples:

- Late last year our neighbours bought at a goat. - The bus inspector looked at all the passengers passes. - Philosophy is of little comfort to the starving.

Problems with Nouns

Look at the sentences below. Whats wrong? Move your Bedrooms should mouse over each sentence to see the the be answer. plural because 1. I have three bedroom in my house. 2. There are many milks in the refrigerator. 3. Those chair are in the wrong room. 4. There are five reds cars. 5. Some of the class are at night. 6. Your childs are beautiful. 7. Would you like a few milk?
sentence says there are The word milks is three. incorrect, because it is a non-count noun and cannot have an s.

Count and Non-Count Nouns

In English, we have countable and non-countable nouns. Some examples of countable and non-countable nouns are below. Countable Nouns
chair student day song computer room
More NonCountable Nouns

Non-Countable Nouns
love money weather food fruit furniture

Countable Nouns
Countable nouns can have singular and plural forms and can be counted numerically. Most countable nouns can be made plural by adding s or es.

book

books

3 books

box

boxes

2 boxes

Non-Countable Nouns
Non-countable nouns have only one form and cant be counted numerically. Look at the examples below.

monies one money healths two health

money money health health

Non-Countable Nouns
Non-countable nouns cannot take the plural s or es or an article (a, an).

a furniture furnitures a news newses

furniture furniture news news

Irregular Plural Nouns

Some nouns have an irregular plural form. Look at the examples below.

woman child

womans childs

women children

Click here to see a list of irregular plural nouns.

Noun Quantifiers
Words like, a few, a little, much, any, some, and many are used differently depending on whether the noun in the sentence is count or non-count. a few count nouns a little non-count nouns a little flour a few bananas

Noun Quantifiers
many count nouns many chairs

much non-count nouns much furniture

some non-count nouns count nouns some furniture some chairs

Noun Quantifiers
Any is used in negative sentences with count and noncount nouns. Notice the difference in plural and singular verbs.
any count nouns There arent any chairs.

any non-count nouns There isnt any furniture.

Nouns and of phrases

A countable noun is always plural after an of phrase that shows quantity. A non-count noun is always singular after an of phrase.
plural

Some of the chairs are broken.

of phrases singular

Some of the furniture is broken.

Click here to see a list of common of phrases.

Now you are ready to practice what youve learned. Click the link below. Print and complete the Practice Exercise on count and non-count nouns. Check your answers with a tutor.

Appendix
Irregular Plural Nouns
woman women man men child children ox oxen foot feet tooth teeth goose geese mouse mice louse lice sheep sheep fish fish deer deer calf calves wife wives life lives half halves knife knives self selves wolf wolves thief thieves leaf leaves shelf shelves

Appendix
Non-Countable Nouns
accommodation coal advice anger applause assistance baggage behavior bread cardboard cash chaos chess china clothing spelling flu food fruit fun strength dirt evidence jewelry knowledge laughter stuff conduct countryside courage damage dancing furniture grass hair happiness machinery harm help homework mud education hospitality music housework information patience poetry scenery soap thunder news meat money traffic garbage gossip luck leisure vocabulary lightning weather luggage violence underwear travel work wealth

Appendix
of phrases
Some of the Many of the A number of the One of the Most of the Half of the A few of the A little of the Much of the A lot of the

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Whats the name of the recipe? Whats the name of the book the chef is reading? Where are the tomatoes? What count nouns and no count nouns do you remember? Why cant they make an apple pie? Can they make lemonade? Explain. What are they going to do after they drink water?