Problems with Nouns Singular or Plural???? Women? Womans? Woman?

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

Count and Non-Count Nouns More Non-Countable Nouns Guideline #1 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 Non-Countable Nouns More Non-Countable Nouns chair student day song computer room love money weather food fruit furniture

Guideline #2 Countable Nouns book books 3 books box boxes 2 boxes 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

Guideline #3 Non-Countable Nouns monies money one money money healths Non-countable nouns have only one form and can’t be counted numerically. Look at the examples below. monies money one money money healths health two health health

Guideline #4 Non-Countable Nouns a furniture furniture furnitures Non-countable nouns cannot take the plural –s or –es or an article (a, an). a furniture furniture furnitures furniture a news news newses news

A singular noun names one person, place, thing or idea. A plural noun names more than one person, place, thing, or idea.

PLURAL NOUNS Most nouns in English are made into plural nouns by adding an s to the singular form, however, …………….

Make the following nouns plural: If the noun ends with an s, ch, sh, x, or z, an es is added to make the noun plural. Make the following nouns plural: box loss dish quiz church house boxes losses quizzes dishes churches houses

Add s to nouns ending in a vowel and y. key toy monkey keys toys monkeys

Change y to an i and add es to nouns ending in a consonant and y. sky hobby penny skies hobbies pennies

What about nouns that end in a vowel? Add an s to nouns ending in a vowel and o. radio - radios zoo - zoos Add an s to musical terms ending in o. solo - solos cello - cellos

Nouns ending in a consonant and o should be learned. If you’re not sure, check the dictionary. echo echoes potato potatoes tomato tomatoes zero zeros, zeroes hero heroes

Some nouns have special plural forms. For example ………….

But, some nouns drop the f or fe and add ves. Add s to many nouns ending in f, fe, or ff. roof - roofs cliff - cliffs But, some nouns drop the f or fe and add ves. calf – calves life - lives

PLURALS of the nouns ending in –f / -fe or ff. Belief – beliefs Roof – roofs Proof - proofs Cuff – cuffs Muff – muffs Cliff – cliffs Reef – reefs Brief – briefs Chief – chiefs Kerchief – kerchiefs Chef – chefs Plaintiff – plaintiffs Sheriff – sheriffs Whiff - whiffs Safe – safes Fife - fifes Giraffe – giraffes Gulf – gulfs Dwarf – dwarfs Leaf – leaves Self - selves Half – halves Shelf – shelves Thief – thieves Wolf – wolves Calf – calves Hoof – hooves Beef - beeves Wife – wives Life – lives Knife – knives Scarf – scarfs scarves Wharf – wharfs wharves A chef came to sheriff as a plaintiff to his chief, because he had a belief that his chief opened his safe and stole four things: a handkerchief with a picture of giraffes on a roof, a fife which makes a whiff while on the reefs, a muff that he found once on a cliff and his favourite briefs. Sheriff said that without proofs he couldn’t put cuffs on chef’s chief.

Some nouns have irregular plural forms! child – children woman – women man – men person – people tooth - teeth goose – geese foot – feet mouse – mice louse – lice ox – oxen

phenomenon – phenomena PLURALS of the nouns from Latin and Greek us – i nucleus – nuclei syllabus – syllabi focus – foci fungus - fungi cactus - cacti is – es thesis – theses crisis - crises on – a phenomenon – phenomena criterion - criteria X – ices index – indices appendix - appendices

Some nouns have identical singular and plural forms. deer - deer scissors - scissors For compound words, the most important word is usually made plural. son-in-law / sons-in-law board of health/boards of health Add an ‘s to form the plural of letters or numbers used as a noun. A – A’s 100 – 100’s

Write the plural form of each of these nouns. …..QUIZ TIME….. Write the plural form of each of these nouns. teacup 6. Department of Justice goose 7. daughter-n-law Iroquois 8. leaf class 9. hobby 5. auto 10. donkey

CHECK YOUR ANSWERS. teacups 6. Departments of Justice geese 7. daughters-in-law Iroquois 8. leaves classes 9. hobbies 5. autos 10. donkeys

Guideline #6 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 few bananas a little non-count nouns a little flour

(Continued) Noun Quantifiers many count nouns many chairs much non-count nouns much furniture some non-count nouns some furniture count nouns some chairs

There aren’t any chairs. (Continued) Noun Quantifiers Any is used in negative sentences with count and non-count nouns. Notice the difference in plural and singular verbs. any count nouns There aren’t any chairs. any non-count nouns There isn’t any furniture.

Agreement with Demonstrative Adjectives Guideline #7 Agreement with Demonstrative Adjectives Remember to make demonstrative adjectives (this, that, these, those) agree with the nouns they modify. This/That singular These/Those plural these room these rooms this rooms this room

Some of the chairs are broken. Some of the furniture is broken. Guideline #8 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.”

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

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

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