Problems with Nouns Singular or Plural???? Women? Womans? Woman? © 2001 by Ruth Luman References

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. 2. There are many milks in the refrigerator. 3. Those chair are in the wrong room. 4. There are five reds cars. The word “milks” is incorrect, because it is a non-count noun and cannot have an –s. 5. Some of the class are at night. 6. Your childs are beautiful. 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

Guideline #5 Irregular Plural Nouns woman womans women child childs Some nouns have an irregular plural form. Look at the examples below. woman womans women child childs children Click here to see a list of irregular plural nouns.

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.”

Those are beautifuls houses. Guideline #9 Adjectives Adjectives are never plural. Those are beautifuls houses. adjective beautiful That is an olds book. adjective old

Practice Exercises Click on the links below to look at additional grammar notes and do some practice exercises with count and non-count nouns. More Grammar Notes and Exercises

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

Editing Checklist Look at your essay. Circle all of the nouns in your essay. Using the guidelines you have learned in this lesson, decide why each noun should be singular or plural. Discuss your decisions with a tutor. After you have checked your essay for singular/plural noun problems, read your essay draft aloud to your tutor. As you read it,listen to make sure there are no errors in singular/plural nouns.