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

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

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 NounsNon-Countable Nouns chair student day song computer room love money weather food fruit furniture More Non- Countable Nouns

Guideline #2 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. bookbooks3 books boxboxes2 boxes

Guideline #3 Non-Countable Nouns Non-countable nouns have only one form and can’t be counted numerically. Look at the examples below. moniesmoney one moneymoney healthshealth two healthhealth

Guideline #4 Non-Countable Nouns Non-countable nouns cannot take the plural –s or –es or an article (a, an). a furniturefurniture furnituresfurniture a newsnews newsesnews

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, …………….

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: boxloss dishquiz churchhouse boxes losses dishes quizzes churcheshouses

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 musical terms ending in o. Add an s to nouns ending in a vowel and o. radio - radioszoo - zoos cello - cellos solo - solos

Nouns ending in a consonant and o should be learned. If you’re not sure, check the dictionary. echoechoes potatopotatoes tomatotomatoes zerozeros, zeroes heroheroes

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

Add s to many nouns ending in f, fe, or ff. roof - roofscliff - cliffs But, some nouns drop the f or fe and add ves. calf – calveslife - 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 Self - selves 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

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 - deerscissors - scissors For compound words, the most important word is usually made plural. son-in-law / sons-in-lawboard 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

…..QUIZ TIME….. Write the plural form of each of these nouns. 1.teacup6. Department of Justice 2.goose7. daughter-n-law 3.Iroquois8. leaf 4.class9. hobby 5. auto 10. donkey

CHECK YOUR ANSWERS. 1.teacups6. Departments of Justice 2.geese7. daughters-in-law 3.Iroquois8. leaves 4.classes9. 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 nounsa few bananas a little non-count nouns a little flour

(Continued) Noun Quantifiers many count nounsmany chairs much non-count nounsmuch furniture some non-count nounssome furniture count nounssome 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 nounsThere isn’t any furniture.

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

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.” Click here to see a list of common “of phrases.” “of phrases” Some of the chairs are broken. Some of the furniture is broken. plural singular

Appendix Irregular Plural Nouns woman  womendeer  deer man  men calf  calves child  childrenwife  wives ox  oxenlife  lives foot  feethalf  halves tooth  teeth knife  knives goose  geeseself  selves mouse  micewolf  wolves louse  licethief  thieves sheep  sheepleaf  leaves fish  fishshelf  shelves

Appendix Non-Countable Nouns accommodationgarbageleisure vocabulary coal adviceconductgossiplightning wealth anger countryside grassluck weather applausecouragehairluggage work assistancedamagehappiness machinery violence baggagedancingharmmeat underwear behaviorfurniturehelpmoney travel bread dirthomework mud traffic cardboardeducation hospitality music cashevidencehousework news chaos fluinformation patience chess foodjewelrypoetry china fruitknowledge scenery clothingfunlaughtersoap spellingstrengthstuffthunder

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…