Complete Grammar Guide Nouns |
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Usage Nouns are words for things. There are three main types of nouns: 1. Countable nouns are nouns that have a plural form--they can be counted. boy/boys, chicken/chickens, man/men 2. Uncountable nouns are nouns that do not have a plural form--they cannot be counted. water, air, milk, dirt 3. Collective nouns are names for a group/collection of people/animals/things. team, army, family Grammar Focus In English, most nouns are not defined as masculine/feminine/neutral. However, some names of animals and types of people do have masculine and feminine forms. "Is that horse a stallion, or a mare?" "This is the ladies' room; the men's room is over there." Here are some more nouns of this type: actor/actress • hero/heroine • host/hostess • businessman/businesswoman • man/woman • duke/duchess • prince/princess • count/countess • waiter/waitress • god/goddess • widower/widow • salesman/saleswoman • steward/stewardess
For professions it is now more acceptable to use a gender neutral form whenever possible.
There are many ways of making plurals of countable nouns using -s. 1. The most common way is by simply adding -s to the singular form. "Does she have one book or two books?"
2. Singular nouns ending in -s, -sh, -ch or -x are made plural by adding -es.
3. Most singular nouns ending in -f change -f to -v and add -es to make the plural form. There are a few nouns ending in -f that behave normally and add -s in the plural form. Here are common examples of both types: calf/calves • half/halves • leaf/leaves • loaf/loaves • shelf/shelves • chief/chiefs • cliff/cliffs • roof/roofs 4. Singular nouns ending in -fe change -fe to -ves in the plural form. knife/knives • life/lives • wife/wives 5. Singular nouns ending in a -y after a consonant change -y to -ies to make the plural. city/cities • company/companies • factory/factories 6. Singular nouns ending in -y after a vowel add -s in the plural form. boy/boys • key/keys • toy/toys • trolley/trolleys 7. Some singular nouns ending in -o add -es in the plural while others add -s. It is important to learn the most common nouns of both types. hero/heroes • potato/potatoes • tomato/tomatoes • volcano/volcanoes • dynamo/dynamos • banjo/banjos • piano/pianos • solo/solos Here are some of the special cases which do not follow these rules: Some countable nouns do not add -s in the plural. medium/media • alumnus/alumnae • libretto/libretti Some nouns, especially the names of some animals and fish, have the same form in singular and plural. antelope/antelope • buffalo/buffalo • deer/deer • fish/fish • trout/trout • sheep/sheep • salmon/salmon Some nouns have no singular form. barracks • headquarters • pliers • shorts • clothes • jeans • premises • eyeglasses • contents • manners • pyjamas • spirits • cross-roads • means • scissors • trousers • outskirts • savings • valuables Certain compound nouns add -s to the first word, but not the second in the plural form.
Some nouns change vowels and/or add consonants in the middle of the word, or add -en in the plural form: foot/feet • child/children • goose/geese • ox/oxen • man/men • woman/women • mouse/mice • louse/lice Certain singular nouns ending in -ex or -ix remove the last two letters and add -ices in the plural form. appendix/appendices • index/indices • vortex/vortices Certain nouns of French origin used commonly in English use the French plural form. bureau/bureaux • gateau/gateaux • tableau/tableaux Uncountable nouns have no plural form, and cannot be counted in their basic form. milk • sugar • soap • meat Some uncountable nouns can be counted by naming the container/shape/weight in which they are found. a bottle of milk • two bags of sugar • many bars of soap Some uncountable nouns can be counted using a piece of, two pieces of, etc. a piece of furniture • two pieces of luggage • three pieces of cheese Collective nouns can be singular or plural and name groups or collections of people, animals, or things. a crowd of people • a herd of cows • a bunch of bananas When the collective noun is the subject of the sentence, it is usually treated as singular. "A flock of geese has landed on the lake." "A team of horses was stolen from the barn." When the individual members of the collective group are important, the noun is treated as plural. "The police are cracking down on traffic offenders." Otherwise, many nouns for groups of people are treated as singular. "The team is really doing well this year." "Our staff has increased since 1990." |