Problems with Nouns Singular or Plural Women Woman

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

Introduction Problems with Nouns Look at the sentences below. What’s wrong? Move your “Bedrooms” should be mouse over each sentence to see the answer. plural because the sentence says there are 1. I have three bedroom in my house. The word “milks” is three. 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?

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

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. books 3 books boxes 2 boxes

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

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

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

• Add s to nouns ending in a vowel and y. keys toys monkeys

Change y to an i and add es to nouns ending in a consonant and y. sky skies hobby hobbies penny 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. cello - cellos solo - solos

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

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

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 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 is – es nucleus – thesis – nuclei theses syllabus – crisis - crises syllabi focus – foci fungus - fungi cactus - cacti 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

…. . QUIZ TIME…. . Write the plural form of each of these nouns. 1. teacup 6. Department of Justice 2. goose 7. daughter-n-law 3. Iroquois 8. leaf 4. class 9. hobby 5. auto 10. donkey

CHECK YOUR ANSWERS. 1. teacups 6. Departments of Justice 2. geese 7. daughters-in-law 3. Iroquois 8. leaves 4. 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 some 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.

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 these rooms this room plural

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. ”