THE NUMBER OF NOUNS
- General rule we add “s” to singular N: teacher-> teachers, boy-> boys, hat-> hats
1. Ns end in “s, x, z, ss, ch, sh, ge” add “es” , read /iz/
Ex: boss-> bosses, box-> boxes, foxes, ……
2. Ns end in “y” preceded by a consonant, change “y”-> “i” then add “es”
Ex: fly-> flies; country-> countries,….but plays, monkeys, ….
3. Ns end “o” preceded by a consonant, add “es”
Ex: tomato-> tomatoes, potato-> potatoes,…..
4. - 12 Ns end in “f” and “fe” change into “ves”:
Ex: knife, wolf, leaf, wife, loaf, thief, shelf, life, calf, sheaf, self, half-> halves
4 Ns take either “s” or “es”: hoof, wharf, scarf, turf-> turfs/ turves.
Some add only “s”: cliffs, beliefs, roofs, chiefs, tiffs….
5. Some Ns from other countries such as: piano, radio, soprano, epoch,…… add “s”.
6. Compound N:
The last word takes plural: boy-friends, step-sons, estate-agents, ……except “men/ women” as prefix both in plural: men-drivers, women-servants,……
The 1st word in plural when it’s combined of “v-er” or “N+ Adv”
Ex: hangers-on, runners-up, passers-by……
7. Ns have the same form in both: sheep, fish, dozen, score, salmon, trout, swine, means, species,….
9. Irregular Ns: child (children), ox (oxen), person (people), foot (feet), tooth (teeth), goose(geese), mouse (mice), louse (lice), man (men), woman (women), mouse (mice), louse (lice), ……
10. Collective Ns can take singular or plural Vs: team, school, factory,….and some always used in plural Vs only: cattle, police, poultry, clothes…….
11. Ns names people end in “CH, SS, ES, E” have the same form in both kinds
Ex: An English ( some English),……….
12. Acronyms can be made plural: VIPs, UFOs, Mps,…..
13. Some Ns end in “o” add either “s” or “es”: mosquitoes/ mosquitos, tornados/es, zeros/es, volcanos/es,….
14. Some Ns borrowed from other languages have foreign Plural:
criterion- criteria; phenomenon/ _na;…
analysis/ _ses; basis/_ses; hypothesis/_ses, oasis/ _ses, parenthesis/ _ses, thesis/_ses.
cactus- cacti/ cactuses, stimulus- stimuli, syllabus- syllabi/ _buses,
formula- formulae/_las, vertebra- vertebrae/ -bras, …
appendix- appendice/dixes; index- indices/_ dexes,……
bacterium- bacteria, curriculm- curricula, datum- data, medium- media, memorandum/_da…….
Some Ns have different meaning in two Numbers:
SOME NS HAVE TWO KINDS IN PLURAL FORM
die: dies/ dice
2. penny: pennies/ pence
3. brother: brothers/ brethren
4. cloth: clothes/ cloths
5. genius: genus/ genuises
* UNCOUNTABLE NS:
Names of substances considered generally: bread, beer, sand, gold, ice, oil,….
Abs N: advice, beauty, courage, hope, death, knowledge, work, suspicion, ….
Some considered as U in English : baggage, luggage, damage, camping, shopping, weather, furniture,….
- Natural phenomena: dew, fog, hail, humidity, rain, cloud, thunder, sunshine, darkness, gravity,…..
* Notes
1. U Ns are always in Singular or not used with a/ an and often preceded by “some/ any/ no/ a little/ a great deal of”, or by Ns as: bit/ slice/ piece…….
Ex: a drop of oil/ water, a grain of sand/ rice,…….
2. Some Ns have different meaning in 2 Numbers:
experience/ _ces, brain (s), color(s), good(s), pain(s),…….
3. Some Abs Ns can be used in a particular sense with A or An (Sing only)
Ex: A good map may be a help
GENITIVE CASE
“S” used with sing or plu N not end in “s”: man’s work, Tom’s house,….
“ ’ ” is used with Plu Ns end in “s”: the students’s hostel, the Smiths’ garden,……
Some names end in “s” can take apostrophe “s” or “ ’ ” alone: Mr Johns’ book or Johns’s book,…..
Compound Ns the last word in “s”: my uncle-in-law’s wife, ……
“ ’s ” can be used initial: The PM’s secretary, the VIP’s escort,……….
* Note: The children of the politician -> the politician’s children,
-> When used “ ’ ” we delete “the” in the possession.
USE GENITIVE OF NS
Time expression: a week’s holiday, today’s paper, a dollar’s worth of stamps,
For human’s/ art’s sake, for goodness’ sake,…-> for N’s sake.
use in some expression: a stone’s throw, the water’s edge,…..
A winter’s day( a winter day), summer’s day, not in fall or spring, except Autumn’s return….
Used in a proper case without 2nd N: butcher’s, the chemist’s, the florist’s,…..
6. Something can be used similar to mean “House”: At Bill’s, my father’s,….
7. of + N : the possession N is followed by a phrase or clause:
ex: The advice of the couple,..
+ Inanimate possessor: The wall of the town, the roof of the church,….
8. When in doubt, we should use N of N combination: The car of the key -> The car’s key,…..