The Noun

A noun can be combined with determiners to serve as the subject of a verb, can be
interpreted as singular or plural, can be replaced with a pronoun, and refer to an
entity, quality, state, action, or concept
Nouns can be countable, which can be counted –thus, they have singular and plural
form, - and uncountable, which cannot be counted –and they have only singular
form.
• Common uncountable nouns:

Abstract Ideas Liquid and gases Materials

love, freedom, education,
luck, help, beauty, music,
thunder.
Made of smaller parts
sugar, rice, salt, sand, flour,
dirt, dust, traffic, grass,
spaghetti.
Water, milk, wine, oil, coffe,
rain, soup, air, smoke,
blood, juice, fog.
Some food
Bread, fish, cheese,
chocolate, meat, bacon,
food, ham.
Wood, glass, paper, gold,
silver, ice, cotton, wool,
Steel.
Be careful with!
Furniture, advice, work,
news, information, luggage,
money.

Common expressions used to “measure” uncountable nouns

a box of cereal / paper a grain of rice / sand
a bag of flour | rice

a bar of chocolate | gold | a can of cream / meat / tuna an item of clothing / news
soap

a bottle of Coke | milk | a carton of ice-cream / orange a jar of honey / jam

water | wine juice / milk

a bowl of cereal / rice / a cup of hot chocolate / coffee a piece of advice / furniture /
soup / tea paper/news

a drop of blood / oil / water a glass of beer / juice / water / a pinch of salt/pepper
wine

a roll of paper / tape / toilet a slice of bread / cheese / toast

paper / Scotch tape a spoonful of sugar / syrup /
whisky
Countable phrases for uncountable nouns:

uncountable countable

Accommodation a house, a flat, a place to live, a place

to stay

baggage/luggage a suitcase, a bag, a rucksack

bread a loaf (of bread), a (bread) roll

lightning a flash of lightning

luck a stroke of luck

money a note, a coin, a sum of money, a euro,

a dollar

poetry a poem

rain a shower, a downpour, a storm

travel a journey, a trip

A job, a task
work

Pluralization of Nouns
Regular Nouns
Most nouns (+s) Ending in s,ch, sh, x or Vowel + y (+s)
z (+es)
Car – cars Bus – buses Day – days
Dog – dogs Match – matches Key – keys
Book – books Dish – dishes Boy – boys
House – houses Box – boxes Guy – guys
Apple - apples Quiz – quizes Donkey – donkeys

Ending in consonant + Ending in vowel + o Ending in consonant +

y (+ies) (+s) o(+es)
City – cities Zoo – zoos Hero – heroes
Baby – babies Radio – radios Echo – echoes
Story – stories Stereo – stereos Tomato – tomatoes
Party – parties Video – videos Potato – potatoes
Country – countries Kangaroo - kangaroos
• Exceptions:
Piano – pianos
Photo photos

Irregular Nouns
Ending in F or Fe Vowel change Vowel change (+en)
(+ves)
Leaf – leaves Man – men Child – children
Wolf – wolves Foot – feet Ox - oxen
Life – lives Tooth – teeth
Knife – knives Woman – women
Calf – calves Goose – geese
Shelf - shelves Louse – lice
• Exceptions: Mouse mice
Roof – roofs
Cliff - cliffs
No change Latin words Greek words
Sheep – sheep Terminus - termini Axis – axes
Deer – deer Locus -loci Crisis – crises
Fish – fish Thesaurus – thesauri Thesis – theses
Series – series Millenium – millennia Automaton – autómata
Scissors – scissors Curriculum – curricula Criterion – criteria
Trousers – trousers Maximun – maxima Phenomenon –
Shorts – shorts Spectrum – spectra phenomena
Larva – larvae
• Exceptions: Appendix – appendices
uncountable Index – índices
singular noun
measles,
dominoes,
mumps.