Professional Documents
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Unit 2
Unit 2
SINGULAR-PLURAL FORMS
COUNT-NONCOUNT
(a) NOUN + -s: Friends are A final –s or –es is added to make a noun plural
important Friend : a singular noun
NOUNS + -es: I like my Friends: a plural noun
classes
(a) man – men mouse – mice The nouns in (a) have irregular plural
child – children foot – feet forms
Some nouns that end in :
(b) echoes (c) photos (d)mosquitoes –o add –es to form the plural, as in (b)
heroes pianos /mosquitoes –o add only –s to form in the plural,
potatoes videos volcanoes as in (c)
–o add either –es or end –s to form
the plural, as in (d)
(e) knife – knives Some nouns that end in :
half- halves –e or –fe are changed to –ves in the
plural, as in (e) and (f).
(f) belief – beliefs –f simply add –s to form the plural,
roof- roofs as in (g)and (h).
- Some nouns have the same singular
(g) deer fish means sheep
and plural form (e.g., One deer is…
series species
Two deer are ….)
(h) criterion – criteria cactus – cacti - Some nouns that English has borrowed
formula – formulae basis – bases from other languages have foreign
index – indices datum - data plurals, as in (h).
phenomenon-phenomena thesis-theses
hypothesis-hypotheses crisis-crises
stimulus- stimuli medium-media
curriculum-curricula syllabus-sillabi
COUNT NOUN AND NONCOUNT NOUNS
(a) I bought a chair. Sam bought Chair is a count noun, chairs are items that can
three chairs. be counted
(b) We bought some furniture. Furniture is a noncount noun. In grammar
INCORRECT: We bought a furniture furniture cannot be counted
INCORRECT: We bought some
furnitures
SINGULAR PLURAL
COUNT NOUN a chair chairs A count noun:
one chair two chairs (1) may be preceded by a/an in
some chairs the singular
(2) takes a final –s/-es in the
plural
NONCOUNT furniture A noncount noun:
NOUN some furniture (3) is not immediately preceded
by a/an
(4) has no plural form; does not
take a final –s/-es
NONCOUNT NOUNS
Notice in the following: Most noncount nouns refer to a “whole” that is made up of
different parts
(a) I bought some earrings, necklaces, In (a): jewelry represents a whole group
rings and bracelets. In other words, of things that is made up of similar but
I bought some jewelry. separate items.
In (b): sugar and coffee represent whole
masses made up of individual particles or
elements. To express a particular
(b) I put some sugar in my coffee quantity, some noncount nouns may be
preceded by unit expressions: e.g. , a
glass of water, a loaf of bread, a piece of
paper, a bowl of soup, etc.
In (c): luck is an abstract concept, an
(c) I wish you luck abstract “whole”. It has no physical form:
you can’t touch it, you can’t count it.
In (d): phenomena of nature, such as
(d) Sunshine is warm and cheerful sunshine, are frequently used as
noncount nouns.
(e) Ann has brown hair. Some nouns can be as either count nouns
(f) Ann has a hair on her jacket. or noncount nouns, but they have
(g) I opened the curtains to let some different meaning, as in (e), (f), (g), and
light in. (h).
(h) I turned off the lights before I left
my house.
NOTE: for more examples of irregular singular-plural nouns and uncountable nouns, see the
appendices.
NOUNS AS MODIFIERS
(a) The soup has vegetables in it. It is When a noun is used as a modifier, it is in its
vegetable soup. singular form, as in (a) and (b).
(b) The building has offices in it. It is an office
building.
(c) The test lasted two hours. It was a two- When a noun used as a modifier is combined
hour test. with a number expression, the noun is
(d) His daughter is seven years old. He has a singular and a hyphen (-) is used, as in (c) and
seven-year-old daughter. (d).
6. My hometown has , thunder, fog, sleet, and snow in the winter months.
(A) rains (C) rain
(B) rained (D) raining
9. usually inherit some characteristics from their father and some from their mother.
(A) childrens (C) children
(B) childes (D) childs
1. To make a yummy fruit salad we need some apples, tomatos, water melons, and papayas.
A B C D
2. The informations you gave to the detective was misleading, so you should clarify it soon.
A B C D
3. Organisms that lack hard parts, such as worms and jelly fishes have left a meager
geologic A B C D
record.
4. Homeworks are not only given to the pupils in Junior high school but also to the
children in A B C D
elementary school.
5. Art of colonial America was very functional, consisting mainly of useful objects
such as A B C
furnitures and household utensil.
D
7. In 1959 it was naively predicted that eight or ten computer would be sufficient to
handle A B
all of the scientific and business needs in the United States.
C D
8. After spending most of his life travelling round the world, he is now writing a book about
A B C
his experiences.
D
10. I had a pair of knifes on the table, which I was going to use later for
dinner. . A B C
D