Nouns

One of the basic elements of English grammar is the noun. Together with verbs, they
form the basic components of the sentence. They can refer to persons, things, places,
activities, collections, concepts.

There are different types of nouns, namely: common nouns (table, cat..), proper nouns
(Jane, Paris, Mrs. Smith), collective nouns ( group, team, crew..), abstract nouns (courage,
fear, love..).

Nouns can be countable or uncountable. Countable nouns are for things we can count
using numbers. They have a singular and a plural form. The singular form can use the
determiner "a" or "an". If you want to ask about the quantity of a countable noun, you ask
"How many?" combined with the plural countable noun.

Countable nouns can form their plural by simply adding a final ‘s’ or ‘es’ to the singular form;
they may also have irregular plural forms.

Plurals: (Regular vs. Irregular Plural Nouns)

English plural nouns form their plural differently.

1- Regular nouns usually form their plural by adding a final ‘s’ to the singular. The ‘s’ is
pronounced /s/ after (p, t , k, f) ; otherwise it is pronounced /z/. It is pronounce /iz/
after ce, ge, se, ze.
2- Nouns ending in (o, ch, sh, ss, or x) form their plural by adding ‘es’.

Tomato tomatoes
Church churches
Brush brushes
Box boxes
Kiss kisses
3- nouns ending in ‘o’ add ‘es’ to form their plural (ending in a consonant pus ‘o’):
Echo echoes
Hero heroes
Mosquito mosquitoes
 Potato potatoes
Tomato tomatoes
Volcano volcanoes
Embargo embargoes
- Other nouns ending in ‘o’ add ‘s’ to form their plural; they are generally
abbreviations or of foreign origin.
Kilo kilos
Kimono kimonos
Piano pianos
Auto autos
Photo photos
Ego egos
Concerto concertos
4- Some nouns that end in ‘f’ or ‘fe’ drop their ‘f’ and ‘fe’ and replace it by ‘ves’ to form
their plural.
Calf calves
Half halves
Knife knives
Self selves
Shelf shelves
Wolf wolves
Thief thieves
Loaf loaves
Life lives
Wife wives
Sheaf sheaves
Leaf leaves
5- some nouns that end in ‘f’ or ‘fe’ add a final ‘s’ to form their plural, such as:
Cliff cliffs
Safe safes
Handkerchief handkerchiefs
Roof roofs
Gulf gulfs
Cuff cuffs
Reef reefs
Belief beliefs

6- And some others accept both forms.

Hoof hoofs or hooves
Wharf wharfs or wharves
Scarf scarfs or scarves.
Dwarf dwarfs or dwarves.

7- A few nouns form their plural by a vowel change.

Foot feet
Goose geese
 Tooth teeth
Louse lice
Mouse mice
Man men
Woman women
Child children
Ox oxen
Penny pence

8- some types of fish do not change their form in the plural

Carp / trout / mackerel / salmon / pike / plaice /

but:

Sardine, sardines / lobster, lobsters / shark, sharks / crab, crabs …

9- The nouns: sheep, deer, means, species, series, gallows, dozen, swine, counsel, craft,
alms, aircraft, spacecraft, watercraft, hovercraft, and barracks, crossroads,
headquarters, series, works (meaning factory) in addition to the nouns ‘Swiss’ as well
as all nouns indicating nationalities that end in ‘ese’ (Japanese, Chinese…).
Examples:
One deer two deer
One sheep two sheep
10- Collective nouns such as family, team, crew, committee … can be singular if we
consider the word to mean a single group or unit,
Example: our team is the best.
- Or they can be plural if we take them to mean a number of individuals
Example: our team is wearing their new uniforms.
11- Some nouns are always used in the plural and take a plural verb and have no singular
form.
- such as police and clothes
- garments, tools and instruments consisting of two parts
Breeches
Pants
Pyjamas
Shorts
Tights
Suspenders
Tights
Trousers
 Binoculars
Pliers
Scales
Scissors
Spectacles
Shears
Glasses
Tweezers
Tongs
Forceps
- in addition to other nouns such as:
Arms (weapons)
Damages (compensation)
Goods (products, things for sale)
Greens (vegetables)
Grounds
Pains (trouble/effort)
Spirits (alcohol)
Troops
Belongings (things you own)
Remains (what is left)
Stairs
Surroundings (the environment, the things around you)
Particulars
Premises/quarters
Earnings (money you earn)
Congratulations
Contents (what is inside something)
Customs (bringing things into a country)
Thanks

12- Some nouns have both a singular and a plural form with a difference in meaning.

Saving /savings:

- Our special price is £10 cheaper than normal. So don’t miss his saving of £10.
- My savings are in the bank. I am going to take out all the money and buy a new car.

Damage/damages:

- The storm caused a lot of damage to the house.

- The newspaper had to pay £2 million n damages after printing untrue stories about
politicians.

Pain/pains:

- I’ve got a pain in my back.

 - I checked the figures carefully three times. I took great pains to get them exactly
right.

Content/contents:

- In the singular, “content” usually refers to the subject matter of a book, a speech or
a programme; In this case, it is uncountable.
 The content of the course depends on what the students would like to
study.
- In the plural, contents refer to the things contained in something ( a container);
such as the contents of a bottle, of a glass, a box...)
 He dropped a bottle and spilled its contents all over the floor.
- The noun ‘contents’ in the plural also refers to the different sections or chapters
of a book; they are generally listed at the beginning or the end of the book.
 You mind find the information in the list of contents of that book.

Compass/compasses:

- Walkers should be always equipped by a map and compass.(instrument showing

geographic direction)
- The circles of the roses were drawn with a pair of compasses. (a device used to
draw circles)
In the plural, “contents” refer to the things contained in something:

13- Nouns ending in ‘ics’, when they refer to sciences and academic subjects, are
considered as singular nouns and therefore take a singular verb, such as mathematics
linguistics, physics)
Statistics is a science

But some of them have meanings in which they are used in the plural, though such use
is not very common, such as in:

These statistics are not correct

14- Names of certain diseases and games are plural in form but singular in meaning and
therefore take a singular verb.
Names of diseases: mumps, rickets, shingles
 Names of games: darts, dominoes, draughts (Brit), bowls, billiards,
checkers (Am).
15- Names of countries are always singular even if they seem to be plural, such as ( The
United States, West Indies, The Philippines)
16- Most nouns from a foreign origin (Greek or Latin), especially those used in
mathematical and scientific contexts retain their plural forms. But some of them, that
are commonly used, have been adapted to the English language and use the English
plural forms.
us i
Focus foci (also focuses)
Radius radii (also radiuses)
Fungus fungi
Nucleus nuclei (nucleuses)
Cactus cacti (cactuses)
Alumnus alumni*
Octopus octopi (or octopuses)
Hippopotamus hippopotami (or hippopotamuses)
Syllabus syllabi

is es [i:z]
Basis bases
Ellipsis ellipses
Hypothesis hypotheses
Axis axes
Analysis analyses
Crisis crises
Thesis theses
Oasis oases
Emphasis emphases
Parenthesis parentheses
Basis bases
Diagnosis diagnoses
Genesis geneses
Synopsis synopses
Synthesis syntheses

On a
Phenomenon phenomena
Criterion criteria

um a
Medium media
Datum data
Memorandum memoranda
Bacterium bacteria
Stratum strata
 Curriculum curricula (also curriculums)
Addendum addenda
Aquarium aquaria (aquariums)
Erratum errata
Spectrum spectra (spectrums)

ix xes
Index indices (or indexes)
Appendix appendices (or appendixes, in a medical context)
Vortex vortices (or vortexes)

a ae
Alga algae
Larva larvae
Vertebra vertebrae
Nebula nebulae
Alumna alumnae
ma mata

Stigma stigmata
neuroma neuromata
Stemma stemmata

x ces

Matrix matrices (matrixes)

Cicatrix cicatrices
Appendix appendices (appendixes)
Index indexes (in books) indices (in mathematics)
Vortex vortices (vortexes)

Countable vs. Uncountable Nouns:

Uncountable nouns refer to things that we cannot count with numbers. They may be the
names for abstract ideas or qualities or for physical objects that are too small or too
amorphous to be counted (liquids, powders, gases, etc.). Uncountable nouns are used with a
singular verb. They usually do not have a plural form. They can be classified as follows:

- Abstract nouns: education, experience, hatred, help, knowledge, life, love, sleep,
time, understanding, beauty, violence, enjoyment, progress…
- Gases: steam, air, oxygen, smoke, smog, pollution…
- Fluids: water, coffee, tea, oil, soup, gasoline, blood…
 - Solids (materials and substances): ice, bread, butter, cheese, meat, gold, iron,
silver, glass, paper, wood, cotton, wool, sand, cream…, hair, pepper, salt, sand,
sugar, wheat…
- Particles: rice chalk, corn, dirt, dust, flour, grass…
- The following nouns are also considered uncountable in English and are probably
the most problematic to learners of English language: information, luggage
(baggage), advice, horror, work, homework, help, knowledge, time, news,
evidence, space, wealth, laughter, furniture, damage, postage, mail, jewellery,
equipment, food, traffic, change, money, light…

Some nouns can be countable or uncountable with different meanings, depending on the
context or situation.

Countable Uncountable

Whenever she finds a grey hair she hair Her hair is black
pulls it out.

There are two lights in our bedroom. light Close the curtain. There's too much
light!

Shhhhh! I thought I heard a noise. noise It's difficult to work when there is so
There are so many different noises in much noise.
the city.

Have you got a paper to read? paper The printer has run out of paper
(Newspaper)
he wrote a paper on psychology. (a
report or an essay)

Our house has seven rooms. room Is there room for me to sit here?

We had a great time at the party. time Have you got time for a cup of coffee?
How many times have I told you no?

Good education is the best investment Education The first daughter had a very expensive
in Britain’s future. (education in education at a private school in France.
general) (the time one person spent at school)

We bought a new iron and an ironing Iron People believed that ships made
 board. of iron would sink.
I’d like two strong black coffees and Coffee, I like tea better than coffee.
one soda, please. (Drinks, meaning a water,
cup, a glass…) tea,
soda…
It was a marvellous experience. experienc We need someone with experience.
(something that happened in the e (skill and knowledge)
past)

Quantifiers:

To quantify uncountable nouns we use different units of measurement, such as: ( a bit, a
spoon of, a grain of, a cup of , a bottle of, a slice of, a pane of, a sheet of, a piece of a pot
of…

 A loaf of bread
 A piece of advice, luggage, furniture, news, information, paper,
chalk…
 A sheet of paper.
 A cup of tea…
 A glass of water…
 A bottle of milk.
 A drop of oil.
 A pane of glass.
 A bit of news.
 A spoonful of sugar, syrup.
 a slice of bread, cheese, meat, toast

There are expressions of quantity that can be used with countable nouns only others with
uncountable nouns and some with both

- Expressions used wit countable nouns, such as: each, every, one, two.., a couple
of, few, a few, several, many, a number of…
- Expression used with uncountable nouns, such as: little, a little, a great deal of,
much.
- Expressions used with both countable and uncountable nouns are: not any/no,
some, a lot of, lots of, plenty of, most, all.