UNIT 10a Grammar: Nouns Nouns are ports of speech which refer fo: people (Ann], actions (reading), objects (apple), qualities (virtue, places (Athens), jobs (eache7) There are four kinds of nouns in English. These ore: obsract nouns (love, freedom, thought) ccommon/eonerete nouns (book, table) collective nouns (family, clergy, herd) proper nouns (Greg, London} Nouns con be used as the: a) subject of a verb The boat left b) object ofa verb met Chris. < object of a preposition i mer him at the library. 4) complement of be, become, seem Jane! is my friend. GENDER men and boys (he} women, girls, cars, ships, countries (she) abies, animols, things (it) * Babies and animals are referred to as male or female when we know their sex. The Browns have got a lovely baby. She is so cute. + Cars, ships and counties are sometimes referred to os female but the nevier is more common in modern English "Do you like my new car?” “Yes, she's terifc."/"Yes, it’s terrific. ‘Most common nouns referring fo people have the same form whether male or female. teacher (man or woman), doctor, etc Some common nouns refering to people have different forms for male and female. ‘ctor - actress femperor - empress host - hostess son - daughter barman - barmaid father - mother ‘monk - nun uncle - aunt bachelor - spinster gentleman - lady nephew - niece widower - widow boy - girl heir- heiress prince - princess waiter - waitress bridegroom - bride husband - wife policeman - policewoman duke - duchess hero - heroine steward - stewardess ‘Some common nouns referring to animals have different forms for male and female. bull- cow cock - hen tiger - tigress drake - duck gander - goose stag - doe dog - bitch lion «lioness stallion - mare 196THE PLURAL OF NOUNS + Nouns are made plural by adding: 10a Grammar: Nuns, o}-s pencil - pencils 'b]-@8 to nouns ending in - 0, - s, - x, -z,- ch, - sh, - ss bus - buses les to nouns ending in consonant + y lady - ladies 4} 10 nouns ending in vowel + y toy toys ¢} ves fo nouns ending in f/fe leaf - leaves but chieks, proofs, roofs, cliffs, handkerchiefs Note dwarf - dwarves/dwarfs hoof - hooves/hoots scarf - scarves/scarts * Some nouns form their plural irregularly. tld - children goose - geese mouse - mice ox- oxen tooth - teeth foot - feet louse - lice man - men person - people ‘woman - women * Some nouns remain unchanged in the plural. colt erat fish = fish plaice - plaice squid - squid spacecro-spacecralt cod - cod Jopanese -Jopanese salmon salmon species species —‘trout- Wout deer - deer ‘means - means sheep - sheep series - series + Some nouns are only plural. These ore: 4} arms {weapons}, belongings, catle, clothes, congratulations, earnings, goods, groceries, greens (vegetables), lodgings, oats, odds (chances), outskirts, people, police, premises (building], regards, remains, riches, savings, surroundings, thanks, ete } garments, tools and instruments consisting of two parts: binoculars, compasses, glasses, jeans, ponts, pliers, pyiamos, scales, scissors, spectacles, rousers, etc * Collective nouns can toke either @ singular or plural verb, according to the meaning. The staff were not in agreement with the new rules. (We refer to the individval members) The staff of the school consists of fifty people. (We refer to the group as 0 unit) Some collective nouns ore: audience, choir, class, clergy, club, committee, company, crew, crowd, family, firm, government, jury, orchestra, public, staff, team, union, youth, eke ‘+ Some nouns have diferent meanings when turned into plural. These are: air (atmosphere) airs (behaviour) cloth (a piece of moteril) clothes (garments) compass (a magnetic compass) compasses (an instrument for drawing circles) content (what is writen or spoken about in a piece of writing, speech, etc) contents (he things contained in a box, place, ete) custom (a traditional even!) cusioms (the government deporiment which collects faxes on imported goods} damage {harm done to something) domages {monetary compensation) ‘experience (gaining knowledge or skill over a period) ‘experiences (activites /events one has done /lived through) fund (a sum of money saved for a purpose) funds (money) ¢glass (a drinking receptacle) glasses (spectacles) hair (he hairy part of the head) hairs (fine strands growing from the skin) look (a style; an expression) looks (2 person's appearance) manner (a way in which something is done} manners (social behaviour; customs) minute (60 seconds) minutes (notes taken as a record of a meeting) 197198 0q Grammar: Nouns relation (a connection between two or more things). spirit (2 person's soul or mind; « magical creature) relations (members of the some family) - some meaning spirits (0 person's feelings; a strong alcoholic drink) inthe singular ‘wood {the hard material tees are made of) scole (he relative size, extent, etc of something) ‘woods (small forest) - same meaning in the singulor scales (an instrument for weighing) work {employment} spectacle (an impressive sight; an object of attention) works (the moving parts of a machine; a place of spectacles (glasses; also: specs) manufacturing process) Could | have a glass of water please? | can't read without glasses. Note Some of the above nouns have their own regular plurals. 1 ke five minutes to finish it. (more than one minute) Jonathan was the one who kept the minutes of the meeting. (notes) ‘+ Compound nouns form their plural by addi {2 tothe noun if the compound has only one noun posserby- passersby _hangeron -hangerson _frying pan - frying pons bo the second noun ifthe compound consiss of two nouns. cupboard - cupboards «10 the frst noun if the compound consists of two nouns connected with a preposition rmotherinaw - mothersinlaw ar the end of the compound if does not contain any nouns. breakdown - breakdowns safes: ~ COUNTABLE/UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS ‘A. Countable nouns are those which can be counted 1 book, 2 books, 3 books, etc: B_ Uncountable nouns are those which cannot be counted; that is, you cannot soy there are 2, 3 or 4 of them. Uncountable nouns take a singular verb ond are not used with a/an. The words some, any, no, (o) litle, much, plenty of, ec can be used with uncountable nouns. |s there any chocolate left? There's litle hope of thei finding the boy. Uncountable nouns are: ‘nouns of substance or quantity (mass nouns) cil, water, juice, rice, ete ‘nouns ending in - ies politics", physics, athletics, statistics", etc some abstract nouns courage, information, etc © games end billords, darts, bowis, dominoes, ete diseases ending in- s mumps, rickets, etc polis and statistics can olso have plural forms. What are your politics? The statistics are annoyingThe most common uncountable nouns are: 10a Grammar: Nuns, accommodation, advice, anger, applause, assistance, baggage, behaviour, beer, bread, blood, business, choos, chess, chewing gum, chino, coal, conduct, cookery, countryside, courage, crockery, cutlery, domoge, difficuly, din, education, equipment, evidence, excitement, food, fruit, fun, furniture, garbage, gold, gossip, gross, hai >, homework, hospitality, housework, information, jealousy, jewellery, knowledge, happiness, harm, health, hel laughter, leisure, lighning, linen, luck, luggage, machinery, measles, meat, money, moonlight, mud, music, news, nonsense, patience, permission, poetry, progress, publicity, research, rubbish, safely, scaffolding, scenery, seaside, shopping, soap, spaghetti, steam, strength, stuff, stupidity, sunshine, thunder, timber, raffc, anspor, travel, trouble, understanding, underwear, violence, wealth, weather, wine, work, writing ‘Many uncountable nouns can be made countable by means of paritves. « plece of cake information baggage /advice/urnture/work/equipment; a glass of woler/beer/wine; 4 ar of jam; a sheet of paper; an item of news; 0 drop of water/oil; a box of chocolates; a metre of cloth; a pocket of biscuits/tea; 0 slice of bread; « loaf of bread: @ pot of teo; @ cup of teo; 0 ball of sting; a lump of sugar; on ice cube; a game of football/chess; a kilo of meat; « bote of wine/beer/ whisky; « tube of toothpaste; a bar of soap/chocolate; « blade of grass; a Rash of lightning; a clap/peal/rumble of thunder, ete 1. Underline the correct form of the verb. Sometimes both forms are possible. The landscape is/are spectacular here. Inaccurate weights occurred because the scales ‘was/were unbalanced 2 Detectives agree that overwhelming, 3 Mounting hostilities in the province was/were worrying 4 Rubbish is/are accumulating outside the entrance to the shop. 5 The management was/were implementing the new strategy. 6 Athletics was/were well represented in the magazine's sports section. 7 The audience was/were applauding loudly. 8 Good advice was/were hard to come by among competitive colleagues. 9 The sewage works is/are where waste is treated to rmoke it safe. 10 Work is/are underway to complete the new motorway. 11 The government was/were debating the new bill for three days 12 A meeting is a waste of time ifthe minutes is/are lost. 13 The woods is/are home to hundreds of plant species. 14 Is/Are the designer spectacles really worth getting? | could just buy these, instead. 15 A crowd of hangerson was/were pursuing the Princess. the evidence is/are considering 16 7 18 19 10 The stairs is/are due to be replaced by @ lift The premises was/were declared unsofe after the earthquake Argument is/are widespread on the global warming issue. Your theory is sound but your calculations is/are wrong The information were/was passed on to another department. Underline the correct item. He has o lot of works/work to complete before leaving. The stylist was trimming her customer's hairs hair We were all impressed with the content/contents of his speech. The magazine los! the court case ond was ordered to pay damage/damages tothe television celebrity. The group doesn’t have sufficient funds/fund to finance the expedition. The custom/customs officer stopped us and asked if he could inspect our luggage The cook weighed out the necessary ingredients on the scale/scoles They follow the custom/customs of exchanging chocolate eggs at Easter Hopkins proved popular but the man of the minute/minutes was De Niro. The fimber company received o consignment of wood/woods. 199\ 10b English in Use 3 Read the text below and think of the word which best fits each space. Use only one word for each space. SAVING THE WHALE As part (0) of Project Pelagos, a marine reserve covering the same 4760 I) «on. ..e Switzerland and located in the Ligurian Sea is being planned. The programme was devised by environmentalist from the University of Genoa (2) response to growing concern about the number of whales ond dolphins (3) harmed in those waters. Every year large numbers of dolphins, rorquals and finback whales migrate to this area from Atlantic waters in search of food. (4) a , studies estimate that correspondingly large numbers never return (5) i .. mate in native waters. The deaths are being caused by the presence of DDT, a pernicious insecticide voluntarily banned in Britain, in the seas off the Ligurian coast. (6) effect on marine animals is cumulative rather (7) instontoneous, so wholes retuming to the same oreo yeor (8) year are particularly vulnerable. The other major problem is the use of large fishing nets to trap dolphins and whales. Very recent laws prohibit hhaly’s fishing boots, some of (9) have drag nets up to 10 kilometres in length, from entering the area, but as (10) there is nothing to prevent foreign boats from fishing (11) The nets are @ particular problem and it has been estimated that approximately 400 dolphins perish in 12) sensu @0h YeOr, The project aims to develop a sofe orea for these ‘onimals, but the administrators admit that funding is @ problem. To remedy (13) they have set up an adoption scheme (14) which there is a fixed registration fee. Donations have been ‘overaging £25 and for this participants receive certification of their involvement in the scheme, on information pack about their dolphin or whale, plus regular updotes. In (15) s there care plans afoot fo allow some volunteers to accompany siantets going aut on ahsarvation tripe 200 PHRASAL VERBS 1 A look at Appendix 1 and fill in one of the prepositions or adverbs below, then give o synonym for each phrasal verb. * down © in * aside * behind in for © off ‘¢ down to * about © up with # up ® out * forward * on # back * through * across © He had @ bad time in the army but he has put i behind him now. 1 Itis being put that the vice president is involved in the scandal but os yet there seems fo be no real evidence. 2 Just put your name and address fon this card. 3 The lecturer had difficulty in putting his ideos, 4. He put his failure in the exam bod luck. 5. The drought in Africa has put development in the area by decades 6 Why don’t you put that new position at the university? 7 Make sure you put. the Fre before going to bed 8 Could you put me to Mr Jones, please? 9 IFyou can't afford a hotel, we'll put you for the night. 10 He put caccident but he got nothing, 11 How can you put this house? I'd go mad. 12. Don't be put always ects that way. 13 They're puting in the town hall tonight. 14 We put «@ sum of money each month for our summer holidays. 15. Mr-Jones has put the proposal that all members of staff should make « contribution to the earthquake relief fund. ‘an insurance claim after the the noise in by his manner. He «@.donce performance