THE PLURALS OF NOUNS
ОБРАЗОВАНИЕ МНОЖЕСТВЕННОГО ЧИСЛА СУЩЕСТВИТЕЛЬНЫХ
Выполнено учителем английского языка
Погодиной Еленой Олеговной
Гимназия №2 г. Раменское
Regular plurals
- Most nouns form their plurals by adding –s to the singular noun :
book – books
sport – sports
car – cars
- We add -es if the singular noun ends in -ch, -sh, -s or –x :
church – churches
dish - dishes
bus – buses
box – boxes
- Some nouns ending in –o add -es in the plural :
tomato – tomatoes
hero – heroes
potato - potatoes
But : piano – pianos ; radio - radios ;zoo – zoos ; photo - photos
- Nouns ending in a consonant + -y change the –y to i and add -es :
Baby – babies
Lady – ladies
Factory - factories
But : boy – boys ; day - days
- Some nouns ending in -f, -fe drop the – f, -fe and add –ves :
Leaf – leaves
Wife – wives
Knife – knives
Loaf - loaves
But : roof – roofs, cliff – cliffs , chief – chiefs, handkerchief – handkerchiefs.
IRREGULAR PLURALS
- Some nouns form the plural by changing their vowel(s) :
Man – men
Woman – women
Foot – feet
Goose – geese
Mouse – mice
Tooth – teeth
Louse – lice
- A few nouns form the plural with – en :
Child – children
Ox – oxen
- Some nouns have the same form in the singular and plural
Sheep – two sheep
Deer – two deer
Salmon – two salmon
Species – species
Series – series
Means – means
Trout - trout
But : fish is the normal plural of fish ; fishes is also possible but less usual.
We use fishes to talk about different kinds and species of fish.
The usual plural of person is people ( not persons).We use peoples to talk about citizens of different couintries.
COMPOUND NOUNS
- THEIR PLURAL FORM BY ADDING –S/ -ES
- THEIR PLURAL FORM BY ADDING –S/ -ES
TO THE SECOND NOUN IF THE COMPOUND CONSISTS OF TWO NOUNS :
SHOPKEEPER – SHOPKEEPERS
STEPFATHER - STEPFATHERS
TO THE FIRST NOUN IF THE COMPOUND CONSISTS OF TWO NOUNS CONNECTED WITH A PREPOSITION:
SISTER-IN- LAW – SISTERS-IN -LAW
TO THE NOUN IF THE COMPOUND CONSISTS OF AN ADJECTIVE AND A NOUN :
FRYING PAN – FRYING PANS
WATER-BOTTLE – WATER-BOTTLERS
AT THE END OF THE COMPOUND IF THISIS NOT MADE UP OF ANY NOUNS :
BREAKDOWN – BREAKDOWNS
HOLD-UP – HOLD-UPS
SOME NOUNS BORROWED FROM GREEK AND LATIN HAVE GREEK OR LATIN PLURAL ENDINGS.
Origin
Singular
Greek
Plural
-is
Greek
Latin
Singular(Plural) examples
-es
-on
Latin
-us
-a
basis(bases),crisis (crises)
criterion(criteria),phenomenon
(phenomena)
Latin
-I
-a
-um
-ae
radius(radii),alumnus(alumni),
terminus(termini),stimulus
(stimuli)
Latin
alga(algae),vita(vitae)
-a
-ix/-ex
datum ( data),medium
(media)
-ices
Index(indices),appendix
(appendices)
Some nouns are always plural in form and take only plural verbs .
thanks
wages
means
cattle
stairs
Abstract
(plural meaning)
people
police
outskirts
Some nouns take only a plural verb.
trousers
scissors
pijarmas
pants
compasses
spectacles
clothes
Tools&
instruiments
tights
jeans
tweezers
binoculars
glasses
shorts
pliers
Some nouns take only a singular verb.
(Uncountable nouns)
Mass
Nouns
Gases:
Fluids:
Solids:
Particles:
sugar
dust
rice
pepper
salt corn
wheat
sand flour
hair
coffee
air
oxygen
smoke
smog
steam
pollution
bread
butter
coal
food
fruit
ice
meat iron
milk
oil
tea
water
blood
juice
Uncountable nouns
Languages :
English
Greek
Chinese
Spanish etc
Games :
Chess
Billiards
Golf
Football
Tennis
athletics
Types of meat :
Beef
Mutton
Pork
Venison etc
Uncountable
nouns
Subjects :
Natural phenomena:
Chemistry
Economics
Mathematics
Physics
Psychology
Darkness
Fog Hail
Heat light
Snow sunshine
Weather
Diseases :
Cancer
Measles
Mumps
Flu
advice
business
accomodation
knowledge
luggage
work
progress
Abstract nouns
trouble
education
News
music
information
damage
traffic
applause
behaviour
rubbish
chaos
laughter
jewellery
countryside
Abstract nouns
furniture
courage
help
evidence
anger
assistance
SOME NOUNS HAVE A DIFFERENT MEANING IN PLURAL
SINGULAR
PLURAL
- The needle of a compass always points north.
- It is an English custom to celebrate the Queen`s birthday.
- She has a lot of experience working with children.
- Would you like a glass of milk?
- She has got long, blonde hair.
- You can draw a perfect circle with compasses.
- When he got of the plane his bag was searched at Customs.
- We had lots of exciting experiences on our journey through Africa.
- He can`t see very well without glasses.
- There are two hairs in the soup!
- She weighed hersrlf on the scales.
- The boy got lost in the woods.
- Picasso`s works are really fascinating.
- They were shocked at the scale of the disaster.
- This door is made of wood.
- He goes to work every day except Sunday.
Group nouns
- These nouns refer to a group of people.
- These nouns can take group either a singular or a plural verb depending on whether we see the group as a whole or as individuals .
- Such group nouns are :
army, audience, class, club, committee, crew, company, council, family, public, government, press, staff, team, jury, group, heardquarters, orchestra…
Examples :
- The team was the best in the company.( the team as a group)
- The team were all given medals.( each member separately as individuals)
- The government was elected a month ago.
- The government think they can solve the problem.
- My family are on holiday.
- The family is a very important part of the society.
Write the plural of the following nouns :
- City - …….. 16. potato -…
- Brother-in law …… 17 . sleeping pill - ……..
- Headline ……… 18 . calf -……..
- Photo - …….. 19 . water-bottle -……..
- Bank robbery - …… 20. sunshade - …….
- Stepmother - …… 21. trout -……
- Couch - ….. 22. cube - ……
- Dish - …… 23. species - ……
- Tray - …. 24 . family -……
- Roof - …. 25 . deer - …..
- Sit- in - …. 26 . ox - …….
- Hold-up - … 27. piano - …..
- Mouse - …. 28. hero - …..
- Tooth - ….. 29 . church - ……
- Shelf - ….. 30. policeman -……
Fill in : is or are :
1. Where ……your trousers?
2. Could you tell me where the scissors………..?
3. Tonight, there…….athletics on TV.
4. Money …….easy to spend and difficult to save.
5.Gloves ……worn in cold weather.
6. This student`s knowledge…..amazing.
7. Love …..the reason for much happiness in the world.
8.This bread ………stale/
9. Your pijamas …..on the bed.
10. My luggage…..too heavy to carry.
11. My advice to you ……to stay in bed.
12. Physics ……..my favourite subject.
13. Measles …..a common illness.
15. The glasses….in the cupboard.
16.Our bathroom scales……. quite accurate.
17.Darts …….a popular game in England.
18. This work……too hard for me.
19. People ……..unhappy with the new tax system.
20. The weather …. fine today.
Made by Pogodina E.O.
Gymnasia №2 Ramenskoye
20
The information is taken from these books.
- English Grammar in Use. R.Murphy : Cambridge,1994.- 350p.
- Grammar and Vocabulary. M.Mann, S.Taylore-Knowles : Macmillan,2008. – 216p.
- Primary grammar .S. Cochrane: Macmillan,2008. – 151p.