The Noun
What is a noun?
A noun is a part of speech that is used to name a person, place, thing, quality, or action. A noun can function as a subject, object, complement, appositive, or object of a preposition.
Plural vs singular
Nouns can be singular or plural. The plural form of a noun is usually formed by adding s at the end of the noun. But this is not always the case. There are exceptions to the rule. Some plurals are irregular:
| Singular | Plural |
| fish | fish |
| tooth | teeth |
| man | men |
| woman | women |
Different types of nouns
There are different types of nouns:
1. An abstract noun names an idea, event, quality, or concept (freedom, love, courage...) Concrete nouns name something recognizable through the sense (table, dog, house...)
2. Animate nouns refer to a person, animal, or other creature (man, elephant, chicken...) An inanimate noun refers to a material object (stone, wood, table...)
3. A collective noun describes a group of things or people as a unit (family, flock, audience...)
4. Common noun is the name of a group of similar things (table, book, window...) Proper nouns, however, refer to the name of a single person, place or thing (John, Joseph, London...)
5. Compound nouns refer to two or more nouns combined to form a single noun (sister-in-law, schoolboy, fruit juice)
6. Countable (or count) nouns have a singular and a plural form. In plural, these nouns can be used with a number- they can be counted. (friends, chairs, houses, boys...) Uncountable (or non count) nouns, however, can only be used in singular. They can't be counted. (money, bread, water, coffee...)
Іменники: утворення множини
Plurals
English plural nouns
In order to change a singular noun to its plural form in English, you usually add "s". For example, the plural of book is books. The plural of table is tables. These are regular plurals.
But there are many nouns which don't follow this rule. For example the plural of fish is fish. The plural of tooth is teeth. These are irregular plurals
Regular plurals:
Form:
Add "s" to the noun:
| Noun | + S |
While many plural nouns follow this rule, the spelling sometimes differ.
Examples:
| Singular | Plural |
| snake | snakes |
| window | windows |
| box | boxes |
| boy | boys |
| lorry | lorries |
| potato | potatoes |
| knife | knives |
Spelling of plurals:
The plural form of most nouns is created simply by adding the letter "s".
· more than one snake = snakes
· more than one girl = girls
· more than one window = windows
Nouns that end in -ch, x, s, z or s-like sounds, however, will require an es for the plural:
· more than one witch = witches
· more than one box = boxes
· more than one gas = gases
· more than one bus = buses
· more than one kiss = kisses
Nouns that end in a vowel + y take the letter s:
· more than one boy = boys
· more than one way = ways
Nouns that end in a consonant + y drop the y and take ies:
· more tha one baby = bab ies
· more than one lorry = lorr ies
A lot of nouns that end in o take es in the plural:
· more than potato = potatoes
· more than one hero = heroes
| o becomes oes | |
| echo | echoes |
| embargo | embargoes |
| hero | heroes |
| potato | potatoes |
| tomato | tomatoes |
| torpedo | torpedoes |
| veto | vetoes |
Some nouns ending in o break the above rule and get os in the plural form:
| o becomes os | |
| auto | autos |
| kangaroo | kangaroos |
| kilo | kilos |
| memo | memos |
| photo | photos |
| piano | pianos |
| pimento | pimentos |
| pro | pros |
| solo | solos |
| soprano | sopranos |
| studio | studios |
| tattoo | tattoos |
| video | videos |
| zoo | zoos |
Other nouns ending in o get either os or oes i the plural forms:
| o becomes os or oes | |
| buffalo | buffalos/buffaloes |
| cargo | cargos/cargoes |
| halo | halos/haloes |
| mosquito | mosquitos/mosquitoes |
| motto | mottos/mottoes |
| no | nos/noes |
| tornado | tornados/tornadoes |
| volcano | volcanos/volcanoes |
| zero | zeros/zeroes |
Plurals of nouns that end in f or fe usually change the f sound to a v sound and add s or -es.
· more than one kni fe = knives
· more than one lea f = leaves
· more than one hoo f = hooves
· more than one li fe = lives
· more than one sel f = selves
· more than one el f = elves
Irregular plurals:
There are several nouns that have irregular plural forms.
| Singular | Plural |
| fish | fish |
| sheep | sheep |
| barracks | barracks |
| foot | feet |
| tooth | teeth |
| goose | geese |
| tooth | teeth |
| goose | geese |
| child | children |
| man | men |
| woman | women |
| person | people |
| mouse | mice |
Plurals formed in this way are sometimes called irregular plurals or mutated (or mutating) plurals.
· more than one child = children
· more than one woman = women
· more than one man = men
· more than one person = people
· more than one goose = geese
· more than one mouse = mice
· more than one barracks = barracks
· more than one deer = deer
Other irregular plural forms include the following:
Some foreign nouns retain their plural. (Note that some of them adapted the s of the English plural form!)
| Singular | Foreign plural | English plural |
| alga | algae | |
| amoeba | amoebae | amoebas |
| antenna | antennae | antennas |
| formula | formulae | formulas |
| larva | larvae | |
| nebula | nebulae | nebulas |
| vertebra | vertebrae |
Nouns ending in us get a, i or the s of the English plural:
| Singular | Foreign plural | English plural |
| corpus | corpora | |
| genus | genera | |
| alumnus | alumni | |
| bacillus | bacilli | |
| cactus | cacti | cactuses |
| focus | foci | |
| fungus | fungi | funguses |
| nucleus | nuclei | |
| octopus | octopi | octopuses |
| radius | radii | |
| stimulus | stimuli | |
| syllabus | syllabi | syllabuses |
| terminus | termini |
Nouns ending in um get a, i or the s of the English plural:
| Singular | Foreign plural | English plural |
| addendum | addenda | |
| bacterium | bacteria | |
| curriculum | curricula | curriculums |
| datum | data | |
| erratum | errata | |
| medium | media | |
| memorandum | memoranda | memorandums |
| ovum | ova | |
| stratum | strata | |
| symposium | symposia | symposiums |
Nouns ending in ex or ix get ices or get the s of the English plural:
| Singular | Foreign plural | English plural |
| apex | apices | apexes |
| appendix | appendices | appendixes |
| cervix | cervices | cervixes |
| index | indices | indexes |
| matrix | matrices | matrixes |
| vortex | vortices |
Nouns ending in is becoming es in plural:
| Singular | Plural form |
| analysis | analyses |
| axis | axes |
| basis | bases |
| crisis | crises |
| diagnosis | diagnoses |
| emphasis | emphases |
| hypothesis | hypotheses |
| neurosis | neuroses |
| oasis | oases |
| parenthesis | parentheses |
| synopsis | synopses |
| thesis | theses |
Nouns ending in -on becoming -a:
| singular | plural |
| criterion | criteria |
| phenomenon | phenomena |
| automaton | automata |
Nouns that are always singular:
A handful of nouns appear to be plural in form but take a singular verb:
· The news is bad.
· Gymnastics is fun to watch.
· Economics / mathematics / statistics is said to be difficult.
Some nouns never take the s of the plural and are always singular:
· your luggage / baggage is so heavy
· I'd like to buy new furniture for the house
· you can find more information in our website.
Exercise on plurals.
