NOUNS
Nguyen Thi Kim Anh
I. Kinds of nouns
II. Functions of nouns
III. Gender
IV. Plurals
V. Uncountable nouns
I. Kinds of nouns
There are four kinds of nouns in English:
- Common nouns: dog, man, table
- Proper noun: France, Madrid, Mrs Smith, Tom
- Abstract nouns: beauty, courage, fear, joy
- Collective nouns: crowd, flock, group, team
II. Functions of nouns
A noun can function as:
- The subject of a verb: Tom arrived
- The complement of verbs be, get: Tom is an actor
- The object of a verb: / saw Tom
- The object of a preposition: / spoke to Tom.
- A noun is in the possessive case: Tom`s books.
III. Gender
A. Masculine, feminine, neuter
B. Masculine/feminine nouns denoting people
1. Different forms
2. The same forms
C. Domestic animals with different forms




A. Masculine, feminine, neuter
- Masculine: men, boys and male animals (pronoun he/they).
- Feminine: women, girls and female animals (pronoun she/they)
- Neuter: inanimate things, animals whose sex we don`t know and sometimes babies whose sex we don`t know (pronoun it/they)
B. Masculine/feminine nouns denoting people
1. Different forms
boy/ girl gentleman/ lady
son/ daughter bachelor/ spinster
husband/ wife uncle/aunt
bridegroom/bride man/ woman
widower/widow father/mother
nephew/niece prince/ princess
lord/lady king/ queen
Exceptions:
Baby infant
Relative child
Parent spouse
Cousin teenager
2. The majority of nouns indicating occupation have the same form
For example: artist, cook, driver, guide, assistant, dancer, doctor
Exceptions
actor, actress host, hostess
conductor, conductress heir, heiress
manager, manageress steward, stewardess
hero, heroine waiter, waitress
Also salesman, saleswoman etc , but sometimes -person is used instead of -man, -woman` salesperson, spokesperson.
C. Domestic animals with different forms
Domestic animals and many of the larger wild animals have different forms
bull, cow duck, drake
ram, ewe stallion, mare
cock, hen gander, goose
stag, doe tiger, tigress
dog, bitch lion, lioness
Others have the same forms
IV. Plurals
1. General rules
2. Nouns ending in o or ch, sh, ss or x
3. Nouns ending in y
4. Nouns ending in f or fe
5. Plurals formed by vowel changes
6. Unchanged forms

7. Collective nouns
8. Certain words are always plural
9. Words ending in –ics
10. Plural in form but singular in meaning
11. Latin words
12. Compound nouns

1. The plural of a noun is usually made by adding s to the singular:
day, days dog, dogs house, houses
Note:
s is pronounced /s/ after a p, k or f sound.
Otherwise it is pronounced Izl.
When s is placed after ce, ge, se or ze an extra syllable (/iz/) is added to the spoken word.
2. Nouns ending in o or ch, sh, ss or x form their plural by adding es:
tomato, tomatoes
brush, brushes
box, boxes
church, churches
kiss, kisses
But words of foreign origin or abbreviated words ending in o add s only:
dynamo, dynamos kimono, kimonos
piano, pianos kilo,kilos
photo, photos soprano, sopranos
When es is placed after ch, sh, ss or x an extra syllable (/iz/) is added to the spoken word
3. Nouns ending in y following a consonant form their plural by dropping the y and adding ies`
baby, babies
country, countries
fly, flies
lady, ladies
Nouns ending in y following a vowel form their plural by adding s-
boy, boys
day, days
donkey, donkeys
guy, guys
4. Twelve nouns ending in f or fe drop the f or fe and add ves These nouns are calf, half, knife, leaf, life, loaf, self, sheaf, shelf, thief, wife, wolf:
loaf, loaves
wife, wives
wolf, wolves
The nouns hoof, scarf and wharf take either s or ves in the plural
hoofs or hooves
scarfs or scarves
wharfs or wharves
Other words ending in f or fe add s in the ordinary way:
cliff, cliffs
handkerchief, handkerchiefs
safe, safes
5. A few nouns form their plural by a vowel change:
foot, feet louse, lice
mouse, mice woman, women
goose, geese man, men
tooth, teeth child- children
ox- oxen
6. Names of certain creatures do not change in the plural fish is normally unchanged, fishes exists but is uncommon. Some types of fish do not normally change in the plural:
carp pike salmon
Trout cod plaice
squid turbot mackerel
But if used in a plural sense they would take a plural verb. Others add s:
crabs herrings sardines
eels lobsters sharks
deer and sheep do not change: one sheep, two sheep
7. Collective nouns, crew, family, team etc., can take a singular or plural verb.
- Singular if we consider the word to mean a single group or unit:
E.g. Our team is the best
- Plural if we take it to mean a number of individuals:
E.g. Our team are wearing their new jerseys.
When a possessive adjective is necessary, a plural verb with their is more usual than a singular verb with its, though sometimes both are possible:
The jury is considenng its verdict.
The jury are considenng their verdict
8. Certain words are always plural and take a plural verb:
Garments consisting of two parts: clothes, breeches, pants, pyjamas, trousers
- Tools and instruments consisting of two parts: Binoculars, pliers, scissors, spectacles, glasses, scales, etc.
Also certain other words including:
arms (weapons) particulars
damages (compensation) premises/quarters
earnings inches
goods/wares savings
greens (vegetables) spirits (alcohol)
grounds stairs
outskirts surroundings
pains (trouble/effort) valuables
9. A number of words ending in ics:
acoustics, athletics, ethics, hysterics, mathematics, physics, politics etc
They are plural in form and take a plural verb
His mathematics are weak
But names of sciences can sometimes be considered singular:
Mathematics is an exact science
10. Words plural in form but singular in meaning include
news: The news is good
certain diseases: mumps, rickets,
certain games: billiards, dominoes
11. Some words which retain their original Greek or Latin forms make their plurals according to the rules of Greek and Latin.
crisis, crises I kraisis/, /`kraisnz/
phenomenon, phenomena
erratum, errata
radius, radii
memorandum, memoranda
terminus, termini
oasis, oases /au`eisis/, /au`eisrz/
12. Compound nouns
Normally the last word is made plural: boy-friends, break-ins, travel agents
But where man and woman is prefixed, both parts are made plural: men drivers women drivers
The first word is made plural with compounds formed of verb + er nouns + adverbs:
For example: hangers-on, lookers-on, runners-up
and with compounds composed of noun + preposition + noun:
For example: ladies-in-waiting, sisters-in-law, wards of court
Initials can be made plural:
MPs (Members of Parliament)
VIPs (very important persons)
OAPs (old age pensioners)
UFOs (unidentified flying objects)
IV. Uncountable nouns (mass nouns)
A. Kinds of uncountable nouns
1. Names of substances considered generally
2. Abstract nouns
3. Some others
B. Use of uncountable nouns
1. Names of substances considered generally:
bread cream gold paper
Tea beer dust ice
sand water cloth gin
jam soap wine coffee
glass oil stone wood
2. Abstract nouns:
advice experience horror
Pity beauty fear
Information relief courage
Help knowledge suspicion
death hope work
3. Also considered uncountable in English:
baggage damage luggage shopping
camping furniture parking weather
These, with hair, information, knowledge, news, rubbish, are sometimes countable in other languages.
B. Uncountable nouns are always singular and are not used with a/an:
/ don`t want (any) advice or help.
I want (some) information.
He has had no experience in this sort of work.
These nouns are often preceded by some, any, no, a little etc. or by nouns such as bit, piece, slice etc. + of:
a bit of news a grain of sand
a pot of jam a cake of soap
a pane of glass a sheet of paper
a drop of oil a piece of advice
C. Many of the nouns in the above groups can be used in a particular sense and are then countable.
They can take a/an in the singular and can be used in the plural.
Some examples are given below.
Hair (all the hair on one`s head) is considered uncountable, but if we consider each hair separately we say one hair, two hairs etc.
Her hair is black
Whenever she finds a grey hair she pulls it out


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