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~ Psalms 147:3
Teacher: You missed
school yesterday, didn’t
you?
Pupil: Not very much!
Dear visitor,
الذى فى الاعلى
THE PLURAL OF NOUNS
Most nouns form the plural by
adding -s or -es-or ies.
boat
Book
boats
Books
hat
hats
house
houses
river
Dress
Shirt
Coat
suit
Bag
Tie
Chicken
rivers
Dresses
Shirts
Coats
suits
Bags
Ties
Chickens
A noun ending in -y preceded
by a consonant makes the
plural with -ies.
a cry
cries
a fly
flies
a nappy
nappies
a poppy
poppies
a city
cities
a lady
ladies
a baby
babies
man
men
child
children
tooth
teeth
foot
feet
person
people
leaf
leaves
half
halves
knife
knives
wife
wives
life
lives
loaf
loaves
potato
potatoes
cactus
cacti
focus
foci
fungus
fungi
nucleus
nuclei
syllabus
syllabi
analysis
analyses
diagnosis
diagnoses
oasis
oases
thesis
theses
crisis
crises
criterion
criteria
datum
data
The same form in singular and plural.
sheep
fish
species
aircraft
Some nouns have a plural form but take
a singular verb.
Some nouns have a plural form and take
a plural verb.
others include:
savings, thanks, steps, stair, customs,
congratulations, tropics, wages, spectacles,
outskirts, goods, wits
COUNTABLE AND
UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
Countable nouns are for things we can count
dog, horse, man, shop, idea., turkey, pie, drink,
firework, present, electronic
set,sppon,fork,kitchen,bedroom,air condition,
sandwich,canned food.
They usually have a singular and plural form.
two dogs, ten horses, a man, six men,
the shops, a few ideas.
Uncountable nouns are for the things that we
cannot count
Tea, sugar, water, air, rice.
They are often the names for abstract ideas or
qualities.
Knowledge, beauty, Jewelery, anger, fear,
love,fun, laughter,entertainment.
They are used with a singular verb.
They usually do not have a plural form.
We cannot say sugars, angers, knowledges.
We cannot use a/an with these nouns. To express a
quantity of one of these nouns, use a word or
expression like:
some, a lot of, a piece of, a bit of,
a great deal of...
Some nouns are countable in other languages but
uncountable in English.
Some of the most common of these are:
accommodation
advice
baggage
behaviour
bread
furniture
information
luggage
news
progress
traffic
travel
trouble
weather
work
BE CAREFUL with the noun 'hair' which is normally
uncountable in English:
It can also be countable when referring to
individual hairs:
Words can be combined to form compound nouns.
These are very common, and new combinations are
invented almost daily. They normally have two parts
. The second part identifies the object or person in
question (man, friend, tank, table, room). The first
part tells us what kind of object or person it is, or
what its purpose is (police, boy, water, dining,
bed):
1. as one word.
Example: policeman, boyfriend
2. as two words joined with a hyphen.
Example: dining-table
3. as two separate words.
Example: fish tank.
Compound nouns often have a meaning that is
different from the two separate words.
Stress is important in pronunciation, as it
distinguishes between a compound noun (e.g.
greenhouse) and an adjective with a noun (e.g.
green house).
In compound nouns, the stress usually falls
on the first syllable:
a 'greenhouse = place where we grow plants
(compound noun)
a green 'house = house painted green (adjective
and noun)
a 'bluebird = type of bird (compound noun)
a blue 'bird = any bird with blue feathers (adjective
* Many common compound nouns are formed from
phrasal verbs (verb + adverb or adverb + verb).
Breakdown, outbreak, outcome, cutback, drive-
in, drop-out, feedback, flyover, hold-up,
hangover, outlay, outlet, inlet, makeup, output,
set-back, stand-in, takeaway, walkover.
We use the + nationality adjective ending in -ese or
-ish with a plural verb, to refer to all people of that
nationality:
COUNTRY
ADJECTIVE
NOUN
Africa
African
an African
America
American
an American
Argentina
Argentinian
an Argentinian
Austria
Austrian
an Austrian
Autralia
Australian
an Australian
Bangladesh
Bangladesh(i)
a Bangladeshi
Belgium
Belgian
a Belgian
Brazil
Brazilian
a Brazilian
Britain
British
a Briton/Britisher
Cambodia
Cambodian
a Cambodian
Chile
Chilean
a Chilean
China
Chinese
a Chinese
Colombia
Colombian
a Colombian
Croatia
Croatian
a Croat
the Czech
Czech
a Czech
Denmark
Danish
a Dane
England
English
an Englishman
Finland
Finnish
a Finn
France
French
a Frenchman
Germany
German
a German
Greece
Greek
a Greek
Holland
Dutch
a Dutchman
Hungary
Hungarian
a Hungarian
Iceland
Icelandic
an Icelander
India
Indian
an Indian
Indonesia
Indonesian
an Indonesian
Iran
Iranian
an Iranian
Iraq
Iraqi
an Iraqi
Ireland
Irish
an Irishman
Israel
Israeli
an Israeli
Jamaica
Jamaican
a Jamaican
Japan
Japanese
a Japanese
Mexico
Mexican
a Mexican
Morocco
Moroccan
a Moroccan
Norway
Norwegian
a Norwegian
Peru
Peruvian
a Peruvian
the Philippines
Philippine
a Filipino
Poland
Polish
a Pole
Portugal
Portuguese
a Portuguese
Rumania
Rumanian
a Rumanian
Russia
Russian
a Russian
Scotland
Scottish
a Scot
Serbia
Serbian
a Serb
the Slovak
Slovak
a Slovak
Sweden
Swedish
a Swede
Switzerland
Swiss
a Swiss
Thailand
Thai
a Thai
The USA
Tunisia
Tunisian
a Tunisian
Turkey
Turkish
a Turk
Vietnam
Vietnamese
a Vietnamese
Yugoslavia
Yugoslav
a Yugoslav
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