Any noun which is not the name of a particular person, place, thing or idea is a common noun. We can use a/an, the or the zero article in front of common nouns.
Countable and uncountable nouns
The distinction between countable and uncountable nouns is fundamental in English because only by distinguishing between the two can we understand when to use singular or plural forms and when to use the definite, indefinite and zero articles: a/an, the and ∅, or the appropriate quantifier: a few, much, many, etc.
1- Countable nouns: they are sometimes known as unit or count nouns. If a noun is countable:
- we can use a/an in front of it: a book, an envelope.
- it has a plural and can be used in the question How many?:
How many stamps/envelopes? – Four stamps/envelopes.
- we can use numbers: one stamp, two stamps.
2- Uncountable nouns: they are sometimes known as mass or non-count nouns. If a noun is uncountable:
•we do not normally use a/an in front of it: sugar is expensive.
•it does not normally have a plural and it can be used in the question How much?
How much meat /oil? - A lot of meat/ A little oil.
•we cannot normally use a number (one, two) in front of it.
Sometimes a noun is used uncountably when we are talking about the whole substance or idea, but countably when we are talking about:
•Recognized containers for things. Compare:
I prefer tea to coffee. and Three teas (=cups of tea), please.
•A type, brand of things. Compare:
There is cheese in the fridge. and There were dozens of cheeses (=
kinds of cheese) to choose from.
•A particular example of a physical or concrete thing. Compare:
She has blond hair. and There is a hair In my soup.
Concrete and abstract nouns
Many countable nouns are concrete (having an individual physical existence), for example:
Persons, animals, plants: a girl, a horse, a tree
Objects: a bottle, a desk, a typewriter.
Groups: an army, a crowd, a herd.
Units of measurement: a franc, a kilo, a metre.
Parts of a mass: a bit, a packet, a piece, a slice
Concrete uncountable nouns (sometimes having physical but not 'individual' existence) situation. An abstract noun refers to an idea/ a concept which exists only in our minds. A number of abstract nouns can be used only as countables: e.g. a denial, a proposal, a scheme, a statement. Many uncountable nouns are abstract: e.g. anger, equality, honesty.
Compound nouns
Many nouns in English are formed from two parts (classroom) or, less commonly, three or more (son-in-law, stick-in-the-mud). Sometimes, compounds are spelled with a hyphen, sometimes not. They are usually pronounced with the stress on the first syllable, but there are exceptions.
Single-word compound nouns:
There are many words which we no longer think of as compounds at all, even though they are clearly made up of two words:
a 'cupboard, a 'raincoat, a 'saucepan, the 'seaside, a 'typewriter
Nouns formed with adjective + noun:
a 'greenhouse, a 'heavyweight, 'longhand, a 'redhead
Nouns formed with gerund + noun:
'drinking water, a 'frying pan, a 'walking stick
Here, the meaning is 'something that is used for doing something': e.g. a frying pan (= a pan that is used for frying)
Nouns formed with noun + gerund 'horse-riding, 'sight-seeing, 'sunbathing
Here, the meaning is 'the action of…': horse-riding (= the action of riding a horse).
Nouns formed with adverb particles
These compound nouns are combinations of verbs and adverb particles: e.g. 'breakdown, 'income, 'make-up.
Nouns formed with noun + noun
When two nouns are used together to form a compound noun, the first noun (noun modifier) usually functions like an adjective and is nearly always in the singular. This is the largest category of compound nouns.
A 'car key, a 'chair leg, a 'kitchen sink, 'London 'Airport, 'Moscow 'Stadium Baker street, 'Canterbury 'Road
A 'Ford 'car, an 'IBM com'puter, 'Longman 'Books, 'Shell 'Oil
Plurals
The plural of a noun is usually made by adding 's' to the singular:
day, days dog, dogs house, houses
's' is pronounced /s/ after a p, k or f sound. Otherwise, it is pronounced /z/.
When 's' is placed after ce, ge, se or ze an extra syllable /iz/ is added to the spoken word.
Other plural forms
- 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
-- 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
- 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 etc.
The nouns hoof, scarf, and warf take either s or ves in the plural:
hoofs or hooves scarfs or scarves wharfs or wharves
- A few nouns form their plurals by a vowel change:
Foot, feet louse, lice mouse, mice woman, women Goose, geese man, men tooth, teeth
The plurals of child and ox are children and oxen
- Collective nouns, crew, family, team, government, staff firm committee etc., can take a singular or plural verb; singular if we consider the word to mean a single group or unit:
Our team is the best
or plural if we take it to mean a number of individuals:
Our team are wearing their new shirts.
Certain verbs are always plural and take a plural verb:
Clothes police
Garments consisting of two parts:
Breeches pants pyjamas trousers etc.
and tools and instruments consisting of two parts:
binoculars pliers scissors spectacles glasses scales shears etc
A number of words ending in ics, acoustics, athletics, ethics, hysterics, mathematics, physics, politics etc., which are plural in form, normally take a plural verb:
His mathematics are weak.
But names of sciences can sometimes be considered singular:
Mathematics is an exact science.
Words plural in form but singular in meaning include news:
The news is good.
certain diseases:
measles, rickets, shingles and certain games:
darts dominoes draughts bowls billiards
- Some words which retain their Greek or Latin forms make their plurals according to the rules of Greek or Latin:
crisis, crises /'kraisis/, /'krais:z/ phenomenon, phenomena erratum, errata radius, radii
memorandum, memoranda terminus, termini oasis, oases
Plural of compound nouns
- Normally the last word is made plural:
Boy-friends break-ins travel-agents
But when man and woman are prefixed, both parts are made plural:
Men drivers women drivers
- The first word is made plural with compounds formed of verbs + er nouns + adverbs:
Hangers-on lookers-on runners-up
and with compounds composed of noun + preposition + noun:
sisters-in-law wards of court
Nouns and the possessive case
- 's is used with singular nouns and plural nouns not ending in s:
a man's job the people's choice men's work the crew's quarters a woman's intuition the horse's mouth the butcher's shop the bull's horns a child's voice women's clothes the children's room Russia's exports
- A simple apostrophe (') is used with plural nouns ending in s:
A girls' school the students' hostel The eagles' nest the smiths' car
- Names ending in s can take 's or the apostrophe alone:
Mr. Jones's (or Mr. Jones' house) Yeats's (or Yeats' ) poems - With compounds, the last word takes the 's:
My brother-in-law's guitar
Names consisting of several words are treated similarly:
Henry the Eighth's wives the Prince of Wales's helicopter Use of the possessive case and of + noun