Unit 1

Unit 1:
Plurals of countable and uncountable nouns
1. Singulars (N) and Plurals (Ns)
Some examples
Singulars
Plurals
An orange
Two oranges
A bat
Two bats
Rules

Some more examples:
A book three books
A pen some pens
An apple ten apples

Plural = Singular + -s
Exceptions 1:
“-s, -o, -x, -ch, -sh endings”
A torch
Two torches
A glass
Three glasses
A fox
Two foxes
A tomato
Two tomatoes
A toothbrush
Seven toothbrushes
Nouns end in -s, -ss, -x, -o, -ch, -sh, add –es to the nouns
Notes
Nouns are loan words or abbreviations that end in –o, add –s only to the nouns
Eg. A radio
Two radios
A photo
Two photos
Some more words: Pianos, kilos, videos, memos,
bamboos, zoos,..
Exceptions 2: “-y” ending
Nouns end in a consonant + “y”, change “y” to “i” and add “es”
Nouns end in a vowel + “y”, add “–s” to the noun
Five vowels: A, E, I, O, U
A butterfly
Two butterflies
A strawberry
Two strawberries
A key
Two keys
Exception 3: -f, -fe endings
Nouns end in -f, -fe, omit -f, -fe and add –ves
But a chef -> chefs, a roof -> roofs,
a handkerchief -> handkerchiefs
A knife
Two knives
A thief
Two thieves
Irregular
Notes:
We often use “a/an” before a singular noun
“A” is used before a consonant sound, “an” before a vowel sound (a, e, i, o, u)
Eg:
A banana, a book…, but: a uniform, a university
An apple, an orange, an egg…, but: an hour
“A/an” means “one”
We can’t use a singular countable noun alone. It must go with a, an, one, the, my, this, that….
Notes
We use cardinal numbers, some, or any, many, few… before plural nouns
Eg: two children, some beautiful girls
Some nouns are always in plural forms: jeans, trousers, scissors, glasses…
We can use a plural noun alone to say about something in general
Eg: I like bananas (= bananas in general)
Children like sweets (= children and sweets in general)
Practice
birds
shoes
dolphins
clowns
spiders
foxes
mosquitoes
benches
dresses
witches
ladies
babies
families
diaries
flies
mice
fish
teeth
policemen
geese
Boys
Teachers
Days
Schools
handkerchiefs
Tomatoes
Benches
Watches
Kisses
Addresses
Ladies
Bodies
Countries
Strawberries
Babies
Loaves
Housewives
Leaves
Shelves
Lives
Halves
Countable and Uncountable Nouns
I. Countable nouns
The things we can count belong to countable nouns
Countable nouns have singulars and plurals
We use a/an/one before a singular noun
Eg: a book two books
an apple two apples
II. Uncountable nouns
Things we can’t count belong to uncountable nouns
Uncountable nouns haven’t got plurals
We don’t use a/an and numbers before uncountable nouns
We use some with uncountable nouns
Eg: Some beer, some bread…

Types of uncountable nouns

Liquid: Water, milk, wine, beer, cooking oil, petrol….
Small units with a large number: rice, salt, sugar, sand, hair….
Toothpaste, sun screen, butter, cheese…
Bread, meat, cake, toast,…
Fruit, luggage, money, work, homework..
Air, gas, oxygen, …
Silk, leather, gold, cotton…
Abstract nouns: knowledge, information, news…
Names of learning subjects: English, economics, politics, biology…
How can we count uncountable nouns ?
We can never count an uncountable noun but we can count things that contain the nouns.
Eg: We can count water by pouring it into a glass/a cup… and we count the number of the glasses/cups
We can use a uncountable noun alone to say about things in general
Eg: You shouldn’t drink coffee before going to bed. (=coffee in general)
Water doesn’t contain any calories
(=water in general )
A
Some
A
Some
Some
An
Some
A
Some
Some
A
Some
Some
A
Some
Some
A
A
Some
Some
An
Some
Some
A
Some
Some
bowls
loaves
slices
glasses of
bottles
pieces
packets
cans
cups
jars
pieces
bowls
churches
teams
Loaves/slices
pieces
horses
Cups
bicycles
bottles
boys
ladies
children
cans
glasses
days
packets
bottles
geese
jars
mice
Kilos/pieces
THANK YOU FOR ATTENDANCE