- •Nouns: singular and plural
- •Nouns: common and possessive case
- •Count and noncount nouns
- •Some common noncount nouns
- •Using nouns as modifiers
- •The indefinite article
- •The definite article
- •No article
- •Reflexive pronouns
- •Indefinite pronouns
- •Quantitive pronouns
- •General Questions
- •Tag questionS
- •Passive Voice
- •Passive Voice
- •May; might
- •Must; be to; have to; have got to
- •Should; ought to
- •Indefinite pronoun «one»
- •The Prepositional Infinitive Complex
Nouns: singular and plural
Singular |
Plural |
Uses |
day bird street rose |
days birds streets roses |
The plural of a noun is usually made by adding -s to the singular |
tomato match dish class box |
tomatoes matches dishes classes boxes |
Nouns ending in -o, -ch, -sh, -s, -ss or -x form their plural by adding -es. (NOTE: words of foreign origin or abbreviated words ending in -o add -s only: dynamo - dynamos; kilo - kilos; photo - photos; piano - pianos); |
baby city |
babies cities |
Nouns ending in -y following a consonant form their plural by dropping the -y and adding -ies. |
loaf wife wolf calf half knife shelf life sheaf |
loaves wives wolves calves halves knives shelves lives sheaves |
Twelve nouns ending in -f or -fe drop the -f or -fe and add -ves: loaf, wife, wolf, calf, half, leaf, self, knife, life, sheaf, shelf, thief. (Exceptions: beliefs, chiefs, roofs, cliffs, safes, cuffs, handkerchiefs). The nouns hoof, scarf and wharf take either -s or -ves in the plural: wharfs or wharves, hoofs or hooves; scarfs or scarves. |
man woman foot goose tooth louse mouse child |
men women feet geese teeth lice mice children |
A few nouns form their plural by a vowel change. |
sheep deer fish species swine |
sheep deer fish species swine |
Some nouns have the same form for singular and plural. |
crisis criterion datum |
crises criteria data |
Some nouns that English has borrowed from other languages have foreign plurals. |
Nouns: common and possessive case
a) SingularNoun
the girl my wife my baby Tom Archimedes Pythagoras Thomas Carlos my brother-in -law |
Possessive Form
the girl's name my wife's coat my baby's toys Tom's friend Archimedes' Law Pythagoras' Theorem Thomas's/Thomas' Carlos's/Carlos' my brother-in-law's guitar |
1. 's is used with singular nouns not ending in -s.
2. Classical names ending in -s usually add only the apostrophe. 3. Other names ending in -s take 's or the apostrophe alone. 4. With compounds, the last word takes the 's. |
b) Plural Noun
the girls
the men my children |
Possessive Form
the girls' names
the men's work my children's toys |
1. A simple apostrophe (') is used with plural nouns ending in -s. 2. 's is used with plural nouns not ending in -s. |