6. Some words have the same form for singular or plural, or there is no separate plural form for

a the names of certain animals, birds and fish, namely

trout; salmon; sheep; grouse (шотландская куропатка), plaice (камбала (плоская морская рыба)), mackerel (макрель; скумбрия), deer; aircraft;

Thus we can say either:

That is a deer, a sheep, etc., or Those are deer, sheep, etc.

N.B. fish – рыба (собир.), но тж. fishes – разные виды рыб; fruit – фрукт (собир.), но тж. fruits – разные виды фруктов;

e.g. We’ve caught a lot of fish.

e.g. He knows well the fishes of the Black Sea.

b craft (but only with the meaning of boat) and aircraft.

Thus, one/fifty aircraft; but arts and crafts.

c nouns, meaning “a person or people of that nationality”, ending in the sound /z/ or /s/, eg

a hundred Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Swiss.

d. countable nouns with singular (and plural) in -s

series a television series two television series

means a means of transport many means of transport

species a species of bird 200 species of bird

crossroads

headquarters

7. Some words are never used in the plural

a. There are some nouns that are usually uncountable in English but often countable in other languages.

News, advice, information, knowledge, furniture, luggage, accommodation, baggage, behaviour, bread, chaos, damage, luck, permission, progress, scenery, traffic, weather, work

These nouns are usually uncountable, so:

1. you cannot use a/an with them

2. they are not normally plural (we don’t say “breads”, “advices” etc.):

I’m going to buy some bread or …a loaf of bread (not a bread)

3. They are used with a singular verb.

The news was very depressing.

4. Sometimes we have plural forms for these “uncountables”, but with a different meaning.

The desk is made of wood (material).

There are some pretty woods in England (collection of trees).

b. Some nouns end in -ics but are not usually plural. They are used with a singular verb.

Mathematics (or maths), physics, electronics, economics, politics, gymnastics, athletics, billiards, politics

measles (корь), mumps (свинка)

Gymnastics is my favourite sport.

8. Some words have no singular

a. plural nouns with no singular. They are used with a plural verb.

arms оружие

clothes одежда

goods товары

greens зелень

earnings заработки

savings сбережения

stairs лестница

surroundings окрестности, среда

belongings вещи, пожитки

people люди

police полиция

thanks благодарность

cattle

congratulations

contents

outskirts

remains

troops

b. Sometimes we use a plural noun for one thing that has two parts. (парные сущ.)

Trousers

Jeans

Tights

Shorts

Pants

Pyjamas

Glasses

Spectacles

Binoculars

Scissors

9. Some singular nouns can be used with a plural or singular verb. These nouns are all groups of people. (собирательные сущ.)

a. We often think of them as a number of people (=they), not one thing (=it). So we use a plural verb.

Government

Staff

Team

Family

Audience

Committee

Company

Firm

Family

Class

Club

Orchestra

School

The government (=they) want to increase taxes.

The staff at the school (=they) are not happy with their new working conditions.

b. A singular verb is also possible.

Every family here owns a house.