2015-08-13
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A noun names a person, place, thing, or idea.
Usually, the first page of a grammar book tells you about nouns. Nouns give names of concrete or abstract things in our lives. As babies learn " mom," " dad," or " milk " as their first word, nouns should be the first topic when you study a foreign language.
For the plural form of most nouns, add s.
- bottle – bottles
- cup – cups
- pencil – pencils
- desk – desks
- sticker – stickers
- window – windows
For nouns that end in ch, x, s, or s sounds, add es.
- box – boxes
- watch – watches
- moss – mosses
- bus – buses
For nouns ending in f or fe, change f to v and add es.
- wolf – wolves
- wife – wives
- leaf – leaves
- life – lives
Some nouns have different plural forms.
- child – children
- woman – women
- man – men
- mouse – mice
- goose – geese
Nouns ending in vowels like y or o do not have definite rules.
- baby – babies
- toy – toys
- kidney – kidneys
- potato – potatoes
- memo – memos
- stereo – stereos
A few nouns have the same singular and plural forms.
- sheep – sheep
- deer – deer
- series – series
- species – species
[Quiz 1.1]
Choose the correct form of the noun in each sentence.
1) I have three (child, children).
2) There are five (man, men) and one (woman, women).
3) (Baby, Babies) play with bottles as toys.
4) I put two big (potato, potatoes) in the lunch box.
5) A few men wear (watch, watches).
6) I put a (memo, memos) on the desk.
7) I saw a (mouse, mice) running by.
8) There are few (bus, buses) on the road today.
Count Nouns vs. Non-Count Nouns
Count nouns
Can be counted as one or more.
- pen, computer, bottle, spoon, desk, cup, television, chair, shoe, finger, flower, camera, stick, balloon, book, table, comb, etc.
Take an s to form the plural.
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- pens, computers, bottles, spoons, desks, cups, televisions, chairs, shoes, fingers, flowers, cameras, sticks, balloons, books, tables, combs, etc.
Work with expressions such as (a few, few, many, some, every, each, these, and the number of).
- a few pens, a few computers, many bottles, some spoons, every desk, each cup, these televisions, the number of chairs, a few shoes, a few fingers, many flowers, some cameras, every stick, each balloon, these books, the number of tables, many combs, etc.
Work with appropriate articles (a, an, or the).
- a pen, the computer, a bottle, the spoon, a desk, the cup, a television, the chair, a shoe, the finger, a flower, the camera, a stick, the balloon, a book, the table, a comb, etc.
Do NOT work with much (for example, you would never say much pens or much computers).
