Categories of the Noun
THE NUMBER
Singular and Plural. –When you speak of one thing at a time, the noun that you use is in the Singularnumber; as “a cow”.
When you speak of more than onething at a time, the noun that you use is in the Pluralnumber; as “cows”.
How Plurals are formed. –The main rules are: 1) Add “s” to the Singular. This is the general rule.
Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural.
Cow cows Town towns Boy boys Star stars Bird birds Flea fleas
But there are some specific rules: 2) Add “es” to the Singular, if you find that you cannot pronounce the “s” without the help of “e”:
Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural.
Glass glass-es Brush brush-es Box box-es Branch branch-es Kiss kiss-es Porch porch-es
Note. – If the Singular ends with a silent “e”, the e is dropped before the “es” of the Plural:
Singular. Plural. Singular.Plural.
House hous-es Size siz-es Page pag-es Bridge bridg-es Face fac-es Nose nos-es Cause caus-es Horse hors-es
3) Nouns ending in “-y”: a) If the Singular ends in “-y”, and the “-у” is preceded by a consonant, change “у” into “ies”:
Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural.
Fly flies Army armies Cry cries Penny pennies, pence
b) If the Singular ends in “ay”, “ey”, or “oy” (i.e. if the “у” is preceded by a vowel, and not by a consonant), simply add “s” and make no change in the “у”:
Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural.
Day days Ray rays Boy boys Monkey monkey
c) Proper nouns in “-y” never change their form:
Singular. Plural
Mary Marys
4) Nouns ending in “-f / fe”: a) If the Singular ends in “f / fe”, change the “f / fe” into “ves”:
Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural.
Wife wives Loaf loaves Wolf wolves Thief thieves
b)But there are at least fourteen Singular nouns ending in “f / fe”, which form the Plural by simply adding “s” to the Singular.
Singular. PluralSingular. Plural.
Chief chiefs Proof proofs Roof roofs Strife strifes Reef reefs Dwarf dwarfs Gulf gulfs Grief griefs
c) Some of these, however, for example, hoof, staff, scarf, turf, and wharf, sometimes form the Plural in “ves”. Singular. PluralSingular. Plural.
Chief chiefs Proof proofs Roof roofs Strife strifes Hoof hoofs, hooves Fife fifes Turf turfs, turves Reef reefs Dwarf dwarfs Scarf scarfs, scarves Gulf gulfs Wharf wharfs, wharves Grief griefs Staff staffs, staves
5) Nouns ending in “-o”: a) If the Singular ends in “o”, and the “о” is preceded by a consonant, add “es”, not “s”, to the Singular:
Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural.
Cargo cargoes Volcano volcanoes Hero heroes Potato potatoes Buffalo buffaloes Echo echoes Motto mottoes Negro negroes
b) The following are exceptions: grotto, grottos; halo, halos; memento, mementos; proviso, provisos; tiro, tiros; piano, pianos; canto, cantos; solo, solos. No reason can be given to justify this troublesome distinction.
c) If the “о” is preceded by a vowel, the Plural is formed by simply adding “s” to the singular, as: folio, folios; cameo, cameos.
6) Compound nouns: a) “s / es” is added to the noun in Singular (to the last element):
Singular. Plural.
Girlfriend girlfriends Step-son step-sons Maid-servant maid-servants Foot-man foot-men
b) Some nouns add “s” to the head element:
Singular. Plural.
Son-in-law sons-in-law Man-of-war men-of-war Court-martial courts-martial Commander-in-chief commanders-in-chief Hanger-on hangers-on Maid-of- honour maids-of-honour
c) Nouns in which is difficult to define the stem, add “s” in the plural form at the end (to the final element)
Singular. Plural.
Forget-me-not forget-me-nots Merry-go-round merry-go-rounds
d) The formation of nouns ending in “full / ful”:
Singular. Plural.
Handful handfuls Spoonful spoonfuls Columnful columnfuls
But also: column-full columns-full
e) Adjectivized nouns are always singular, even though their meaning is plural: a three-storey building, a four-act play, a ten-year-old boy. But also: 20-years difference in age.
Exceptional Plurals
(7) There are eight nouns that form the Plural by changing the inside vowel of the Singular:
Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural.
Man men Goose geese Woman women Tooth teeth Foot feet Mouse mice Louse lice Dormouse dormice
(8) There are four nouns, that make the Plural terminate in “en” or “ne”:
Singular. Plural. Singular Plural.
Ox oxen Child children Cow kine (or cows) Brother brethren (по духу) brothers (по крови) (9) There are a few nouns that have the same form for the Plural as for the Singular:
Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural. Deer deer Trout trout Sheep sheep Cod cod Fish fish Brace brace Swine swine Dozen dozen Grouse grouse Score score Salmon salmon Stone stone (weight)
(10) Some nouns have no Singular: Annals Gallows Pincers Victuals Bellows Statistics Scissors Tidings Tongs Suds Shambles News Shears Nuptials Thanks Means
In spite of the Plural form we say, “By this means”, “This news is not true”. Note. – Nouns “earth”, “sun” etc., have no Plural, because in nature there is only one earth and only one sun. Ex. I Write the plurals of the nouns and explain them. Stimulus, Russian, Dutchman, Englishwoman, neucleus, fish, crisis, looker-on, on looker, cuff, rifleman, tooth, commander-in-chief, muff, foot, boot, mouth, sheep ship, cheese, Burmese, deer, goose, swine, analysis, criterion, series, corps, fruit, datum, thesis, radius, trout, phenomenon, room-mate, species, fellow-worker, basis, apparatus, tie, handkerchief, portfolio, zero, roof, enemy, solo, stimulus, leaf, youth, court-martial, ditto, merry-go-round, stratum, salmon, formula, memorandum, scarf, handful, Mary. Ex. 2. Explain the difference of meaning of the following double plurals:
1. brothers 1. geniuses brother genius 2. Brethren 2. genii
1. pennies 1. staffs penny staff 2. pence 2. Staves
1. cloths 1. indexes cloth index 2. clothes 2. indices Ex. 3. In the following exercises – (1) pick out all the nouns; (2) say whether each noun is Singular or Plural as it stands; (3) change every Plural into a Singular, and every Singular into a Plural: 1. There are many cities in England, many smaller towns, and an immense number of villages. 2. A cat and a dog are seldom good friends. 3. The earth turns round once in one day and one night. 4. When the cat is away, the mice play. 5. The branch of that tree has leaves of a bright green colour. 6. The cries of animals are many and various: a horse neighs; a dog barks; a cat mews; a swine or pig grunts; an elephant trumpets; an ass brays; an ox lows; a monkey chatters; a goose cackles; a boy laughs or weeps; a fish is silent. 7. If we stop in this wood, we shall be lost. So let us get back into the public road, before night comes on. 8. The wolf living in that forest killed many calves. 9. Some thieves broke into the house of my friend. 10. The stars are seen through the leaves and branches of that oak-tree. He went out fishing for salmon, and caught two dozen and more in his net, besides some trout to the number of two or three score. 11. Sheep cannot run as fast as deer; and so the sheep were caught first by the wolves. 12. The cat has caught two mice and one rat today. 13. Oxen are of more value than deer to a farmer. 14. The feet of men are larger than those of women; but the teeth are about the same in size. 15. The sun’s light is brighter than the moon’s; but the moon’s rays are not so hot as those of the sun. 16. Joseph had eleven brethren who sold him as a slave to some merchants on their way to Egypt. 17. A valley is usually hotter than the top of a hill. 18. He is a big man, and weighs fourteen stone.
Дополнительный материал по теме “The category of number” изложен в учебном пособии “I Love English Grammar” Л.Д. Червяковой (раздел “Subject – verb agreement” пункты 8, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19).
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