4.1 Usage:

There are of three types of nouns: countable, uncountable, collective:

countable nouns are nouns that can be counted and have a plural form.

uncountable nouns are nouns that cannot be counted and do not have a plural form.

collective nouns are the name for a group/collection of people/animals/things.

In English, Nouns are used in the same way as they are in French but they are not defined as masculine/feminine/neuter. Some nouns are clearly masculine or feminine: man (men) - masculine , woman (women) - feminine.

Domestic animals are called he or she to distinguish between male and female.

e.g. I have a dog and he sleeps all the time.

4.2 Structure: Countable Nouns:

A: To form plural nouns add -s to the singular form:

e.g. book books

elephant elephants

However, for some groups of nouns, different rules apply

B: Nouns with distinct male and female forms. Common examples include:

masculine feminine masculine feminine

actor actress hero heroine

author authoress host hostess

businessman businesswoman man woman

duke duchess prince princess

earl countess waiter waitress

god goddess widow widower

C: Singular nouns ending in -s, -sh, -ch and x add -es in the plural form:

singular: plural singular plural

glass glasses bush bushes

stitch stitches box box

D: Many singular nouns ending in -f change -f to -v and add -es in the plural form. There are a few nouns ending in -f that behave normally and add -s in the plural form. Here are common examples of both types:

singular plural singular plural

calf calves chief chiefs

half halves cliff cliffs

leaf leaves roof roofs

loaf loaves

shelf shelves

E: Singular nouns ending in -fe change -fe to -ves in the plural form:

knife - knives life - lives wife - wives

F: Singular nouns ending in a -y after a consonant change -y to -i and add es in the plural form:

city - cities company - companies factory - factories

G: Singular nouns ending in -y after a vowel add -s in the plural form:

boy - boys

key - keys

toy - toys

trolley - trolleys

H: Some singular nouns ending in -o add -es in the plural while others add s. It is important to learn the most common nouns of both types:

singular plural singular plural

hero heroes banjo banjos

potato potatoes dynamo dynamos

tomato tomatoes piano pianos

volcano volcanoes solo solos

4.3 Structure: Countable Nouns: Exceptions:

A: Certain nouns do not add -s in the plural. Common examples are:

aircraft counsel graffiti media

offspring spaghetti

B: Some nouns, particularly the names of animals and fish, have the same form in singular and plural. Common examples are:

antelope - antelope buffalo - buffalo deer - deer fish - fish

pike - pike sheep - sheep salmon - salmon trout - trout

C: A number of nouns have no singular form even if there is only one:

singular/plural singular/plural singular/plural singular/plural

barracks headquarters pliers shorts

clothes jeans premises spectacles

contents manners pyjamas spirits

cross-roads means scissors trousers

goods outskirts savings valuables

D: Certain compound nouns add -s to the first word in the plural form. Some examples are:-

editor-in-chief - editors-in-chief

father-in-law - fathers-in-law

son-in-law - sons-in-law

passer-by - passers-by

E: Some nouns change vowels and/or add consonants in the middle of the word or add - en in the plural form:

foot - feet child - children

goose - geese ox - oxen

man - men

woman - women

mouse - mice

louse - lice

F: Certain singular nouns ending in -ex or ix remove the last two letters and add -ices in the plural form.. Common examples are:-

appendix - appendices index - indices vortex - vortices

G: Certain nouns used commonly in English are the same in English and French:

bureau - bureaux gateau - gateaux tableau - tableaux

4.4 Structure: Uncountable Nouns:

Uncountable nouns cannot be counted normally and have no plural form:

e.g. milk sugar soap meat

4.5 Structure: Uncountable Nouns: Exceptions:

A: Some uncountable nouns can be counted by naming the container/shape/weight in which they are found:

e.g. a bottle of milk a bag of sugar a bar of soap a tin of meat

B: Certain uncountable nouns can be counted by using a piece of .... , a bit of .... :

e.g. a piece of information a piece of news a piece of advice

a bit of information a bit of news a bit of advice

Here are some more nouns that may be used in this way: advice, furnitue, homework, housework, luggage, money, research.

4.6 Structure: Collective Nouns:

Collective nouns can be singular or plural and name groups/collections of people/animals/things

e.g. a crowd of people a herd of cows a bunch of bananas

A: When the collective nouns is the subject of the sentence, the verb is usually singular:

e.g. A flock of sheep is very noisy.

A team of horses was pulling the old carriage.

B: When the individual members of the collective group are important, the verb is plural:

e.g. The police are protecting the town.

The government are protesting about the low wages of members of Parliament.