Noun.
The Noun.
Nouns are names of objects (things, human beings, animals, materials, and abstract notions).
Semantically all nouns can be divided into two main groups: proper names (John, London, The Thames) and common nouns.
Common nouns are subdivided into countable and uncountable nouns. Countable nouns denote objects that can be counted. Uncountable nouns are names of objects that can not be counted.
The Gender of nouns.
In accordance with their meanings nouns may be classed as belonging to the masculine, feminine, and neuter gender. Names of male beings are masculine (man, husband, son and so on), and names of female beings are feminine (woman, wife, girl, daughter and so on). All other nouns are said to be neuter (pen, flower, family, rain and so on). There are nouns in English which may be treated as males or females – common gender (cousin, friend).
Sometimes a separate form for a female is build up by means of the suffix – ess (host- hostess, actor- actress).
Nouns denoting various kinds of vessels (ship, boat), the noun car, as well as the names of countries may be referred to as she.
Exercise 1. Put down the nouns of feminine:
A lion, a tiger, an actor, a poet, a man, an uncle, a husband, a brother, a grandfather, a son, a master, a baron, a count, a shepherd, a host.
Exercise 2. Put down the nouns of masculine:
1. A lady, a girl, a niece, Mrs. Smith, a widow, a stewardess, a French woman, a cow, a queen, a princess, a duchess, a hen, a mother.
The Plural of Nouns
book – books, year – years, shoe – shoes
bus – buses, class – classes, bush – bushes, speech – speeches, box-boxes
city – cities, army – armies
Note: day –days, key – keys, boy - boys
hero – heroes, tomato – tomatoes
Note: piano – pianos, photo – photos
leaf – leaves, knife - knives
Note: chief – chiefs, handkerchief – handkerchiefs, roof – roofs, safe – safes
man – men, woman – women, foot – feet, tooth – teeth, goose – geese, mouse – mice, louse – lice, ox – oxen, child – children
datum – data, erratum – errata, memorandum – memoranda, phenomenon – phenomena, basis – bases, crisis – crises, radius – radii
fish, sheep, deer, swine
hotel-keeper – hotel-keepers, mother-in-law – mothers-in-law, passer-by – passers-by
Note: man-servant – men-servants, woman-doctor – women-doctors
10. schoolboy – schoolboys, housewife – housewives, postman - postmen
There are a number of nouns in English which form their plural in an irregular way.
A few nouns form their plural by a change of vowel. They are: man- men, woman- women, tooth- teeth, foot- feet, mouse- mice, goose- geese, louse- lice.
The peculiar plural form in the nouns: ox- oxen, child- children.
A few nouns have the same form for the singular and the plural: a sheep- sheep, a swine- swine, a deer- deer, a fish- fish, a craft- craft.
The following nouns ending in –s in the singular remain unchanged in the plural: a means- means, a barracks- barracks, a series- series, a species- species.
Some other nouns borrowed from other languages keep their foreign plural forms: analysis- analyses, basis- bases, crisis- crises, datum- data, thesis – theses.
Exercise 3. Write the plural form of the following nouns:
Place, library, language, dress, fly, watch, clock, country, eye, bus, bush, party, ray, thief, company, Negro, mass, leaf, wolf, glass, key, fox, half, life, day, play, factory, city, colony, roof, month, opportunity, journey, shelf, hero.
Exercise 4. Write the plural form of the following nouns:
Match, boy, handkerchief, potato, deer, piano, lady, suffix, college, writer, family, wife, parrot, house, bird, turkey, box, dish, sheep, banana, window, tomato, swine, dress, lorry, photo, brush.
Exercise 5. Write the plural form of the following nouns:
Man, phenomenon, woman, tooth, foot, goose, child, crisis, mouse, ox, postman, son-in-law, editor-in-chief, fisherman, datum, schoolgirl, sister-in-law, basis, text-book, pocket-knife, passer-by, statesman, erratum, radius, saleswoman.
Exercise 6. Write the singular form of the following nouns:
Lips, logs, rabbits, painters, lines, times, slopes, kites, passes, phrases, types, dishes, countries, melodies, lorries, calves, wives, halves, knives, foxes, heroes, cargoes, mice, geese, children, handkerchiefs, bases, data, fish, oxen, women.
Exercise 7. Put the nouns in bold type into the plural and make other changes if necessary:
1. Put the box on the shelf. 2. I have hurt my foot. 3. This is an English dictionary. 4. Where is the knife? 5. This factory has a good laboratory. 6. The last leaf fell from the tree. 7. This story is very long. 8. The speech was very interesting. 9. He left the key on the table. 10. Where is the brush? 11. I like this new play. 12. The roof of the house was covered with snow. 13. The wife of the sailor came to the shore. 14. A copy of the contract was sent to Moscow. 15. His brother-in-law works hard all day, and wants to rest in the evening.
Exercise 8. Put the nouns in bold type into the singular and make other changes if necessary:
1. My friends want to study French. 2. Children receive a lot of pleasure from these games. 3. Do these girls go to the theatre on Saturday? 4. Those men live in small houses which have three rooms. 5. These students get new books from the library every week. 6. The postmen bring letters three times a day. 7. Housewifes have to work very hard. 8. Parents want to buy some toys, because their sons have a birthday tomorrow. 9. Our chiefs work in offices and do not come home for lunch. 10. The wolves have been shot. 11. The cat caught mice. 12. These factories produce furniture. 13. Women with their husbands came to the shore. 14. The geese are in the yard. 15. The matches will be held in Manchester.
Exercise 9. Indicate the number of each noun in bold type in the following sentences and state whether the noun has the corresponding singular or plural form:
1. It was high noon, and the rays of the sun....... fell straight upon the roofs and streets. 2. The boat floated into the warf to which it belonged. 3. Speaking as a man of science, I should be more happier if there were sharper criteria to help to make our choice. 4. The sheep were spread out roughly in the shape of a figure eight. 5......... a series of pictures of the day’s doings passed before his imagination like the roll of a kinetoscope. 6. Hilma looked at the goldfishes through her tears. 7. ....... we split into twos and threes. 8. “I have done some mathematics.” 9. The grasses rustled under the touch of a foot. 10. He could see the tiny trout moving round and round the stones.
Singular Nouns
1. accommodation, advice, baggage, behaviour, chaos, damage, furniture, hair,
information, knowledge, luck, luggage, money, news, permission, progress,
scenery, traffic, weather, work
mathematics, physics, economics, politics, linguistics
fruit
Plural nouns
trousers, jeans, tights, shorts, pants, pajamas, glasses, spectacles, binoculars,
scissors, scales, tongs
goods, contents, clothes, proceeds, wages, riches
people
Exercise 10. Choose the right variant from given in brackets:
1. My hair … clean (is/are). 2. Can I borrow your scissors? Mine … not sharp enough (is/are). 3. Bad news … people happy (don’t make/doesn’t make). 4. There … hair in my soup (is a/is/are). 5. I don’t want … or help (advices/an advice/advice). 6. Knowledge … power (is/are). 7. I need my glasses. Where … the glasses? (Is/are) 8. In summer we eat a lot of … (fruit/ fruits). 9. There … a lot of sheep in the field (is/are). 10. The police … to interview Fred about the accident (wants/want). 11. Money … not everything (is/are). 12. Last Saturday we went fishing, but we didn’t catch many … (fish/fishs/fishes). 13. Mathematics … an exact science (is/are). 14. Julia’s clothes … in her wardrobe (is/are). 15. Our team … the best (is/are). 16. Our team … playing well (is/ are). 17. The trousers you bought for me … fit me (doesn’t/don’t). 18. Do you think the people … happy with the government? (are/is) 19.We were very unfortunate. We had … (a bad luck/ bad luck). 20. I didn’t have … luggage – just two small bags (many/much).
Exercise 11. Most of these sentences are wrong. Correct them where necessary:
1. Susan was wearing a black jeans. 2. Many people has given up smoking. 3. We had a very good weather while we were on holidays. 4. I’m going to but a new pyjama. 5.There was a police standing at the corner of the street. 6. When the fire alarm rang, there was total chaos. 7. This scissors is not very sharp. 8. The news was very depressing. 9. George is unemployed. He’s looking for a work. 10. Gymnastics are my favourite sport.
Exercise 12.Translate the following sentences into English:
1.Летом мы едим очень много фруктов. 2.Его волосы совсем темные. 3.Я купил эти часы в Москве. Они очень хорошие. 4.Я не мог войти в сад, ворота были закрыты. 5.Эти новости очень интересные. 6.Ваши советы мне очень помогли сегодня. 7.Кому принадлежат эти деньги? 8.Он сделал большие успехи в английском языке. 9.В этом году фрукты очень дешевые. 10.Сани стоят у ворот. 11.Его одежда совсем новая. 12.Его заработная плата очень высокая. 13.Товар только что прибыл. 14.Содержание его письма было совсем неожиданным. 15.Какая прекрасная погода сегодня!
Exercise 13. Put these sentences in plural:
1. This is a star. 2. This is a boy. 3. This is a baby. 4. That is a plate. 5. That is a flower. 6. That is a bookshelf. 7. Is this a sofa? 8. Is this a bookcase? 9. Is this a man? 10. Is that a ball? 11. Is that a train? 12. Is that a plane? 13. Is the window open? 14. Is the door closed? 15. Is the boy near the window? 16. That is not a king. 17. That is a queen. 18. That is not a bus. 19. This isn’t a goose.20. It is a sheep.
Exercise 14. Put these sentences in plural:
1. What is that child’s name? 2. The cat has caught a mouse. 3. There was a lady, a gentleman, a boy and a girl in the rooms. 4. In the farm- yard we could see an ox, a sheep, a cow and a goose. 5. Is this worker an Englishman or a German? 6. Why don’t you eat this potato? 7. This strawberry is still green. 8. The withered leaf has fallen to the ground. 9. Can you see a bird in that tree? 10. The wolf has been shot. 11. There is a new house in our street. 12. This story id very interesting. 13. I have hurt my foot. 14. He keeps his toys in the box. 15. Put this knife on that table.
The case of Nouns.
English nouns have two case forms – the common case and the genitive case (the child- the child’s father.
The genitive case is formed by means of the suffix – s or the apostrophe (‘) alone.
The -‘s is added to singular nouns and also to irregular plural nouns (men’s, children’s, women’s)
The apostrophe ( ‘) alone is added to regular plural nouns ( soldiers’, parents’, workers’), and also to the proper names ending in – s, ( Hercules’ labours)
The Genitive Case
for people or animals:
the room of my sister – my sister’s room
the house of Mr Brown – Mr Brown’s house
the books of the students – the students’ books
the toys of the children – the children’s toys
the clothes of the men – the men’s clothes
the flat of my mother-in-law – my mother-in-law’s flat
the wedding of Jack and Jill – Jack and Jill’s wedding
for things, ideas etc.:
the door of the garage (not ‘the garage’s door’)
the name of the book
the back of the car
Exercise 15.Replace the of-phrase by the Genitive Case where possible:
The flat of my sister, the son of her mother, the name of this man, the mark of our student, the work of those men, the back of the chair, the sister of my friend, the parents of that boy, the room of these people, the food of those dogs, the hobby of these gentlemen, the voice of this singer, the friend of Susan Taylor, the foot of the animal, the ball of my child, the pen of our teacher, the window of this room, the bicycle of Tom, the bags of her pupils, the arrival of the actors, the father of Dick and Mary, the novel of Dickens.
Exercise 16. Joint the two (or three) nouns according to the examples. Sometimes you have to use -'s or -s'; and sometimes you have to use …of ….
e.g. the owner / that car – the owner of that car
the mother / Ann – Ann’s mother
1. the jacket / that man;
2. the top / the page;
3. the daughter / Charles;
4. the cause / the problem;
5. the birthday / my father;
6. the name / this street;
7. the toys / the children;
8. the new manager / the company;
9. the result / the football match;
10. the garden / our neighbours;
11. the ground floor / the building;
12. the children / don and Mary;
13. the husband / Catherine;
14. the husband / the woman talking to Mary;
15. the car / the parents / Mike;
16. the wedding / the friend / Helen
Exercise 17.Paraphrase the following word combinations using the Genitive Case:
The pen that belongs to Jack Johnson; the camera that belongs to my friend; the books that belong to her pupils; the shoes that belong to the girl; the flats that belong to the workers; the car that belongs to this miner; the coat that belongs to his brother-in-law; the watch that belongs to the teacher; the clothes that belong to the men.
Exercise 18.Translate the following sentences into English:
1.Чья это сумка? – Это сумка тех ребят. 2.Мы можем взять машину моего отца. 3.Я собираюсь написать родителям этих детей. 4.Я открыл двери автомобиля. 5.Его ключи в кармане его пиджака. 6.Мэри и Майк остановились в доме своих друзей. 7.Джей работает в офисе моего дяди. 8.Моя дочка закрыла двери кухни. 9.Платья этих девушек очень дорогие.10.Водитель автобуса закрыл двери. 11.Лидер этой партии сделал интересный доклад. 12.Жена этого джентльмена работает в нашем офисе. 13.Мама Питера – доктор. 14.Чья это видеокамера? 15.Боюсь, что ребенок разбил вазу моей бабушки.
Exercise 19. Paraphrase the sentences using the Genitive Case:
1. The room of my friend. 2. The questions of my son. 3. The wife of my brother. 4. The table of my teacher. 5. The poems of Pushkin. 6. The voice of this girl. 7. The new club of the workers. 8. The letter of Pete. 9. The car of my parents. 10. The life of this woman. 11. The flat of my sister is large. 12. The children of my brother are at home. 13. The room of the boys is large. 14. The name of this girl is Jane. 15. The work of these students is interesting.
Test 1
Choose the right plural form:
1.a crisis 2.a safe 3.a photo 4.a knife 5.a mouse 6.a fish
a) crises a) safes a) photoes a) knifes a) mouses a) fish
b) crisis b) saves b) photos b) knifs b) mice b) fishes
c) crisises c) safees c) photes c) knives c) mouss c) fishs
7.an ox 8.a baby 9.a pencil 10.a man 11.an umbrella 12.a boy
a) ox a) babys a) penciles a) man a) umbrellas a) boys
b) oxes b) babies b) pencils b) men b) umbrellas b) boies
c) oxen c) mans c) umbrells c)boyes
13.a city 14.money 15.a postman 16.a fox 17.a watch 18.an address
a) citys a) moneys a) postmans a) fox a) watches a) -
b) cities b) - b) postsman b) foxes b) watchs b) addresses
c) cityes c) moneies c) postmen c) foxs c) watch c) address
19.a foot 20.jeans 21.a potato 22.a roof 23.a boy-friend 24.a sheep
a) foots a) jeans a) potatoes a) roofs a) boys-friends a) sheep
b) footes b) jeanses b) potatos b) roves b) boy-friends b) sheeps
c) feet c) jeans c) potates c) roofes c) boys-friend c) sheepes
Choose the right variant:
25. Bad news … fast.
a) travel b) travels c) are travelling
26. Could you give me …, please?
a) an advice b) advices c) advice
27. When children are going to spend their summer holidays in a camp they take all necessary things including ….
a) teethbrush b) toothbrushes c) teethbrushes
28. It seems to me that all … are very captious.
a) mother-in-laws b) mothers-in-laws c) mothers-in-law
29. … wedding is set for 2 o’clock at Zillan.
a) Helen and Nick’s b) Helen’s and Nick’s c) Helen’s and Nick
30. The National … Bureau demanded that childcare provision should be improved.
a) Childs’ b) Childrens’ c) Children’s
Test 2.
1. State whether the nouns in bold type are countable or uncountable nouns and may accordingly be used in the forms of both numbers and only the one number:
1. “What extreme pains you take with the writing”! 2. ....... she looked down on the shining waters. 3. My hopes and fears are both fulfilled to- night. 4. I want to give you some information.
5. She had shown him many kindnesses on her visit. 6. But it was a summer night, fortunately and fine weather. 7. The room was panelled in black oak. 8. Outside the skies were grey. 9. They walked slowly along the road between thick mountain shrub. 10. May be they stopped the train to take on wood or water, or something.
2. Write the plurals of:
Russian, Dutchman, story, storey, cuckoo, formula, nucleus, crisis, fish, journey, difficulty, chief, tomato, sentry, half, ox, datum, brother- in - law, cargo, passer- by, overall, looker- on, onlooker, painful, wife, hero, bush, tooth, cuff, penny, mouse, dugout, rifle- man, spoonful.
3. State to what class the nouns in bold type belong (class nouns, names of materials or proper names):
1. The hotel specialized in homely English fare and we had a cut off a leg of excellent lamb with green peas and new potatoes and a deep fish apple pie with cream to follow. 2. They would see the river and fruit blossom. 3. He was reading in the library, I was very much impressed by his power of concentration. 4. Snow lay thick in the valley. 5. The family were seated round the table. 6. Isabel poured out the coffee and Larry lit his pipe. 7. I found them sitting over a cup of tea. 8. The hills ran up clear above the vegetation in spires of naked rock. 9. The plane trees were just bursting into leaf. 10. You had better have a slice of ham or an egg, or something with your tea?
4. Indicate the number of each noun in bold type in the following sentences and state whether the noun has the corresponding singular or plural form:
1. Herbert was standing among the idle lookers – on. 2. My scanty hairs were turning greyer and more grey. 3. Mary ...... adjusted her spectacles. 4. Mr. Butcher took off his glasses and cleaned them. 5. I went out and carried my bags up the stairs. 6. The house was on the outskirts of the town. 7. “......... and where do you keep the cheeses and the butter?” 8. Creamy white were these bells, shaped like lilies of the valley. 9. “Without me in between you would seem a different species.”10. In the water tiny fish swam between the olive growths of seaweed.......
5. Put these sentences in the plural:
1. This man is an engineer. 2. That woman is my sister. 3. This child is my son. 4. That goose is big. 5. This mouse is white. 6. This man is a doctor. 7. That woman is my cousin. 8. That girl is my niece. 9. This girl has a blue sweater. 10. This boy has a good coat. 11. There is a table in the room.
12. I have a good pen. 13. There is a flower in the vase. 14. This child’s foot is sore.
6. Translate from English into Russian using the Genitive Case:
1. Он показал мне письмо своей сестры. 2. Она взяла коньки своего брата. 3. Дайте мне тетради наших учеников. 4. Принесите вещи детей. 5. Вчера дети нашли птичье гнездо. 6. Это семья моего друга. 7. Отец моего друга инженер, а мать моего друга преподаватель. 8. Вы видели книгу нашего учителя? 9. Я слышу голос моей сестры. 10. Она поставила мокрые сапоги детей к печке. 11. Это бабушкино кресло. 12. Она открыла окно и услышала смех и крики детей.
7. Paraphrase these sentences, using the Genitive Case:
1. The room of my friend. 2. The questions of my son. 3. The wife of my brother. 4. The table of our teacher. 5. The poems of Pushkin. 6. The voice of this girl. 7. The new club of the workers. 8. The letter of Pete. 9. The car of my parents. 10. The life of this woman. 11. The flat of my sister is large. 12. The room of the boys is small. 13. The name of this girl is Jane. 14. The work of this students is interesting. 15. The handbags of these women.
8. Fill in the blanks with “is” and “are”:
1. Her advice ....... is very useful. 2. Her clothes ...... very beautiful. 3. Mathematics........ my favourite subject. 4. Where ...... my money? 5. What ...... the news? 6. The goods........ faulty.
7. Physics........ the best subject at school. 8. Three days ....... not long for a good holiday. 9. Can I borrow your scissors? Mine........ not sharp enough. 10. Her hair ....... long.
9. Translate the sentences. Pay your attention to using such words: advice, progress, information:
1. Могу я дать тебе совет, - Конечно, твои советы всегда полезные. 2. Новости по телевидению всегда в одно и тоже время. 3. Я услышал захватывающую новость. 4. Его успехи в спорте - очень хорошие. 5. Это важные новости, не так ли? 6. Я не собираюсь следовать вашим советам. 7. Вы сделали большие успехи в работе. 8. Брюки не поглажены. 9. Очки моей бабушки сломались. 10. Её одежда очень красива.