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Problems with Nouns

References 2001 by Ruth Luman

Singular or Plural????

Woman?

Womans?Women?

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IntroductionProblems with Nouns

Look at the sentences below. Whats wrong? Move your mouse over each sentence to see the answer.

1. I have three bedroom in my house.

2. There are many milks in the refrigerator.

3. Those chair are in the wrong room.

4. There are five reds cars.

5. Some of the class are at night. 6. Your childs are beautiful.

7. Would you like a few milk?

Bedrooms should be

plural because thesentence says there arethree.

The word milks is

incorrect, because it is anon-count noun andcannot have an s.

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Guideline #1Count and Non-Count Nouns

In English, we have countable and non-countable nouns.Some examples of countable and non-countable nouns arebelow.

Countable Nouns Non-Countable Nouns

chair

student

day

song

computer

room

love

money

weather

food

fruit

furniture

More Non-Countable

Nouns

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Guideline #2Countable Nouns

Countable nouns can have singular and plural forms andcan be counted numerically. Most countable nouns can bemade plural by adding s or es .

book book s 3 book s

box box es 2 box es

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Guideline #3Non-Countable Nouns

Non- countable nouns have only one form and cant be counted numerically. Look at the examples below.

monies money one money money

healths health

two health health

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Guideline #4Non-Countable Nouns

Non-countable nouns cannot take the plural s or es oran article (a, an).

a furniture furniture

furnitures furniture

a news news

newses news

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Guideline #5Irregular Plural Nouns

Some nouns have an irregular plural form. Look atthe examples below.

child childs children

woman womans women

Click here to see a list ofirregular plural nouns.

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Guideline #6Noun Quantifiers

Words like, a few, a little, much, any, some, and many are used differently depending on whether the noun in thesentence is count or non-count.

a few count nouns a few bananas

a little

non-count nouns a little flour

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(Continued)Noun Quantifiers

many

count nouns many chairs

much non-count nouns much furniture

some

non-count nouns some furniture

count nouns some chairs

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(Continued)Noun Quantifiers

Any is used in negative sentences with count andnon-count nouns. Notice the difference in plural andsingular verbs.

any count nouns There arent any chairs.

any

non-count nouns There isnt any furniture.

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Guideline #7Agreement with Demonstrative Adjectives

Remember to make demonstrative adjectives (this, that,these, those) agree with the nouns they modify.

singularThis/That

these room

pluralThese/Those

these rooms

this rooms this room

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Guideline #8Nouns and of phrases

A countable noun is always plural after an of phrase thatshows quantity. A non-count noun is always singular after an

of phrase.

Click here to see a list ofcommon of phrases.

of phrases Some of the chairs are broken.

Some of the furniture is broken.

plural

singular

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Guideline #9Adjectives

Adjectives are never plural.

Those are beautifuls houses.

beautiful

That is an olds book. old

adjective

adjective

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Practice Exercises

Click on the links below to look at additional grammar notesand do some practice exercises with count and non-countnouns.

More Grammar Notes and Exercises

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Practice Exercises

Now you are ready to practice what youve learned. Clickthe link below to return to Unit D. Print and complete thePractice Exercise on count and non-count nouns. Check youranswers with a tutor.

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Editing Checklist

After you have checked your essay for singular/plural nounproblems, read your essay draft aloud to your tutor. As youread it,listen to make sure there are no errors in

singular/plural nouns.

Look at your essay. Circle all of the nouns in your essay.Using the guidelines you have learned in this lesson, decidewhy each noun should be singular or plural. Discuss your

decisions with a tutor.