COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

Countable nouns are for things we can count

Examples

dog, horse, man, shop, idea.

They usually have a singular and plural form.

Examples

two dogs, ten horses, a man, six men, the shops, a few ideas.

Uncountable nouns are for the things that we cannot count

Examples

tea, sugar, water, air, rice.

They are often the names for abstract ideas or qualities.

Examples

knowledge, beauty, anger, fear, love.

They are used with a singular verb. They usually do not have a plural form. We cannot say sugars, angers, knowledges.

Examples of common uncountable nouns:

• money, furniture, happiness, sadness, research, evidence, safety, beauty, knowledge.

We cannot use a/an with these nouns. To express a quantity of one of these nouns, use a word or expression like:
some, a lot of, a piece of, a bit of, a great deal of...

Examples

• There has been a lot of research into the causes of this disease.
• He gave me a great deal of advice before my interview.
• They've got a lot of furniture.
• Can you give me some information about uncountable nouns?

Some nouns are countable in other languages but uncountable in English. Some of the most common of these are:

accommodation advice baggage behaviour bread furniture information luggage

news progress traffic travel trouble weather work

BE CAREFUL with the noun 'hair' which is normally uncountable in English:

• She has long blonde hair

It can also be countable when referring to individual hairs:

• My father's getting a few grey hairs now

See also : Adjectives - Comparisons of quantity

COMPOUND NOUNS

COMPOUND NOUNS

Formation

Words can be combined to form compound nouns. These are very common, and new combinations are invented almost daily. They normally have two parts. The second partidentifies the object or person in question (man, friend, tank, table, room). The first parttells us what kind of object or person it is, or what its purpose is (police, boy, water, dining, bed):

What type / what purpose	What or who
police	man
boy	friend
water	tank
dining	table
bed	room

The two parts may be written in a number of ways :

1. as one word.
Examples policeman, boyfriend

2. as two words joined with a hyphen.
Examples dining-table

3. as two separate words.
Examples fish tank.

There are no clear rules about this - so write the common compounds that you know well as one word, and the others as two words.

The two parts may be:	Examples
noun + noun	bedroom water tank motorcycle printer cartridge
noun + verb	rainfall haircut train-spotting
noun + adverb	hanger-on passer-by
verb + noun	washing machine driving licence swimming pool
verb + adverb*	lookout take-off drawback
adjective + noun	greenhouse software redhead
adjective + verb	dry-cleaning public speaking
adverb + noun	onlooker bystander
adverb + verb*	output overthrow upturn input

Compound nouns often have a meaning that is different from the two separate words.

Stress is important in pronunciation, as it distinguishes between a compound noun (e.g.greenhouse) and an adjective with a noun (e.g. green house).

In compound nouns, the stress usually falls on the first syllable:

a 'greenhouse = place where we grow plants (compound noun)
a green 'house = house painted green (adjective and noun)
a 'bluebird = type of bird (compound noun)
a blue 'bird = any bird with blue feathers (adjective and noun)

*Many common compound nouns are formed from phrasal verbs (verb + adverb or adverb + verb).

Examples

breakdown, outbreak, outcome, cutback, drive-in, drop-out, feedback, flyover, hold-up, hangover, outlay, outlet, inlet, makeup, output, set-back, stand-in, takeaway, walkover.

THE PLURAL OF NOUNS

THE PLURAL OF NOUNS

Most nouns form the plural by adding -s or -es.

Examples

Singular	Plural
boat	boats
hat	hats
house	houses
river	rivers

A noun ending in -y preceded by a consonant makes the plural with -ies.

Examples

Singular	Plural
a cry	cries
a fly	flies
a nappy	nappies
a poppy	poppies
a city	cities
a lady	ladies
a baby	babies

There are some irregular formations for noun plurals. Some of the most common ones are listed below.

Examples of irregular plurals

Singular	Plural
woman	women
man	men
child	children
tooth	teeth
foot	feet
person	people
leaf	leaves
half	halves
knife	knives
wife	wives
life	lives
loaf	loaves
potato	potatoes
cactus	cacti
focus	foci
fungus	fungi
nucleus	nuclei
syllabus	syllabi/syllabuses
analysis	analyses
diagnosis	diagnoses
oasis	oases
thesis	theses
crisis	crises
phenomenon	phenomena
criterion	criteria
datum	data

Some nouns have the same form in the singular and the plural.

Examples

Singular	Plural
sheep	sheep
fish	fish
species	species
aircraft	aircraft

Some nouns have a plural form but take a singular verb.

Examples

• news  The news is on at 6.30 p.m.
• athletics  Athletics is good for young people.
• linguistics  Linguistics is the study of language.
• darts  Darts is a popular game in England.
• billiards  Billiards is played all over the world.

Some nouns have a plural form and take a plural verb.

Examples

• trousers  My trousers are too tight.
• jeans  Her jeans are black.
• glasses  Those glasses are his.

others include:

• savings, thanks, steps, stair, customs, congratulations, tropics, wages, spectacles, outskirts, goods, wits

NOUN GENDER

Nouns answer the questions "What is it?" and "Who is it?" 
They give names to things, people and qualities.

Examples

dog, bicycle, man, girl, beauty, truth, world.

NOUN GENDER

In general there is no distinction between masculine, feminine and neuter in English nouns. However, gender is sometimes shown by different forms or different words.

Examples

Different words:

Masculine	Feminine
man father uncle boy husband	woman mother aunt girl wife

Different forms:

Masculine	Feminine
actor prince hero waiter widower	actress princess heroine waitress widow

Some nouns can be used for either a masculine or a feminine subject:

Examples

cousin	teenager	teacher	doctor
cook	student	parent	friend
relation	colleague	partner	leader

• Mary is a doctor. She is a doctor
• Peter is a doctor. He is a doctor.
• Arthur is my cousin. He is my cousin.
• Jane is my cousin. She is my cousin.

It is possible to make the distinction by adding the words 'male' or 'female'.

• a female student; a male cousin

For professions, we can add the word 'woman'

• a woman doctor; a woman journalist.

In some cases nouns describing things are given gender.

• I love my car. She (the car) is my greatest passion.
• France is popular with her (France's) neighbours at the moment.
• I travelled from England to New York on the Queen Elizabeth, she (the Queen Elizabeth) is a great ship.

GET / HAVE SOMETHING DONE

GET / HAVE SOMETHING DONE (Passive Voice)

This construction is passive in meaning. It may describe situations where we want someone else to do something for us.

Examples

• I must get / have my hair cut.
• When are you going to get that window mended?
• We're having the house painted.

If the verb refers to something negative or unwanted, it has the same meaning as a passive sentence:

• Jim had his car stolen last night. (= Jim's car was stolen)
• They had their roof blown off in the storm. (= Their roof was blown off in the storm)

The construction can refer to the completion of an activity, especially if a time expression is used:

• We'll get the work done as soon as possible.
• I'll get those letters typed before lunchtime.

In all these sentences, we are more interested in the result of the activity than in the person or object that performs the activity.

'X' NEEDS DOING

In the same way, this construction has a passive meaning. The important thing in our minds is the person or thing that will experience the action, e.g.

• The ceiling needs painting (= the ceiling needs to be painted)
• My hair needs cutting (= my hair needs to be cut)