2.                                 Nouns

Overview; family relations; animals; jobs; gender-specific nouns; gender-specific pronouns; animals, cars & countries.

When many languages use nouns, the nouns are often grouped as masculine, feminine or neuter. In English these groups are very simple to make:

• Masculine: male beings:

man, boy, prince, king, ... He is a man.

• Feminine: female beings:

woman, girls, princess, queen, ... She is still a girl.

• Neuter: animals and things:

book, computer, virus, cat, ... It got lost.

• Common gender: either male or female:

child, teacher, friend, journalist, ... He is a small child, but he is big.

Family relations have masculine and feminine forms:

Animals have masculine and feminine forms; these are some common ones:

Some jobs have masculine and feminine forms; these are some common ones:

A word like doctor can apply to a man or a woman; the word is not gender-specific. However, a word like nun can only apply to a woman which makes it gender-specific.

Some people think that some gender-specific words are sexist. To avoid being gender-specific, we can use alternatives:

Spokesperson

Police officer

Or we can use one of the forms for both men and women:

She became company manager after her promotion.

My mother is the author of several popular romance novels.

Both Eric and Jane worked as nurses in the same hospital.

When we talk about a member of a mixed group of people we can say:

A good scientist must keep careful notes of his or her work.

This, however, is not very elegant. One popular alternative is to use a masculine pronoun as a neuter pronoun:

A good scientist must keep careful notes of his work.

But this is sexist; it implies that scientists are men. A better alternative is to use the pronoun their instead:

A good scientist must keep careful notes of their work.

When we talk about an object, it is neuter. However, if we give the object a personality, we can make the noun masculine or feminine.

This happens with pet animals, or animals we know well:

The dog stayed in her bed and did not eat anything; I think she is ill.

It also happens with cars and ships that are often female:

The Titanic sank on her maiden voyage; she hit an iceberg.

Countries are sometimes female:

Britain called on her allies to help fight the threat.

People sometimes talk about their countries as being the motherland or the fatherland

NOTE!

• The child lost its/her/his doll.

                                  PLURAL          =        SINGULAR + -(e)s

<-s> is pronounced:

1. [s] after [f], [p], [k], [t], [th] (voiceless):

• proofs, books, months, ...

BUT! [dh] in: baths, mouths, truths, youths, ...

2. [z] after [v], [b], [g], [d], [dh], [nj], [m], [n], [l], or any vowel sound (voiced):

• fat level --> fat levels, CD-ROM --> CD-ROMS,

   teacher --> teachers

<-(e)s> is pronounced:

[iz] after [z], [s], [zj], [dzj], [tsj], and [sh] (s-sound):

• horses, judges, churches, boxes, ...

Consonant-o + -es:

• potato --> potatoes,

BUT! radios, photos

Consonant-y --> -ies:

• government strategy --> government strategies

half an hour activity --> half an hour activities

Vowel-y + -s:

• day --> days, key --> keys

ALSO! Proper nouns + -s:

• Marys, Henrys

<-f/-fe> --> <-ves>:

• leaf --> leaves, shelf --> shelves,

BUT! chiefs, roofs, safes, cliffs

<-is> --> <-es> in nouns from Greek:

• crisis --> crises

<-on> --> <-a> in nouns from Greek:

• phenomenon --> phenomena, BUT! electrons, neutrons

<-um> --> <-a> in nouns from Latin:

• symposium --> symposia, BUT! museums, stadiums

<-ex>, <-ix> --> <-ices> in nouns from Latin:

• index --> indices, BUT! duplexes, complexes, reflexes

<-a> --> <-ae> in nouns from Latin:

• formula --> formulae, BUT! arenas, areas, visas

<-us> --> <-i> in nouns from Latin:

• stimulus --> stimuli, BUT! campuses, prospectuses

<-eau> --> <-eaux> in French nouns:

• plateau --> plateaux, bureau --> bureaux

e

Unmarked plural in nouns of certain animals:

• sheep, salmon, deer, grouse, plaice, trout

ALSO!

• one series --> two series, one Japanese --> two Japanese

Change of vowel:

• man --> men, woman drinking --> women drinking, mouse --> mice, louse --> lice, goose --> geese,

tooth --> teeth, foot --> feet

Letters of the alphabet and numbers:

• B’s, a’s, 3’s

Irregular plural:

• trends in a child --> trends in children

NB!

• Measles is dangerous, but mumps is too.

Mathematics is tricky, so is physics.

• The police weren’t able to help.

The family is/are on holiday.

The Government has/have opposed the plans.

• lookers-on, passers-by

• handfuls, tooth-brushes

• women teachers, men journalists

Consonant, vowel, proper names in -s: + -’s

• the legislation’s interpretation • children’s rights • this country’s cask-conditioned beers • St George’s park

Plural nouns ending in -s or -es: + ‘

• the locals’ tastes and customs, the ladies’ gowns

There are several ways to show who owns or possesses something in English.

Sara has a book that he bought. The book belongs to Sara. To show that Sara is the owner, we use an apostrophe s added to the owner and make a noun-phrase:

Sara's book

Because Sara is a feminine name, we can use a feminine pronoun and because Sara's is possessive, we must use the possessive adjective:

her book

Because Sara is a feminine name, we can use a feminine pronoun and because Sara's is possessive, we must use the possessive adjective:

her book

We also use possessive adjectives to talk about parts of the body:

Your hands, your head

We can also use a possessive pronoun that refers to the whole phrase:

Hers

Putting these together, we have:

This book belongs to Sara.

This is Sara's book.

This is her book.

This is hers.

If the noun already ends in s we can add an apostrophe s or just the apostrophe:

This book belongs to George.

This is George's book.

This is George' book.

It is perhaps neater to add just the apostrophe.

If the noun is plural, we only add an apostrophe, not s as well:

These books belong to these boys.

These are the boys' books.

When we talk about places, we often use the possessive:

I went to the butcher's.

I stayed with the Watson's.

Meaning: the butcher's shop, the Wilson's house.

With inanimate objects, we normally use of to show possession rather than an apostrophe s:

The side of the car

The car's side.

We also use of when the possessive noun has a describing clause following it:

I saw the man's dog.

I saw the dog of the man in the blue hat.

I saw the man in the blue hat's dog.

We don't use of for time adverbs:

Yesterday's news is today's history.

It was ten minutes' drive.

We can make the noun possessive by adding an apostrophe -s:

[determiner] + {­possessive} + {­noun}

My brother's old records

A dog's life

Sometimes we can have very similar noun phrases using a noun or a possessive:

My computer program

My computer's program

In the first example, computer gives us more information about program that is the root of the phrase. The noun phrase is all about my program.

In the second example, program tells us what belongs to computer's. The noun phrase is all about my computer.

We can also make possessive noun phrases using prepositions:

[determiner] + {­noun phrase} + {­preposition} + [determiner] + {­noun phrase}

That book about fossil fuel

The names of some cities

Sometimes we can have two types of noun phrase which mean the same thing:

The people's decision

The decision of the people

Generally, we use a possessive when the noun is animate, i.e. it is a person or animal, and we use a preposition when the noun is inanimate, i.e. it is a thing. There are a lot of exceptions to this rule, though and many times we can use either pattern.

Verb --> Noun

• to grieve --> a grievance: Mrs Thomas has a grievance against the destruction of the embryos.

• to remove --> a removal: The removal of the embryos from the tanks will destroy them.

• to store --> a storage: They are kept in storage for five years.

• to adopt --> an adoption: The adoption of unclaimed embryos by people like the Thomas' is unlawful.

ALSO!

• to find --> a finding

• improve --> an improvement

Exceptions

• to exercise --> an exercise

• to breathe --> a breath

Adjective --> Noun

 • authoritative --> authority

• active --> activity

• obese --> obesity

When we talk about nouns, we can divide them into two different groups. We use common nouns to talk about objects or concepts:

Note

We can divide common nouns into two further groups. We talk about concrete nouns when we refer to objects and we talk about abstract nouns when we refer to concepts which are mental rather than physical (i.e. we cannot see, hear, taste, smell or touch them).

2) The second group of nouns is called proper nouns. The big difference between these and common nouns is that proper nouns are spelt with a capital letter. A proper noun is the name of a person, a place or a title:

Queen Victoria, Cleopatra, Buddha, London, Australia, Mars, Asia

When we talk about a place that does not have a name, we use a common noun; if it has a name we use a proper noun. For example, we say prison, hospital and house, but we talk about Wandsworth Prison, St Guy's Hospital and The White House.

Introduction; countable; non-countable and common mistakes

1) There are two main groups of nouns in English. It is important to know the difference between these two groups, as there are different grammar rules for each. Note that non-countable nouns are sometimes known as mass nouns.

2) Most nouns are countable; this means we can count the object (or concept) they refer to. We can, for example, stand in a field and count:

four goats and three cows

A countable noun has two forms: singular and plural. We use the singular form when we talk about one object (or concept), and we use the plural form when we talk about more than one object (or concept). We can say:

There is one book on the table, and three books on the chair.

I have one house, but the Queen has fifteen houses.

When the countable noun is the subject of the sentence, the verb is singular or plural, depending on the noun (this is called subject-verb agreement):

The book is on the table.

The cars are in the garage.

3) Some objects (or concepts) cannot be counted. We cannot stand on the beach and count:

four sands and three waters

sand and water are examples of non-countable nouns and they only have a singular form:

The sand is hot.

The water is cold.

Common non-countable nouns include:

If the non-countable noun is the subject of a sentence, we use it with a singular verb:

My money is in my wallet.

Milk is very good for babies.

This butter has melted.

This whiskey tastes awful!

4) Students often make mistakes with these non-countable nouns:

Furniture, hair, money, news, research, spaghetti

Remember, non-countable nouns have a singular verb and do not have a plural form:

He gave me some information about flights to Rome.

The news is not good.

The spaghetti is ready now.

I've got a lot of work to do.

Introduction; plurals; non-countable nouns; container

1) When we talk about quantity with countable and non-countable nouns, there are a number of different ways we can do this.

2) To express quantity with a countable noun, we can use a number and a plural noun:

There are three bananas on the table.

He had twenty-seven sheep on the farm.

If the number is one, we usually use an article instead:

He has a cold.

Or we can be non-specific and talk about approximate numbers:

There are some people in the office.

There are a few problems.

3) To express quantity with a non-countable noun, we cannot use a number and a plural form:

There are three rices in the bowl.

Can you give me four informations?

Instead, we must use some, any, much, little and a singular form:

Here is some sugar.

There isn't much wine in the bottle.

4) When we talk about a non-countable noun, we can use an expression that shows an amount or a container:

{­Quantity} + {­amount/container} + {­of}

There is one box of rice in the cupboard.

He drank three glasses of wine.

I'd like a pound of cheese, please.

Some other common expressions include: bar, bottle, box, cup, jar, kilo, loaf, metre, mile, packet, piece, pound, sheet, slice, tin, ton, tube, yard.

It is easy to see a book; because we can see it, we call it a concrete noun. Sometimes it is impossible to see a noun; for example these are also nouns but you cannot see them:

love, happiness, life

These are abstract nouns and they refer to concepts rather than objects. We also talk about proper nouns which are people's names:

Peter, Buddha

Simple; determiner; adjectives; nouns; noun phrases

1) The simplest pattern for a noun phrase is the noun standing alone:

I

Eric

Cats

2) Very often we use a determiner with a noun. Determiners are added to the front of the phrase:

{­Determiner} + {­noun}

The man

A dog

Some people

{­Determiner} + {­noun phrase}

The old man

A dog and a bone

Some fifty thousand people

3) We can add adjectives to a noun; they usually come before the noun:

[Determiner] + {­adjective[s]} + {­noun}

The old grey whistle

Happy people

Good work

4) We can put two nouns together; the first noun acts like an adjective and gives us more information about the second noun:

 [Determiner] + {­noun} + {­noun}

Computer programs

Some record players

5) When we put two nouns together to make a noun phrase we can use this pattern:

{­noun} + [noun(s)] + {­and} + {­noun}

When the noun phrase has and then it is plural and takes a plural verb:

Jimmy, Eric and Pete are friends.

When we use nouns, we often use them with one or more other words to make a noun phrase.

A noun phrase is a group of words, which acts just like a single noun in a sentence. All these sentences follow the same pattern:

Very often we put a determiner in front of the noun to make a noun phrase:

{­determiner} + {­noun}

a banana

the house

some people

And we often add adjectives to tell us more about the noun:

{­determiner} + {­adjective} + {­noun}

a big banana

the old house

some angry people