There are four kinds of nouns in English
common nouns dog table man
proper nouns Tom France
abstract nouns charity beauty fear
collective nouns swarm team crow flock Group
a noun can function as
The subject of a verb Tom arrived
complement of the verb be become seem : Tom is an actor
The object of a verb : I saw Tom
the object of a preposition I spoke Tom
A noun can also be in the possessive case
Tom's works
Gender
Masculine men boys and male animals (pronoun he/ they )
feminine women girls and female animals ( pronoun she /they)
neuter : inanimate things animals whose sex we don't know and somtimes babies whose sex we don't know
Exceptions
ship are considered feminine and sometimes cars and other vehicles when regarded with affection or respect . Countries when referred to by name are also considered feminine
Most noun have the same form for masculine and feminine :
parent painter driver singer cousin child artist cook judge rider
some have different forms
Brother and sister uncle and aunt nephew and niece
some form feminine from the masculine by adding ness note that words ending in or or er often drop o or e
actor actress conductor conductress manager manageress
note also
salesman saleswoman spokeman spokewoman
recently there has been an attempt to de-sex these words by using person instead of men
salesperson
Plurals
The plural of a noun is usually made by adding s to the singular
dog dogs day days
exception
Nouns ending in o ore ss sh ch or x form their plural by adding es
tomatoes kisses boxes
But words of foreign origin is abbreviated words ending in o add s
piano pianos dynamo dynamos
Nouns ending in y following a consonant form their plural by dropping the y in adding ies
baby babies lady ladies
Nouns ending in y following a consonant form their plural adding s only
donkey donkeys boy boys
Tweve nouns ending in f or fe drop the f ore fe and add ves.
These nouns are wife life knife wolf self calf shelf leaf loaf thief sheaf half
wife wives wolf wolves
Other words ending in f ore fe add s in the plural in the ordinary way
handkerchief handkerchiefs safe safes
A few nouns form their plural by a vowel change
man men
woman women
louse lice
foot feet
mouse mice
goose geese
tooth theeth
ox oxen
the plural of child is children
Name of certain creatures do not change in the plural
the word fish is normally unchanged fishes exist but is uncommon.
Some types of fish do not normally change in the plural salmon trout squid pike mackerel cod turbot plaice but if used in a plural sense they would teke a plural verb. Others however do change.
We talk of herrings sardines lobster crabs and all other shellfish whales Dolphins sharks eels.
sheep and deer don't change one sheep two sheep
spormen who shoot duck pheasant partridge snipe ptarmigan teal wood cock grouse etc. use the same form for singular and plural. But other people normally add s to the plural form of names of birds in common use
The word game used by sporsmen to mean an animal/animals hented is Always in the singular and takes a singular verb
A few other words don't change
Aircraft craft
quid (slang for £1)
counsel (barristers working in court)
certain words are Always singular
advice
knowledge
baggage
furniture
information
news
luggage
rubbish
Certain words are Always plural : police clothes
garments consisting in two parts Pyjamas trousers breeches pants
tools or instruments cosisting of two parts binoculars glasses spectacles pliers shears scissors scales
premieses and quarters (used to mean accomodation)
All above words takes a plural verb.
There are also a number of words ending in ics
mathematics
physics
plitics
hysterics
ethics
athletics
whichi have a plural form and normally take a plural verb
Athletics are his main interest
But names of sciences can be considered singular in such sentences as
Mathematisc is an exacti science
Ethics is one of the subjects of course
Some measuremets and numerals do no change either
Words whicih retain their original Greek or latin forms make their plurals according to the rules of
Greek or latin
erratum errata
radius radii
crisis crises
memorandum memoranda
datum data
phenomenon phenomena
terminus termini
basis bases
oasis oases
axis axes
thesis theses
But there is a tendency particularly with farly common Latin or Greek words to make the plural according to the rule of English
dogma dogmas
gymnasium gymnasiums
formula formulas
Sometimes there are two plural forms with different meanings
index indexes list of contents of books
indices a Mathematical term
appendix appendixes a medical term
appendices used both as a medical term and also for additions to a book
Genius geniuses extraordinarly intelligent persons
genii supernatural beings
compound nouns
normally the last word is made plural
armchair armchairs
bookcase bookcases
where man woman is prefixed both parts are made plural
men students women students
compound nouns formed with prepositions or adverbs make only the first word plural
sister-in-law sisters-in-law looker-on lookers-on
when the compound noun ha an adjective as the last word the fisto word is usually made plural
court martial courts martial
words ending in ful usually make their plural in the ordinary way
handful handfuls
Initials can be made plural
VIPs (Very Important Persons)
OAPs Old Age Pensioners)
The possesive case form
's is used with singular nouns and plural nouns not ending in s
a man's job
a children's voice
A simple apostrophe ' is used with plural nouns ending in s
a girls' school
Classical nams ending in s usulli add only apostrophe
Pythagoras' Theorem
Archimedes' Law
with compounds the last word takes 's
My Brother-in-law's guitar
Use of the possesive case and of + noun used for possession
The possessive case is chiefly used of people contries or animals as show above but can used also
Of ship and boats the ship's bell
of planes trains car and other vehicles though here the of constucion is safer
in time expressions
a week's Holiday
in expressions of money + Worth
£ 1's Worth of stamps
with for + noun + sake
for heaven's sake
in a few expression
a stone's throw journey's end the water's edge
we can say either a winter's day but we cannot make spring or autumn possessive except when they are personified Autumn's return
of+ noun is used for possesion
when the possessor noun is followd by a phrase or clause
the boy ran about obeyng the directions of a man with a whistle
with inanimate possesions except those listed above
the walls of the town
However it is often possible to replace noun 1 of noun 2 by noun 2 noun 1 in order
the town walls
the first become a sort of adjective
