Unit 7
Nouns

COUNTABLE – UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

Countable nouns are things that can be counted. Most nouns in English are countable: three dogs, two ghosts, etc.

These nouns can have plural forms and be used with a, an, some, any, every, each, all, several, many, plenty of, a (large, great, good) number of, a couple of, a lot of, lots of, few, a few, fewer, the fewest, both, either, neither, none of.

Uncountable (or mass) nouns are things we typically view as a single entity. We cannot count them or divide them into separate elements: air, information, etc.

They cannot be plural. informations, advices, happinesses,

There are some exceptions. Sometimes you can hear: I’ve had two coffees. It is just a short way of saying two cups of coffee.

Another exception is to make the uncountable noun plural while talking about several different types of an uncountable noun:

Luna loves all the meats. (meats = types of meat)

Other nouns that can be used this way include cheese, oil, metal, wine, food, bread, and fruit.

You can’t use a/an with uncountable nouns but you can use some, any, plenty of, this, that, all, much, a great/good deal of, an amount of, a lot of, lots of, little, a little, less, the least, none of.

The most common uncountable nouns are:

Mass nouns: fluids: blood, milk, water, etc., solids: bread, ice, iron, etc., gases: air, smoke, steam, etc., particles: dust, hair, salt, etc..

Subjects of study: History, Literature, Psychology, etc.

Languages: English, German, Spanish, etc.

Games: chess, football, tennis, etc.

Diseases: flu, measles, mumps, etc.

Natural phenomena: fog, sunshine, thunder, etc.

Some abstract nouns: accommodation, advice, housework, etc.

Collective nouns: baggage, furniture, money, etc.

EXERCISE 1

Write (C) if the noun is countable or (U) if it is uncountable:

1 mineral water

2 toast

3 silver

4 Geography

5 weather

6 coin

7 advice

8 backpack

9 knowledge

10 traffic

11 tunnel

QUANTIFYING UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

Many uncountable nouns can be made countable by adding a partitive: a slice of bread, a strand of hair, a drop of water, a bar of soap, an ear of corn, a blade of grass, a ray of light, a coat of paint, a glass/bottle of water/lemonade/iced tea, a jar of jam, a can of Coke, a tin of salmon, a sheet of paper, a box of chocolates, a packet of cookies, a slice/loaf of bread, a pot of yoghurt, a pot/cup of tea, a kilo/pound of meat, a rasher of bacon, a tube of toothpaste, a bit/piece of chalk, a bag of rice, a pair of trousers, a game of football, a (n) item /piece of news, a carton of milk, a block of wood, a flash/bolt of lightning, a clap/peal of thunder, etc. With most nouns like information, advice, equipment, and furniture, we can use the word piece: Kudjo is wise enough to give a lot of pieces of advice.

EXERCISE 2

Make the following uncountable nouns plural in all possible ways, as in the example:

luck – two strokes/pieces/bits of luck

1 information – a couple of

2 beef – three

3 thunder – several

4 buckwheat – a few

5 toast – four

6 blood – a few

7 honey- many

8 luggage – five

9 bacon – ten

10 soda – plenty of

11 soup – a good number of

There are some nouns that can be either countable or uncountable depending on the situation. Here are some common nouns of this kind:

1. paper

countable – a document or a newspaper

uncountable — paper in general

2. time

countable — an occasion

uncountable — the general concept of time

3. experience

countable — an event

uncountable — experience in general

4. room

countable – a part of a flat or a house

uncountable — space in general

5. light

countable — a source of light

uncountable — light in general

6. glass

countable — a container for drinking

uncountable — material

7. hair

countable – a strand of hair

uncountable – all the hair on someone’s head

8. iron

countable — an appliance for ironing clothes

uncountable — material

9. wood

countable – a forest

uncountable – material

10. work

countable — a creation

uncountable – process

11. chicken

countable – an animal

uncountable – food

12. memory

countable – a specific memory of a past event

uncountable — the ability to remember

13. beauty

countable — a beautiful woman

uncountable — the quality that makes someone or something attractive

14. business

countable — a company

uncountable — the activity of making, buying or selling things

15. danger

countable – a person or thing that can harm or kill

uncountable — the possibility of something very bad happening

16. failure

countable — a person or thing that is not successful

uncountable — lack of success

17. freedom

countable — the right to do what you want to do

uncountable — the state of being free

18. gossip

countable — a person who likes telling and hearing gossip

uncountable — untrue stories about other people’s private lives

19. jam

сountable — many vehicles stuck together in traffic, or a difficult situation

uncountable – sweet food that’s made from fruit

20. land

countable — a country or region

uncountable – the earth’s surface

21. nature

countable – the basic character of a person or an animal

uncountable – all living things and their habitats

22. noise

countable — a particular sound

uncountable — loud or unpleasant sound

23. toast

countable — the act of drinking to someone’s happiness

uncountable — sliced bread browned in a toaster

24. youth

countable — a young man

uncountable — the time in someone’s life when they’re young

EXERCISE 3

Complete the sentences using the noun in bold in the form of a countable (in plural or with the article a) or an uncountable noun:

1 experience

a Kudjo had never had such ***** before he got to the hidden lab.

b Kudjo had no ***** in communicating with scientists, needless to say, with insane ones.

2 danger

a Frankly speaking, he was smelling ***** there, but he couldn’t turn back.

b If only he had known that real ***** was next to him!

3 light

a There was no ***** underground, which was going to make the walk scarier.

b Fortunately, the lynx had little *****, which was enough to let them see where to go.

4 noise

a The most striking was ***** because even the noise of the forest couldn’t be heard underground.

b Suddenly Kudjo heard strange ***** as if a metal object clattered on the stone floor.

5 gossip

a The lynx pretended not to hear anything and started telling Kudjo some ***** about the scientist quite loudly.

b Kudjo didn’t expect her to be such *****.

6 room

a Listening to her rumours, Kudjo didn’t notice that their journey had ended up in spacious *****.

b There was enough ***** for more than ten Kudjos.

7 wood

a The only object in this room was a large cage made of *****.

b It reminded Kudjo about the trap in ***** and made him a bit suspicious.

8 freedom

a No sooner had he thought it was a right place to deprive animals of ***** than the lynx pushed him into the cage and locked it.

b Who gave her such ***** to do what she likes?

9 time

a Kudjo tried to get out of the cage dozens of *****, in vain.

b To his horror he realised that he didn’t know how much ***** he would have to spend locked in.

10 failure

a He cursed himself for his stupid gullibility, which brought his plans to *****.

b He couldn’t help admitting being complete *****.

11 memory

a He tried to evoke recent ***** so as to understand where he had made a mistake but he couldn’t.

b He blamed his poor ***** and fell asleep in despair.

PLURAL NOUNS

Some nouns are always plural and take a plural verb: archives, belongings, movables, clothes, congratulations, thanks, brains (intellect), nuptials, tidings, contents, earnings, goods, outskirts, premises, remains, surroundings, arms, ashes (of a dead cremated body), barracks, headquarters, (good) looks, riches, stairs, wages, breadcrumbs, leftovers, dregs, eatables, (dis) likes, blues, hysterics, condolences, creeps, jim-jams, shenanigans, guts (bowels, courage), pains (take pains), mores, odds, whereabouts, smithereens etc.

Some nouns for things with two parts (often clothes, tools or equipment) also end in -s and are always plural. They include: pyjamas, trousers, jeans, dungarees, overalls, pants, shorts, tights, scissors, pliers, tongs, nippers, tweezers, binoculars, glasses, spectacles, goggles, headphones, earphones, scales, compasses, braces, handcuffs, etc.

Some nouns can have a different meaning when they are in the plural:

air — atmosphere

airs – arrogance, self-importance

custom — a habit, tradition

customs – the place at a port, airport, or border where travellers’ bags are looked at to find out if any goods are being carried illegally

force – strength or energy

forces — an organised military force

spectacle – an unusual or unexpected event or situation that attracts attention

spectacles – glasses

Kudjo’s spectacles make him look serious and clever.

manner – a way or method

manners – polite or well-bred social behaviour

compass — a device for finding direction

compasses – a V-shaped device that is used for drawing circles

scale — a set of numbers, amounts, etc., used to measure or compare the level of something

scales – a device for weighing things or people

people — men, women, and children

peoples — nations

EXERCISE 4

Find the proper noun and put it into the correct gap: blues, eatables, guts, surroundings, smithereens, brains, pliers, belongings, nippers, odds, pains, creeps

1 Kudjo didn’t sleep well because he felt nervous in unfamiliar *****.

2 He wished he could be slugging now in his bed in his room with all his favourite ***** around.

3 He regretted not having any tools with him, especially, the*****or *****to break the lock on the cage.

4 His own helplessness gave him the***** and he even started whining.

5 Suddenly he heard a kind of hissing and immediately imagined a big snake slithering towards him. It gave him such ***** that he couldn’t help roaring at the darkness.

6 The hissing stopped but the dead silence was now far scarier than any sound and Kudjo didn’t have the ***** to keep his eyes open.

7 Suddenly he felt something soft touching him. He took great *****to look through his half-closed eyes.

8 What he saw made him think that the fear had scrambled his *****and he had hallucinations.

9 There was Kit sitting in front of him and smiling happily. The next moment the kitten jumped onto the cage hoping to smash it to *****.

10 Having realised that it was no use doing it, Kit sighed heavily, sat down next to the cage and offered some ***** to Kudjo.

11 At this very moment Chilly, Luna and Cuba turned up. Against all the *****, the friends were together.

THE PLURAL OF NOUNS

Nouns are made plural by adding:

– s to the noun: a pit – pits

– es to nouns ending in -s, -ss, -x, -ch, -sh, -z or -zz: a bush – bushes

– ies to nouns ending in consonant + y: an enemy – enemies

but -s to nouns ending in vowel + y: day – days

– es to nouns ending in consonant + o: a hero – heroes

but -s to nouns ending in vowel + o: a boy – boys, abbreviations:

photograph /a photo – photos, musical instruments: a piano – pianos and proper nouns: Filipino – Filipinos.

Some nouns ending in -o can take either -es or -s: a buffalo – buffaloes / buffalos, a mosquito – mosquitoes / mosquitos, a volcano – volcanoes / volcanos, a zero – zeroes / zeros, a flamingo – flamingoes / flamingos, a tornado – tornadoes / tornados, etc.

– ves to some nouns ending in -f/-fe: wolf – wolves, life – lives

There are some exceptions: a belief – beliefs, a chief – chiefs, a cliff – cliffs, a dwarf – dwarfs, a handkerchief – handkerchiefs, a hoof – hoofs/hooves, a roof – roofs, a safe – safes, a giraffe – giraffes

Some nouns of Greek or Latin origin form their plural by adding Greek or Latin suffixes.

– us to -i: an alumnus – alumni, a syllabus – syllabi, a cactus – cacti, a fungus – fungi, a nucleus – nuclei

– is to -es: a crisis – crises, an analysis – analyses, a diagnosis – diagnoses, a thesis – theses

– on to -a: a criterion – criteria, a phenomenon – phenomena

Compound nouns form their plural by adding -s/es:

to the second noun if the compound consists of two nouns: a backpack – backpacks

but with man or woman both parts take plural: a woman-doctor – women-doctors

to the noun if the compound consists of an adjective and a noun: a swimming pool – swimming pools

to the first noun if the compound consists of two nouns connected by a preposition or to the noun if the compound has only one noun: a brother-at-arms – brothers-at-arms

at the end of the compound if it does not include any nouns: a breakthrough – breakthroughs

There are nouns (mostly game-birds, wild animals and most kinds of fish) with a common singular and plural form: a deer – deer, a fish – fish, a sheep – sheep, a trout – trout, a salmon – salmon, a spacecraft – spacecraft, an aircraft – aircraft, a hovercraft – hovercraft, a means – means, a species – species

There are irregular nouns: a man – men, a woman – women, an ox – oxen, a goose – geese, a child – children, a tooth – teeth, a foot – feet, a mouse – mice, a louse – lice

EXERCISE 5

Change the nouns in brackets into the plural where possible: