The Singular and the Plural 2 страница

crisis - crises memorandum - memoranda / memoran-

thesis - theses dums criterion – criteria

There are seven nounswhich form the plural by changing the root vowel and two nouns in the plural end in -en.

man - men goose - geese ox - oxen

woman - women mouse - mice child - children

foot - feet louse - lice

tooth – teeth

In some nouns the plural form does not differ from the sin­gular.

deer - deer fruit - fruit (fruits = kinds of fruit)

sheep - sheep fish - fish (fishes = kinds of fish)

swine - swine salmon - salmon

aircraft - aircraft cod – cod

Other nouns add -s: crabs, herrings, sardines, sharks, lob­sters, eels.

We can say: one fish, two fish; one deer, two deer;

Also: All the fishes in the sea (-the different varieties offish) This is a fine cheese. (- a fine variety or type) These cheeses are produced in Italy. (= these types)

Some uncountable nouns are used only in the singular:

linen money progress food chaos

furniture business traffic sugar machinery

knowledge information hair beef behaviour

advice trouble scenery music failure

luggage accommodation wood bread fear

permission luck weather spaghetti

death equipment sand macaroni

The following nouns ending in -s are usually treated as singular:

the word: news

the subjects: economics, mathematics / maths, physics, statistics

the games: billiards, dominoes, darts, bowls

the activities: gymnastics, athletics

the words: politics, tactics, optics

the illness: measles, mumps, rickets, shingles

Mathematics is an exact science. The news is interesting.

Words for drinks are usually uncountable. This means we use no article or we use some/any.

Is there any coffee ? Will you have some tea ?

However, when we are ordering or offering drinks we nor­mally treat them as countable nouns.

I'd like a coffee, please. or I'd like a cup of coffee.

Two teas, please. Two teas and a glass ofmilk, please.

Some nouns are uncountable when they refer to material and substances, but they are countable when they refer to single items or to an object made from that material.

Would you like some chicken ? We ate a whole chicken!

Glass is made from sand and lime. I've broken a glass.

The following collective nouns are usually singular:

family crowd congress majority[1]

team jury government minority

group public committee audience

staff army media company

But in some cases these nouns are plural if the sentence in­dicates that the individual members are acting separately (when we think of them as members of a group ("they"), not as a sin­gle unit ("it").

The government wants (want is also possible) to reduce taxes. Majority believes that we are in no danger. The majority of the students have passed the exams well.

Some nouns are used only in the plural:

sights contents spectacles congratulations

goods customs opera-glasses surroundings

sweets savings binoculars clothes

arms outskirts lodgings trousers

holidays slums poultry jeans

riches wages gentry shorts

people stairs cattle tights

police scissors jury

These clothes are expensive.

Where are the scissors? - They are on the table.

NOTE: We cannot use a/an or a number with a pair noun (a

thing made of two parts). We use some or a pair of... .

I need some jeans, or: / need a pair of jeans.

She bought a pair of jeans and two pairs of tights.

In the expression a pair of + a pair noun the verb is singu­lar if it is in the same clause; and plural if it is in a relative clause.

This pair of trousers is expensive.

I'll buy a pair of trousers which are cheaper.

As singular and plural may be used the nouns:

means a means of transport - various means of transport

series a television series - many television series

species a species of birds - different species of birds

works/factory The steel works has/have closed down

Sometimes we use a plural noun with a singular verb. We often do it when we talk about a sum of money, a period of time, a distance, etc.

Five thousand pounds (=it) was stolenin the robbery.

Three years (=it) is a long time to bewithout work.

Compound nouns form their plural in different ways. As a rule a compound noun forms the plural by adding -s to the head­word. If there is no noun-stem in the compound, -s is added to the last element.

brother-in-law - brothers-in-law

forget-me-not - forget-me-nots

merry-go-round - merry-go-rounds

But: man (woman)-driver - men (women)-drivers

Case

Nouns denoting living beings: people and animals (and some nouns denoting lifeless things), have two cases: an unin-flected form called the common case (pen, student, etc.) and the possessive case ... 's (apostrophe 's).

the singular: the plural:

Man's dream the children's toys

the girl's name the girls' names

the butcher's (shop) the eagles' nests

Dickens's novels or Dickens'novels

After a singular noun we use 's. After a plural noun we use only an apostrophe (').

The possessive case expresses possession and answers the question whose? The syntactic function of the nouns used in the possessive case is that of an attribute.

Besides nouns denoting living beings we can use 's when a first noun is:

1) an organization (=a group of people), ships and boats; names of people to mean's house:

the government's decision the ship's captain

the company's success We met at Bill's

2) the place: town, city, country, river, ocean, world, names of the countries:

the city's new center the world's population

Britain's government Russia's exports

3) time and distance:

an hour's rest month's holiday

two hours' drive night's sleep

five minutes' walk in two years' time

4) time words:

tomorrow's meeting yesterday's talks

today's newspaper Sunday's dinner

We can say: ten minutes' break or a ten-minute break.

Also with the nouns: the sun, the moon, the earth, the ship; and 's can be used after more than one noun. The possessive sign is put to the latter.

Jack and Jill's wedding. William and Mary's reign.

Proper names are generally used in the possessive case:

Jane's hobby is drawing. This is Tim's car.

NOTE: You can use 's without the following noun:

a / the baker's / butcher's / chemist's, etc. It means a / the baker's shop, etc.

Tom's report is much more interesting than Ann's. It can also be used after the initials and the names of the owners of some businesses:

the PM's secretary, the MP's briefcase. Self ridge's, Claridge's, Sotheby's (some names drop the apostrophe: Harrods, Foyles).

In compounds and names consisting of several words the last word takes apostrophe 's:

My sister-in-law's guitar. My father-in-law's son. Henry the Eight's wives. The Prince of Wale's plane.

NOTE: When the possessive case is used, the article before the person or thing "possessed" disappears: the question of the teacher - the teacher's question.

of + nounis used for:

1) things, ideas, etc.:

the roof of the house, the title of the book, the owner of the cafe.

We can say: the daughter of the politician or the politi­cian's daughter, the plays of Shakespeare or Shake­speare's plays.

We normally use of with the beginning Iend I topI bot­tomIfrontI back, etc.

the back of the car, the beginning of the year, in the mid­dle of the room

2) We can use o/or 's after an organization:

the decision of the government or the government's decision

3) of is used:

a) when the possessor noun is followed by a phrase or clause

/ took the advice of the policeman I met at the station.

b) with the words denoting quantity: part, piece, slice, bit, etc.

a piece of cake, a slice of bread, a pound of butter, a bit of news

NOTES:

a) However, we often prefer to use a compound noun instead of of- phrase: the river bank, the car keys, the town parks, etc.

b) British nouns render the meaning of Russian cases by means of the prepositions of, to, for, by, with, about with the nouns in the common case and the word order in the sentence:

What caused the explosion at the station ?

What was the cause of the explosion ?

Give these papers to the secretary, please.

Mrs Green often makes cakes for her children.

The program was watched by millions of people.

The door was opened with a key.

We talked about the entrance examinations.

Gender

In Modern English there is no grammatical category of gender.

But according to their lexical meaning all nouns denoting living beings are of either the male or female sex: man -woman, poet-poetess, etc.

The nouns that denote male beings are considered of the masculine gender.

The nouns that denote female beings are of the feminine gender.

Names of lifeless things and abstract notions are of the neu­ter gender: a book, a pen, a room, kindness, friendship.

A shipis always spoken as she.

Collective nouns are also considered to be of neuter gender.

There are three ways of forming the feminine of nouns:

1) by using an entirely different words, as father - mother, sister — brother, bull — cow, king — queen, etc.

2) by adding the syllable (-ess, -ine, -a, etc.): actor - ac­tress, hero—heroine, heir— heiress, signor — signora, tzar — tza-rina, etc.

3) by placing a word before or after, as: man-servant -maid-servant; land lord - land lady.

Functions:

The main syntactical functions of the noun in the sentence are those of the subject and the object; they may be also used in the functions of a predicative, an attribute and an adverbial modifier.

Grammar is the art of putting the right words in the right places. King George VI was the ruler of Great Britain before Queen Elizabeth II.

According to the morphological composition we distinguish simple (room, house), derivative (which have prefixes or suf­fixes: misunderstanding, inexperience) and compound(built from one or more stems or words: noun + noun: sunglasses, time-table, bus stop) nouns.

adjective + noun: fast food, first aid, youth hostel

verb + preposition: checkout, breakup

three words: ready-made meal, air traffic control

gerund + noun: swimming pool, driving license

noun + gerund: coal-mining, weight-lifting

NOTE: There are no exact rules about weather we join the words or not (if you are not sure, it is usually safe to write two separate words).

Noun-forming suffixes and prefixes:

a)

- er, or teacher, actor - ism heroism

- ist scientist, artist - ant assistant

- ess actress, hostess - ence conference

- ment movement - ty cruelty

- ance importance, distance - ing building

- (t)ion translation - dom freedom

- ity majority, complexity - ion discussion

- y difficulty, energy - sion revision

- ian musician, politician - ness happiness

- hood childhood - ure pressure

- ship friendship, leadership - ness backwardness

- age marriage, passage

b)

re - reconstruction in - information

co - coexistence im - impossibility

dis - disarmament un - unemployment

mis - misunderstanding il - illiteracy

Practice

/. Analyze the nouns in the following dialogue.

The Jones's House

Mr Brown: Excuse me. Do you know where the Jones's house is?

Passerby: Yes, it's over that mountain along the railway. It's a red brick house surrounded with a stone wall.

Mr Brown: Oh. Is it outside the town?

Passerby: Yes. It's south of the town. You go past the town park, turn to the right and take any bus in that direction. The Jones's house has large windows and there are beauti­ful flower-beds with yellow roses growing around. It's a real pleasure to be the owner of such a house!

2. Form abstract nouns from the following:

a) adjectives: b) verbs: c) common nouns:

young wise live protect child man

true high know discover author friend

free poor hate move hero patriot

good just punish die agent coward

wide strong think advise owner mother

3. State the number of the following nouns and write down the corresponding singular or plural, if any.

money clothes man means thesis ship

news goods woman species datum berry

hair police child series family valley

advice riches foot deer life editor in chief

knowledge trousers mouse sheep roof phenomenon

4. Join two nouns using apostrophe (') or of-phrase.

1) the newspaper/today, 2) the birthday/my father, 3) the manager/the company, 4) the economic policy/the government, 5) the garden/Mr Brown, 6) the new headmaster/the school, 7) the dean/the Law faculty, 8) the camera/the boy, 9) the top/the page, 10) the name/the street, 11) the house/my uncle and aunt, 12) the toys/the children, 13) the author/the book, 14) the children/Ann.

5. Use the possessive case if possible.

1) the crown of the queen 8) the success of the firm

2) the house of Mr and Mrs Green 9) the clothes of the children

3) the wedding of Jack and Jane 10) the hats of men

4) the favourite of the boss 11) the owner of the cafe

5) the title of the book 12) the distance in a mile

6) the beginning of the performance 13) the health of my mother

7) the decision of the President 14) the present of my parents

6. Write a new sentence using 's with underlined words.

1) The meeting tomorrow has been cancelled.

2) The storm last week caused a lot of damage in our town.

3) The only cinema in the town has been closed down.

4) Exports from Britain to the USA have fallen recently.

5) Tourism is the main industry in the region.

6) There will be a big crowd at the football match this evening.

7) The son of my elder brother Peter is a doctor.

8) I usually buy bread at the bakery not far from my house.

9) I'm looking forward to spending my holiday in the house of my aunt near the sea.

10) Russia has the largest deposits of oil in the world.

11) The crew of the ship stood on the deck.

12) There are a lot of interesting books in the libraries of the city.

7. Give the feminine gender of the following nouns:

king poet host grand-father

uncle actor landlord milk-man

sir hero cook-sparrow salesman

cook Czar man-servant gentlemen

son Sultan Prince boyfriend

husband steward lion tiger

8. Put the information before the noun: number + noun + noun.Model: a sixteen-year-old girl, a ten-hour-flight

1) a note that is worth 10 pounds

2) a language course that lasts four weeks

3) a drive that takes three hours

4) a meal that consists of three courses

5) a holiday that lasts two weeks

6) a house that was built two hundred years ago

7) a delay in the airport that went on for two hours

8) a letter that goes on for ten pages

9) a university course that takes three years

10) a prison sentence of ten years

11) a hotel with five stars

12) a speed limit of 40 miles an hour

9. Write a new sentence according to the model.

Model:

a) Our holiday lasted three weeks. It was a three-week holiday.

b) The girls were 15 years old. They were 15 year-old girls.

1) The woman was 27. She was a ....

2) The flight lasted three hours. It was a ....

3) The strike lasted four days. It was a ....

4) The book has 200 pages. It is a ....

5) The boys were 10 years old. They were ....

6) The television series has 10 parts. It is ....

7) The bottle holds 2 liters. It is ....

8) Each of the tickets cost 10 pounds. They were ....

9) The building has 10 floors. It is ....

10) This bag of potatoes weights 5 kilos. It is ....

11) We walked for 5 miles. It was ....

10. Which part of these sentences is right?

Model: She was very helpful. She gave me some good ad­vice/advises, ("advice" is right.)

1) Margaret has got very long black hair/hairs.

2) We had a very good weather/very good weather when we were on holiday.

3) Sorry I'm late. I had trouble/troubles with the car this morning.

4) I want something to read. I'm going to buy a/some paper.

5) I want to write some letters. I need a/some paper.

6) It's very difficult to find work/job at the moment. Most people prefer a job/work which is near home.

7) Bad news don't/doesn't make people happy.

8) Our travel/journey from London to Istanbul by train was very interesting.

9) The flat is empty. We haven't got any furniture/furnitures yet.

10) When the fire alarm rang there was a complete chaos/ complete chaos.

11)1 had to buy a/some bread because I wanted to make some

sandwiches.

12) They will give you plenty of information/informations here.

11. Complete each sentence with a noun formed from a word given in the list, ending as shown.

art astonish great free explain employ agree

short ' politics music teach neighbour play paint

shy science invite equal partner smoke save

1. I don't want to be a slave. I demand my ... dom.

2. My friend plays the guitar, but he isn't a very good ... ian.

3. This school has closed because there is a ... age of... ers.

4. A small country can still achieve ... ness.

5. Imagine my ... ment when the dog started to speak.

6. Perhaps I should give you an ... tion for my choice.

7. My parents have just moved into a new ... hood.

8. My new ... er is paying me a much higher salary.

9. He is a terrible card ... er. He is really hopeless.

10. Mr Manson works in ... ship with two other architects.

11. Most people say that they believe in the ... ity of men and women.

12. Doctors have proved that... ing is harmful.

13. Mr Smith regrets that he is unable to accept your ... tion.

14. ... ists are hopeful that a cure for this disease will be found.

15. Most countries have signed an international ... ment banning whaling.

16. ... ings by this ... ist have been sold for million of pounds.

17. Mr Smith never wanted to be ... dan. First of all, he suffered from terrible ... ness and blushed violently when he had to make a speech.

18. We^are going to spend all our ... ings on a new car.

12. Choose the correct form, singular or plural.

1) The trousers you bought doesn't/don't fit you. They are/It is too short for you.

2) Physics was/were my best subject at school. - Really? But I think mathematics is/are much easier than physics.

3) Fortunately the news wasn't/weren't as bad as we had expected.

4) The police want/wants to interview me about the robbery.

5) Three days isn't/aren't long enough for a good holiday.

6) Where does/do your family live? - All my family live/lives with me.

7) England has/have lost all the football matches this season.

8) Does/do the police know about the stolen money?

9) Can I borrow your scissors? Mine isn't/aren't sharp enough.

10) I'm going to take a taxi. Six miles is/are too far for me to walk.

11) The danger of the forests fires is/are very serious for the environment.

12) The fear of the murder and robbery has/have caused many people to leave big cities.

13) The effects of that crime was/were very devastating for the city.

14) Fifty dollars is/are too much to pay for these trousers.

15) Mr. Smith accompanied by his wife and daughter is/are arriving tonight.

16) The doctor and his assistant have/has already finished their work today.

17) The majority of the people believe/believes him to be innocent.

18) Neither Bill nor Mary is/are going to the party tonight.

19) Neither Jane nor her parents was/were at home.

20) The mass media, TV and the press have/has enormous power in any society.

21) The police have /has weighed all the evidence and have/ has found the accused guilty.

22) When is/are the daily news on? - They are/It is on every hour on channel A.

23) Your advice was/were very useful. I usually use your advice/advices when I'm in trouble/troubles.

24) This book contains much/many useful informa­tion/informations.

25) Money isn't/aren't everything in my life but it is diffi­cult to live without it/them.

26) Fish/fishes travel long distances and different fish live/lives at different levels of water.

27) Coffee/a coffee or tea/a tea, please? - Two tea/teas and a coffee/coffee, please.

28) People/peoples eat more fruit/fruits now than they used to.

29) The fruits/fruit of nature belong to all mankind.

30) Too much/many knowledge/knowledges makes the head bold.

13. Choose the correct form.

Dear Polly,

Thank/thanks for your letter. Your news was/were interest­ing. We must talk soon. What about us? Well, we are living on the outskirt/outskirts of town, not far from the company head­quarter/headquarters where Bill works. We've spent nearly all our saving/savings on the house. That wouldn't matter so much if I hadn't crashed the car last week and done some dam­age/damages to the front of it. More bills! But at least I wasn't hurt. The house is nice actually, but the surroundings isn't/aren't very pleasant. We are on a very busy cross­road/crossroads.

I'm doing the course I told you about. Statistics is/are an easy subject, but economics give/gives me problems.

I am looking forward to seeing you soon.

With love.

Rita

14. Use the nouns in the singular or plural. Retell the text.

Crime

(Thief) have been around for (century), probably for as long as (human), but armed (robbery) is a more recent (phenome-

non). Unfortunately (woman) always have been (victim) of rape and domestic violence. (Forgery) has been around ever since printing has been used to make (money) or produce (document). Rich people or their (child) are sometimes kidnapped and are not set free until a ransom has been paid.

The twentieth (century) saw the appearance of many orga­nized (crime) such as hijacking and drug-smuggling or drug-trafficking. Statistics show an alarming rise in the rate of violent (crime) and (crime) to do with the illegal sale of arms across the world. Perhaps the most recent crime of all is hacking (com­puter) to access (information) that helps (competitor) in indus­try. This increase in international (crime) makes one wonder whether it is still true to say "(Crime) doesn't pay!"

Task. Explain the meaning of the following nouns:

Crime - criminal - criminalist; fine, offence, killer - killing;

murder - murderer - murderess; burglar - burglary; thief -

theft; prison - prisoner - imprisonment; suspect - suspicion;

robber - robbery; shoplifter - shoplifting, kidnapper, hacker,

pickpocket, hijacker, blackmail.

15. Read the text. Explain whether the nouns used in it are proper or common, countable or uncountable, plural or singu­lar, in common or possessive case.

London Favourite Stores

Oxford Street is one of the biggest and most popular shop­ping centres in London. One of the largest department stores in Oxford Street is Selfridge's.

Big stores started in America and the idea was brought to Eng­land by Gordon Selfridge about one hundred years ago. Selfridge's is still one of the biggest stores in London as well as Harrods. It has about 235 different departments and it is a very expensive de­partment store, that's why most Londoners have prefer to go to cheaper shops: Marks & Spenser and Woolworth's.

Mark and Spencer is Britain's favorite store. Tourists love it too. It attracts a great variety of customers, from housewives to millionaires.

Last year it made a profit of 529 million pounds, which is more than 10 million pounds a week.

It all started 105 years ago, when a young Polish immigrant Michael Marks, had a stall in Leeds market. He didn't have many things to sell: some cotton, a little wool, lots of buttons and a few shoelaces. Above his stall he put the now famous no­tice: Don't ask how much - it's a penny.

Ten years later he met Tom Spencer. And together they started Penny Stalls in many towns in the north of England. To­day there are 564 branches of M&S all over the world - in USA, Canada, Spain, France, Belgium and Hungary.

Surprisingly, tastes in food and clothes are international. What sells well in Paris sells just as well in Newcastle. Their best-selling clothes are:

For women: jumpers and knickers, dresses and costumes. For men: shirts, socks, pyjamas and suits. For children: under­wear and socks. Best-sellers in food include: fresh chickens, bread, vegetables, sandwiches.

The store bases its business on three principles: good value, good quality and good service. Also, it changes with the times -once it was all jumpers and knickers. Now it is food, furniture and flowers as well. Top fashion designers advice on style of clothes.

But perhaps the most important key to its success is its happy, well-trained staff. Conditions of work are excellent. There are company doctors, dentists, hairdressers and even chi­ropodists to look after the staff and all the staff can have lunch for under 40 p.!