Collective Nouns/ Nouns of Multitude

CLASSIFICATION OF NOUNS

I

foliage police crowd - crowds

machinery cattle team - teams

1 Collective nouns are usually singular and are used with singular verbs when they denote a thing as a whole. But sometimes a plural verb is used, when it denotes a number of people or elements:

The Russian team was playing well

The hockey team are coming tonight

2 Some collective nouns have singular and plural:

My family is small

The two families were very friendly

3 Nouns of material are uncountable and are usually used in singular. They are used in the plural to denote different sorts of a given material:

wine – wines

fruit – fruits

glass – glasses

4 Abstract nouns are usually uncountable though some of them may be uncountable (idea, hour). But they may change their meaning and become class nouns. In this case they are used with the article and may be plural

beauty – a beauty – beauties

sight – a sight – sights

II

a book – 5 books the music, some bread, his blood

a boy – many boys This ring is made of silver

1 Many nouns can be used as countable and uncountable. Usually there is a difference in meaning.

I bought a paper (countable – a newspaper)

I bought some paper (uncountable - material)

2 Some nouns are usually uncountable in English but often countable in other languages.

I’m looking for accommodation

Tom gave some good advice

Where did you buy your furniture

The news is very depressing today

H/W Write the countable and uncountable nouns into two different columns

Wall, pen, air, chalk, picture, water, match, tea, time, hour, bread, river, friend, copper, cigarette, tobacco, cheese, teacher, glass (стакан), glass (стекло), paper (газета), paper (бумага)

Collective Nouns/ Nouns of Multitude

Collective Nouns (class, army, party, group, crew, family, herd etc.) – nouns that name not a single thing but a group of things and individuals taken as a whole, as a single undivided body. The same nouns may be treated as Nouns of Multitude that indicate the group as a collection of individuals

· We have a nice family

· His family was well-known in their town – collective N

· When I entered the room my family were sitting round the table – (все члены семьи) a N of multitude

Some of the collective nouns: people, police, cattle, poultry require a plural verb and are used with the definite article

PLURAL

English nouns have two numbers – the singular and the plural. The plural form is formed by adding “-s”, “-es” inflexion.

The “-s” inflexion is pronounced as:

[s] after voiceless consonants: caps, books, hats

[z] after voiced consonants and vowels: beds, bees, toys

[iz] after sibilants (-s, -ss. –x, -ch, -dg, -sh, -tch): boxes, benches, noses

Spelling Rules

1 Nouns ending in -s, -ss. –x, -ch, -dg, -sh, -tch add –es to the singular

a bus – buses, a box – boxes, a glass – glasses

2 Nouns ending in “y” with a preceding consonant change “y” into “i”+es

a lady – ladies, a penny – pennies, a fly – flies

But if the final “y” is a preceded by a vowel the plural is formed by adding -s

a day – days, a play – plays, a key – keys

Proper names ending in “y” simply add –s

Mary – Marys, Lily – Lilys

3 Nouns ending in “o” with a preceding consonant add –es

a hero – heroes, a potato – potatoes

BUT: a piano – pianos, a solo – solos, a photo – photos, a cello – cellos, zero – zeros, a radio – radios, a studio – studios, a zoo – zoos, a credo – credos, a rhino – rhinos and many words of foreign origin and abbreviated words.

If “o” is preceded by a vowel add –s

a cuckoo – cuckoos

4 13 nouns ending in “f” and “fe” form plural by changing “f” into “v” and adding –es [z]

a calf - calves, an elf – elves, a half – halves, a knife – knives, a leaf – leaves, a life – lives, a loaf – loaves, a self – selves, a sheaf – sheaves, a shelf – shelves, a thief – thieves, a wife – wives, a wolf – wolves.

Other nouns ending in “f” and “fe” and all nouns ending in “ff” form plural by adding only –s

a proof – proofs, a relief – reliefs, a chief – chiefs, a gulf – gulfs, a cliff – cliffs, a handkerchief – handkerchiefs

Some nouns may have both forms in the plural:

a scarf –scarfs, scarves; a wharf – wharfs, wharves; a dwarf – dwarfs, dwarves; a hoof – hoofs, hooves; a turf – turfs, turves; an oaf – oafs, oaves.

5 Nouns ending in “th” [θ] after a long vowel or a diphthong change[θ] into [ð] in the pronunciation and add –s in spelling. After short vowels and consonants including “r” the sound [θ] doesn’t change.

a path – paths, an oath – oaths, a mouth – mouths, a month – months

6 Some nouns form the plural by adding –en

an ox – oxen, a child – children, a brother – bretheren

7 A few nouns form their plural by a change of the root vowel

a man – men, a woman – women, a tooth –teeth, a foot – feet, a goose – geese, a mouse – mice, a louse – lice

8 A few nouns have the same form for singular and the plural

a sheep – sheep, a swine – swine, a deer – deer, a fish – fish, a trout – trout, a cod – cod, a pike – pike, a salmon – salmon, a bass – bass, a bream – bream, a sturgeon – sturgeon, a dace – dace, a craft – craft

9 The following nouns ending in –s in the singular remain unchanged in the plural

a means – means, a barracks – barracks, a headquarters – headquarters, a series – series, a species – species

10 In compound nouns the head noun adds –s. It may be the final component that is made plural:

a schoolgirl – schoolgirls, a fisherman – fishermen, a toothbrush-toothbrushes

On the first component:

a looker-on – lookers-on, a mother-in-law – mothers-in-law, a passer-by – passers-by, editor-in-chief – editors-in chief

If there is no noun stem in the compound, -s is added to the last element:

a forget-me-not – forget-me-nots, a merry-go-round – merry-go-rounds

When the first component is man or woman the plural is expressed twice

a woman-clerk – women-clerks, a man-servant – men-servants

11 Some nouns borrowed from Latin and Greek keep their foreign plural forms

12 Some nouns are used only in the plural form:

a) Agree with the predicate in the plural: spectacles, trousers, scissors, binoculars, scales, tongs, pants, compasses

b) The predicate is in singular: billiards, dominoes, draughts, cards, darts

c) The predicate is in singular: physics, optics, phonetics, politics, mumps

13 There are a few nouns in English which have only the plural form. But they happen to be homonyms of nouns which are used in both forms, the singular and plural

14 The following nouns are used only in singular: advice, progress, knowledge, information, money

His knowledge of English is good

This information is very important

15 Special cases:

a. Unlike in Russian the word “watch” has both the singular and the plural.

My watch is on the table. Nick has two watches

b. “News” is always used in the singular

No news is good news

“Wages” – заработная плата – is always plural

What are your wages?

“Applause” – аплодисменты – is singular

c. People (люди, народ) – Peoples (народы, нации)

d. The noun “penny” has two plural forms: pennies (when referring to individual coins) and pence (when the amount only is meant)

She dropped three pennies in the slot-machine

The fare cost him eight pence

H/W 1. Write the words in 3 columns according to the pronunciation of the ending in the plural.

Lamp, park, car, box, lesson, stick, theme, kiss, roof, book, Mary, muff, sentence, oak, text, path, bench, knife, wolf, house, toy, chief, page, oath, month

2. Write the words in 2 columns according to the spelling of the ending in the plural

Key, Lily, baby, pony, day, country, city, play, penny, library, tray, Polly, trolley, fly.

3. Translate into English

1. У нее светлые волосы. 2. Деньги – на столе. 3. Его знания – обширны. 4. Сведения – интересные. 5. Физика – сложный предмет. 6. Её одежда – модная и дорогая. 7. Аудитория была огромной. 8. Аудитория получила удовольствие от лекции

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