Nouns

Count nouns

Count nouns have two forms: singular and plural.

Singular count nouns refer to one person or thing:

a teacher a book a wish an idea

Plural count nouns refer to more than one person or thing:

teachers books wishes ideas

Singular count nouns Singular count nouns cannot be used alone. They must have a determiner:

the English teacher
that book a wish my latest idea

Exercise 1: Singular count nouns

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Exercise 1: Singular count nouns

Определите, что в предложении является существительным:

1. Sorry, can I borrow your pen? I need to write something down.
   {{ ans your pen }}
2. Is it OK if I close the window? It's getting a bit cold.
   {{ ans the window }}
3. I'm afraid I'm busy today. Can we meet another time?
   {{ ans another time }}
4. Could you help me with this exercise? I don't understand it at all.
   {{ ans this exercise }}
5. Can I carry that black bag for you? It looks heavy.
   {{ ans black bag }}
6. Sorry to interrupt, but can I ask a quick question?
   {{ ans a quick question }}

Exercise 2: Singular count nouns 2

Can you remember the questions from the last activity? Write the noun phrases.

1. Sorry, can I borrow ... ...? I need to write something down.
   
2. Is it OK if I close ... ...? It's getting a bit cold.
   
3. I'm afraid I'm busy today. Can we meet ... ...?
   
4. Could you help me with ... ...? I don't understand it at all.
   
5. Can I carry ... black ... for you? It looks heavy.
   
6. Sorry to interrupt, but can I ask ... quick ...?
   

Plural count nouns We usually add –s to make a plural noun:

book > books
school > schools
friend > friends
We add –es to nouns ending in –s, –ch, –sh, –ss, –x and –o:

class > classes
watch > watches
gas > gases
wish > wishes
box > boxes
potato > potatoes
When a noun ends in a consonant and –y, we make the plural with –ies:

lady > ladies
country > countries
party > parties
If a noun ends in a vowel and –y, we simply add –s:

boy > boys
day > days
play > plays
Some common nouns have irregular plurals:

man > men
woman > women
child > children
person > people
foot > feet

Exercise 3

Exercise 3: Plural count nouns 1

Complete each expression with the plural of the noun in brackets ( ). There are 30 questions.

1. active ... (volcano)
2. African ... (elephant)
3. birthday ... (wish)
4. blue ... (eye)
5. business ... (tax)
6. cardboard ... (box)
7. champagne ... (glass)
8. computer ... (game)
9. dirty ... (dish)
10. 30,000 ... (foot)
11. empty ... (bottle)
12. English ... (course)
13. football ... (pitch)
14. front-door ... (key)
15. green ... (tomato)
16. greenhouse ... (gas)
17. happy ... (child)
18. hospital ... (doctor)
19. local ... (bus)
20. lonely ... (person)
21. modern ... (city)
22. newborn ... (baby)
23. 32 ... (tooth)
24. old ... (man)
25. Shakespeare ... (play)
26. summer ... (month)
27. sunny ... (beach)
28. traffic ... (accident)
29. wedding ... (dress)
30. young ... (woman)

Exercise 4

Exercise 4: Plural count nouns 2

Can you remember the expressions from the last activity? Complete the missing plural nouns.

30 items remaining

1. traffic a....
2. African e....
3. hospital d....
4. English c....
5. computer g....
6. empty b....
7. summer m....
8. blue e....
9. dirty d....
10. birthday w....

Plural count nouns do not have a general determiner when they refer to people or things in general:

Computers are very expensive.
Do you sell old books?
But they may have a specific determiner:

Those computers are very expensive.
The books in that shop are very expensive.
Her sisters live there.
or a quantifier:

some new books
a few teachers
lots of good ideas

or a numeral:

two new books
three wishes