The countability of uncountable nouns
ПЕРЕДМОВА
Запропонований посібник розрахований на студентів другого курсу факультетів та відділень англійської мови лінгвістичних університетів і педагогічних вищих учбових закладів і призначений для розвитку граматичних навичок студентів
Укладачем посібника були проаналізовані деякі сучасні лінгвістичні моделі, а також велика кількість нових довідників та посібників з практичної граматики англійської мови та електронні джерела Інтернету; надані таблиці, схеми, моделі для відповідних граматичних дій; зміст та кількість вправ дає можливість відпрацювати у студента навички вживання тих чи інших граматичних конструкцій до автоматизму та наблизити до розмовного стилю мовлення.
Матеріал викладено у відповідності до спрямованості та цільових настанов чинної програми. Посібник складається з п'яти розділів (Nouns, Adjectives, Modal Verbs, Non-finite forms of the Verb, the Subjunctive Мооd), кожен з яких поділений на дві частини. Перша частина дає теоретичне пояснення граматичного матеріалу, виклад з поясненнями щодо умов виконання відповідних граматичних дій та способів утворення граматичної структури. Друга частина кожного розділу містить вправи для формування відповідних навичок у не комунікативних та умовно-комунікативних вправах. Необхідно підкреслити, що подані у посібнику кількість та зміст матеріалу дозволяє викладачеві реалізувати індивідуалізоване навчання у групі, тобто варіювати кількість і складність виконаних студентами вправ відповідно до їх індивідуального рівня підготовки, а також моделювати самостійну роботу студентів. У посібнику з метою оптимізації навчання увагу приділено забезпеченню комунікативної навчальної діяльності студентів. Виходячи з цього, посібник містить ряд завдань, спрямованих на практичне застосування граматичних навичок, до виконання яких студент має бути готовий або повинен уміти їх виконувати, щоб задовольнити вимоги ситуації. Завдання включають тренування, імітацію, спілкування у групі, дискусії, та інше.
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Для того, щоб викладач мав можливість гнучко підходити до організації навчальної діяльності студентів, посібник включає в межах окремого розділу різні за складністю вправи та завдання. Основним принципом роботи з посібником є рух від формування розуміння про те чи інше граматичне явище до його відпрацювання в найбільш типових ситуаціях спілкування.
Посібник повинен допомогти студентам зрозуміти характер граматичних явищ, запропонованих до вивчення чинною програмою, та оволодіти практичними навичками використання граматичних структур, типових для сучасної англійської мови.
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THE NOUN
The noun is a nominative part of speech denoting substances, i. e. things (table, book), living beings (girl, doctor), materials (water, iron) and abstract notions (courage, peace, war).
Classification of nouns.
Nouns fall under two classes:
-proper nouns
-common nouns
Proper nouns are individual names given to separate persons or things. They can be:
- personal names – Paul, Andrew, Smith;
- geographical names – London, Ukraine, Britain;
- the names of the months and of the days of the week – March, April, Friday;
- names of ships, hotels, periodicals, etc.
Common nouns are names that can be applied to any individual of a class of persons or things (woman, table, pen), collections of similar individuals or things regarded as a single unit (company, nation, army), materials (wool, water, silk) or abstract notions (unity, excitement, joy).
Nouns may also be classified from another point of view: nouns denoting things that can be counted are called countable nouns; nouns denoting things that cannot be countable are called uncountable nouns.
● Class nouns denote persons or things belonging to a class. They are countables and have two numbers: singular and plural; they are generally used with an article – a book, a window, a boy.
● Collective nouns denote a number or collection of similar individuals or things as a single unit. They fall under the following groups: a) nouns used only in the singular and denoting a number of things collected together and regarded as a single object (furniture, linen, machinery); b) nouns which are singular in form though plural in meaning (people, police, cattle), they are usually called nouns of multitude; when the subject of the sentence is a noun of multitude the verb used as predicate is in the plural (e.g. The police do not think he can stay free very long); c) nouns that can be both plural and singular ( fleet, nation, family, crew, team); d) nouns that are used only in the plural (clothes, goods, belongings).
● Nouns of material denote material: gold, coffee, water; they are uncountables and are generally used without any article. Sometimes nouns of material are used in the plural to denote different sorts of a given material (a collection of wines); they may turn into class nouns and become countables when they come to express an individual object of definite shape (He ordered aglass of lemonade.)
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● Abstract nouns denote some quality, state, action or idea: information, beauty, life, peace, discussion, sadness; most of them are uncountables; but they may change their meaning and become class nouns, this change is marked by the use of the article and of the plural number (beauty – a beauty – beauties).
Morphological composition of nouns.
According to their morphological composition nouns can be distinguished as simple, derivative and compound.
1. Simple nouns are nouns which have neither prefixes nor suffixes: room, work, pen, moon.
2. Derivative nouns are nouns which have derivative elements (prefixes or suffixes or both): writer, darkness, childhood, immobility, misunderstanding.
3. Compound nouns are nouns built from two or more stems, they often have one stress and the meaning of the compound noun often differs from the meaning of its elements. The main types of compound nouns are as follows:
a) noun-stem + noun-stem: snowball, schoolboy, housewife;
b) adjective-stem + noun-stem: blackboard, bluejacket, redskin;
c) verb-stem + noun-stem: pickpocket, make-peace.
d) gerund (participle)-stem + noun stem: reading-hall, dancing-girl, etc.
The noun has the following morphological characteristics:
1. Nouns that can be counted have two numbers: singular and plural (doctor – doctors); ;
2. Nouns denoting living beings and some other nouns have the category of case represented by two forms: the father (the common case) – the father's (the genitive case).
The main syntactical functions of the noun in the sentence are those of the subject and the object:
The students (subject) passed their exams (object).
It also may be used as predicative, attribute and adverbial modifier:
My father is a teacher (predicative).
I want to buy that glass bowl (attribute).
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I've been studying English for a year (adverbial modifier).
The noun is associated with the following structural words:
1. articles: a pen – the pen;
2. prepositions: on the sofa, in the classroom.
It may be modified by the following notional parts of speech:
1. adjectives: a beautiful picture, an interesting story;
2. pronouns: my mother, this building;
3. numerals: eight stories, the fifth floor;
4. verbals: generations to come, the lost memory.
Besides, the noun may be modified by another noun: a stone wall, birthday presents.
The category of number
English countable nouns have two numbers – the singular and the plural.
Guide to Forming Plurals
The plurals of most nouns is formed by adding -s to the singular:
apple – apples
bell -bells
epoch -epochs
law – laws
shade – shades
Common nouns ending in -ch, -sh, -s, -ss, -x, -z, -zz usually form their plurals by adding -es:
church – churches
slash – slashes
class – classes
fox – foxes
quiz – quizzes
buzz – buzzes
Common nouns ending in -y preceded by a consonant or by -qu change the -y to -i and add -es:
baby – babies
city – cities
faculty – faculties
soliloquy – soliloquies
Proper nouns ending in -y form their plurals regularly, and do not change the -y to -i as common nouns do:
the two Kathys
the Connallys
the two Kansas Citys
There are a few well-known exceptions to this rule:
the Ptolemies
the Rockies
the Two Sicilies
Most nouns ending in -f, -ff, or -fe form their plurals regularly by adding -s to the singular:
chief – chiefs
proof – proofs
roof – roofs
sheriff – sheriffs
fife – fifes
However, some nouns ending in -f or -fe change the -f or -fe to -v and add -es:
calf – calves
elf – elves
half – halves
knife – knives
life – lives
loaf -loaves
self – selves
shelf – shelves
thief – thieves
wife – wives
wolf – wolves
A few nouns ending in -f or -ff, including
beef
dwarf
hoof
scarf
wharf
staff
have two plural forms:
beefs or beeves
dwarfs or dwarves
hoofs or hooves
scarfs or scarves
wharfs or wharves
staffs or staves
In this case sometimes different forms have different meanings, as
beefs (complaints) and beeves (animals)
staffs (people) and staves (long poles)
Nouns ending in -o preceded by a vowel form their plurals by adding -s to the singular:
cameo – cameos
duo – duos
studio – studios
zoo – zoos
Most nouns ending in -o preceded by a consonant also usually add -s to form the plural:
alto – altos
casino – casinos
ego – egos
Latino – Latinos
memo – memos
neutrino – neutrinos
poncho – ponchos
silo -silos
However, some nouns ending in -o preceded by a consonant add -es:
echo – echoes
hero – heroes
jingo – jingoes
no - noes
potato – potatoes
tomato – tomatoes
Some nouns ending in -o preceded by a consonant have two plural forms (the preferred form is given first):
buffaloes or buffalos
cargoes or cargos
desperadoes or desperados
halos or haloes
mosquitoes or mosquitos
zeros or zeroes
Most nouns ending in -i form their plurals by adding -s:
alibi – alibis
khaki – khakis
rabbi – rabbis
ski – skis
Three notable exceptions to this rule are:
alkali – alkalis or alkalies
taxi – taxis or taxies
chili – chillies.
Irregular plurals
1. mutation: seven nouns (and their compounds) change their root vowels in the plural-
man – men
woman – women
foot – feet
tooth – teeth
louse – lice
mouse – mice
goose – geese
2. -en plurals: three nouns-
child – children
ox – oxen
brother – brethren
3. zero plurals: have the same form in singular and plural, they are:
- animal names: fish, trout, deer, sheep, duck;
- nationality names or other proper nouns ending in -ese: Chinese, Viennese, Japanese + the noun Swiss;
- nouns denoting measure, quantity, number, when they are preceded by an indication of number: dozen, hundred, thousand, million, score;
- nouns ending in -s: means, works, crossroads, series, species, barracks, headquarters;
4. foreign plurals: some nouns have been adapted to the English system, others have both the foreign plural and the plural in -s, while others have only the foreign plural; when you have a choice, the foreign plural is preferred in the scientific language and the -s plural in the everyday language.
Latin plurals
* -us ending is changed to -i , -ora, -era
stimulus – stimuli
bacillus – bacilli
genus – genera
corpus – corpora
alumnus – alumni
Note: both forms have cactus – cacti – cactuses, nucleus – nuclei – nucleuses, radius – radii - radiuses;
* -a ending is changed to -ae:
larva – larvae
alga – algae
Note: both forms have vertebra – vertebrae – vertebras, formula – formulae – formulas
* -um ending is changed to -a:
addendum – addenda
datum – data
bacterium – bacteria
erratum – errata
medium – media
Note: both forms have sanatorium – sanatoria – sanatoriums, memorandum – memoranda – memorandums, stratum – strata – stratums, ultimatum – ultimata – ultimatums;
* -ex / -ix ending is changed to -ices:
codex – codices
Note: both forms have matrix – matrices – matrixes, index – indices – indexes, appendix – appendices – appendixes.
Greek plurals
-is ending is changed to -es:
analysis – analyses
basis – bases
crisis – crises
-on ending is changed to -a:
criterion – criteria
phenomenon – phenomena
Note: both forms has automaton – automata – automatons;
French plurals
-e (a) ending is changed to -x;
bureau – bureaux - bureaus
adieu – adieux – adieus
Italian plurals
-o/e ending is changed to -i:
virtuoso – virtuosi – virtuosos
tempo – tempi – tempos
libretto – libretti – librettos
Note: only regular plural have solo, soprano;
Hebrew plurals
cherub – cherubim
seraph – seraphim – seraphs.
Table 1 shows a few of the words that English has taken from other languages that are most often found in the singular. In formal academic English, it is usually seen as correct to use the foreign plural forms. So these are given where we think they may be useful.
Table 1
| Singular | Plural | Notes |
| Abscissa | abscissae | Possible variant -'abscissas' |
| Addendum | addenda | - 'the things that should be added' |
| Alumna | alumnae | These are the feminine forms,~'old girl(s)' |
| Alumnus | alumni | These are the masculine forms, ~'old boy(s)' |
| Analysis | analyses | Don't confuse with the verb 'to analyse=analyses' |
| +auditorium | auditoria | |
| Appendix | appendices | Better academic plural than 'appendixes' |
| Automaton | automata | Possible variant -''automatons' |
| Axis | axes | Maths ( 'turning point', 'graph line'); History (the Axis = Germany, Italy, Japan in W. W. II) |
| Bacterium | bacteria | |
| Cherub | cherubim | Religious context; but: Children are cherubs. |
| Compendium | compendia | Possible variant -'compendiums' |
| Consortium | consortia | |
| Colloquium | colloquia | |
| Continuum | continua | |
| Corpus | corpora | |
| Crisis | crises | |
| Criterion | criteria | |
| Curriculum | curricula | The adjective is 'curricular' |
| dictum | dicta | |
| Emphasis | emphases | Don't confuse with 'to emphasize = emphasizes' |
| Erratum | errata | |
| Focus | foci | Also: 'focuses'; in U.K. often irregular 'focuses' |
| Forum | fora | Many people say 'forums' |
| Fungus | fungi | Colloquially sometimes 'funguses' |
| Ganglion | ganglia | |
| Genus | genera | |
| Helix | helices | |
| Hypothesis | hypotheses | Don't confuse with the verb 'to hypothesize' |
| Incunabulum | incunabula | |
| Index | indices | Better academic plural than 'indexes' |
| Locus | loci | |
| Maximum | maxima | Note adjective 'maximal' |
| Medium | media | |
| Minimum | minima | Note adjective 'minimal' |
| Nebula | nebulae | |
| Opus | opera | Musical plays use “the works” to move the audience |
| Persona | personae | Note: “personae non gratae” |
| Phenomenon | phenomena | |
| Postscriptum | -scripta | Academics may add several “post scripta” to a letter, others have “postscripts” |
| Quantum | quanta | Possible variant- 'quantums' |
| Radius | radii | |
| Referendum | referenda | Possible variant- 'referendums' |
| Rostrum | rostra | Rarely possible variant -'rostrums' |
| Seraph | seraphim | In academic religious studies |
| Series | series | Singular and the plural are the same |
| Simulacrum | simulacra | |
| Species | species | Singular and the plural are the same |
| Spectrum | spectra | |
| Stadium | stadia | Possible variant - 'stadiums' |
| Stimulus | stimuli | |
| Stratum | strata | |
| Syllabus | syllabi | Better in academic writing than 'syllabuses' |
| Synthesis | syntheses | The verb – 'to synthesize' |
| Thesis | theses | |
| Ultimatum | ultimata | |
| Vertex | vertices | |
| Vortex | vortices |
Some words are essentially used in English only in their plural form. Some of these are:
Table 2
| Usual (plural) form | Original Singular | Comments |
| alia | alium | -”other things” |
| agenda | agendum | - the things that are to be done” |
| arcana | arcanum | -”the secret things”, only revealed to initiates |
| cetera | ceterum | - “the other things (et cetera – and the other things) |
| corrigenda | corrigendum | - “the things that should be corrected” |
| data | datum | The singular “datum” is rare nowadays |
| delenda | delendum | - “the things that are to be deleted” |
| emendenda | emendendum | - “the things that shouls be changed” |
| impedimenta | impedimentum | - 'baggage” |
| marginalia | marginalium | |
| miscellanea | miscellaneum | - “miscellany' |
| paraphernalia | There is a singular – 'paraphernal', but it is rare |
The plural of compound nouns:
1. -s is generally added to the final element (washing-machines, handfuls, forget-me-nots);
2. -s is added to the first element when:
this is a noun ending in -er or -ing (passers-by, goings-out);
the compound is formed of two nouns linked with a preposition (editors-in-chief, sons-in-law);
the compound is formed of noun + adjective (courts-martial);
3. compounds with “and” make both elements plural (ins-and-outs, cons-and-pros);
4. compounds with “man” and “woman” make both elements plural (women-drivers, men-singers), but: woman-haters, man-eaters.
The countability of uncountable nouns
Uncountable nouns may be:
material nouns – air, milk, cotton, bread;
abstract nouns – biology, peace, music;
names of sport – football, swimming;
names of edible plants, when reference is made to the species itself – maize, onion, tomato, potato;
names of towns, cities, countries, months – London, England, February.
Note: there are some words which are uncountable nouns in English, but which refer to things that are considered countable in other languages, for instance 'advice, luggage / baggage, homework, knowledge, information, furniture, progress'.
The countability of uncountable nouns may be achieved by means of 'partitive' nouns. They may be:
general partitives, which are not restricted to specific lexical items: piece, bit, item;
typical partitives, which are words restricted to certain lexical items and which form expressions with specific uncountable nouns: bar, lump, fit, grain, etc.;
measure partitives, which denote exact measurements: inch, gramme, mile, metre, yard, pound, etc.
Absolute singular (+singular verb)
- Concrete uncountable nouns – chocolate, sugar, gold, furniture; some of them can be classified as countable when their meaning changes, e.g. I'd like a coffee. Or: Romania's wines are famous.
- Abstract uncountable nouns – music, progress, nonsense, knowledge, advice; some abstract uncountable nouns can also be countable, when they refer to instances of a given abstract phenomenon, e.g. After many failures / difficulties, he succeeded.
- Proper nouns – John, America, October.
- Nouns ending in -s:
1. news;
2. diseases (measles, mumps);
3. sciences (optics, linguistics, statistics); but if the meaning is different, they take a plural verb, compare: Statistics is a branch of mathematics. The statistics show that imports are low.;
4. games (cards, dominoes, draughts, darts, billiards); in compounds they are used in the singular, e.g. dartboard, billiard-room;
5. abstract substantivized adjectives (the good, the evil).
Absolute plural (+ plural verb)
Nouns denoting parts of the body – bowels, tonsils, entrails, e.g. His bowels are very sensitive.
Nouns denoting the state of mind – hysterics, blues, spirits, e.g. High spirits are always appreciated.
Nouns denoting articles of dress – trousers, shorts, flares, tights, braces, pajamas, e.g. Your pajamas are on the bed.
Note:
- number of contrasts is achieved by means of “a pair of”, e.g. He has only two pairs of trousers;
- when used attributively, these nouns are singular, e.g. a trouser leg.
Nouns denoting tools and instruments consisting of two parts – scales, scissors, glasses / spectacles, tongs, pincers, (nail/hairdresser's) clippers, e.g. Where are the pincers?
Note:
- number contrasts is achieved by means of “a pair of”, e.g. He wore a pair of earphones, which were plugged into a tape-recorder;
- when used attributively, these nouns are singular, e.g. a spectacle case.
Proper nouns – the Highlands, the Alps, the Netherlands.
Verbal nouns in -ing – savings, earnings, belongings, proceedings, surroundings.
Other “plural tantum”: clothes, customs, wages, premises, stairs, eaves, congratulations.
Substantivized adjectives – chemicals, riches, valuables, goods, the rich, the poor, the dead.
Unmarked plurals – cattle, clergy, people, police, military, vermin, poultry, e.g . These cattle belong to my parents.
Note:
- people = 'nation' – countable noun, e.g. This is an organization of English-speaking peoples.
-poultry = 'meat' – singular noun, e.g. Poultry is cheaper than veal.
Number and meaning
The following situations are possible:
1. nouns with two plural forms, each having its meaning(s):
brother – brothers / brethren
genius – geniuses – genii
staff – staffs – staves
2. nouns with one meaning in the singular and a different meaning in the plural:
air – airs
nylon – nylons
advice – advices
content – contents
3. nouns with plural form of two or more meanings:
effect – effects (1)/ effects (2)
custom – customs (1) / customs (2)
4. nouns, that besides the regular plural have a plural form which is identical with the singular form and which has a collective meaning;
cannon – cannons / cannon
horse – horses / horse
5. nouns that are countable in one meaning and uncountable in another meaning:
hair
business
character
game
sport
The category of gender
The category of gender is not richly developed in English, the gender usually coincides with the sex of the beings or objects denoted.
According to their lexical meaning all the nouns denoting living beings can be of the masculine or feminine gender; names of lifeless things and abstract notions are of the common gender.
Masculine Gender is represented by nouns denoting male beings (e.g. man, brother, son, uncle, king). They can be replaced by “he” and referred to by “him” or “himself”.
Feminine Gender is represented by nouns denoting female beings (e.g. mother, sister, queen), that can be replaced by “she” and referred to by “her” or herself”.
Common Gender is represented by nouns denoting beings which have only one form for both masculine and feminine (e.g. cousin, friend, teacher, neighbour). The gender proper of such nouns becomes obvious in the context: My neighbour Mary works in a hospital. When I met my neighbour,she told me about that accident.
Note: many grammar books perform titanic efforts trying to differentiate common gender into 1) common gender and 2) neuter gender. All those efforts are just subjective, semantic interpretation.
Neuter Gender is represented by nouns denoting inanimate objects, substances, abstractions, which are replaced by “it” or “they”: his class is small; it is made up of only 15 children.
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