Gramatica

Unit II: The Noun Group


Nouns

What is a noun?

A noun is a word used to name a person, animal, place, thing, and abstract idea. Nouns can be countable and uncountable.

▪ Countable nouns

This nouns name anything or anyone that you can count. They have both singular and plural form, and can be used with a/an.

Examples:

.- There is a dog over there (dog is a singularcountable noun, and because it is singular it used a)

.- The dogs are over there (dogs is the plural of dog and because it is plural it does not use a or an)

Note: Use a/an with countable nouns preceded by an adjective.

.- I read a big and long book (the noun book is preceded by the adjectives big and long.)
.- I have an extraordinary cat (the noun cat is preceded by the adjectiveextraordinary.)


▪ Uncountable nouns

These nouns don’t have plural form, this mean that you cannot or usually wouldn’t count them. Uncountable nouns normally cannot be used with a/an.

Examples:

.- The electricity is so expensive these days (electricity is an uncountable noun, you cannot count it because it is)

.- The milk arrives early everyday (we cannot count milk; we can count bottlesof milk, but not milk itself)

Note: Uncountable nouns usually do not use the indefinite article a/an.

.- It is terrible furniture. (NOT a terrible furniture)

.- She listens good music. (NOT a good music)

Do not use a/an with uncountable nouns preceded by an adjective.
❖ Nouns that can be Countable and Uncountable


Sometimes same nouns can be both countable and uncountable,often with a change of meaning

- Countable:
My house has three rooms (el significado de la palabra room en esta oración es habitación, cuarto, etc.)

- Uncountable:
There is room for one more. (El significado de la palabra room en esta oración es lugar, espacio para una persona.)

▪ Uncountable nouns special cases.

There are some uncountable nouns, which can be madecountable by adding some words like:

Examples:

A piece of cheese
A piece of meat
A glass of water
A bottle of mustard
A flash of knowledge


Note: Uncountable nouns became countable when the words: a piece, a glass, a bottle and a flash were added.



Plural of nouns: spelling

This is the general rule for spelling plural nouns.

|Rules nouns |Add|Examples |
|Most nouns |S |Stamp – Stamps Song – Songs |
|End in Ch-Sh-S-X-Z |ES |Match – Matches; Dish – Dishes; Gas – Gases; |
|| |Tax – Taxes; Prize – Prizes |
|End in consonant + -Y |IES |Body – Bodies; City - Cities |
|End in vowel + -Y |S |Way – Ways; Key – Keys|
|End in O |S |Video – Videos; Kilo – Kilos |
|Certain nouns that end in consonant + -O |ES |Hero – Heroes; Potato - Potatoes |





Plural of nouns: special cases



▪ Some nouns do not change when they becomeplural.

Examples: Deer – Fish – Sheep – Species.

▪ Nouns plural without “s” after a number

Examples:

Hundred; three hundred (even after the word hundred became three hundred, we do not add “s”)

Million; one million; two million (even when the word million become more than one, we do not add “s”)

▪ Nouns that end in -F or - Fe, when they are plural we add –VES

Examples:...