THE PLURAL OF NOUNS Most nouns form the plural by adding -s or -es.

Singular Plural boat hat house river boats hats houses rivers

A noun ending in -y preceded by a consonant makes the plural with -ies. Singular Plural a cry a fly a nappy a city a lady a baby cries flies nappies cities ladies babies

a poppy poppies

There are some irregular formations for noun plurals. Some of the most common ones are listed below. Examples of irregular plurals: Singular woman man child tooth foot person leaf half knife wife life loaf Plural women men children teeth feet people leaves halves knives wives lives loaves

potato analysis diagnosis oasis crisis phenomenon criterion datum

potatoes analyses diagnoses oases crises phenomena criteria data

Some nouns have the same form in the singular and the plural. Examples: Singular Plural sheep fish species aircraft sheep fish species aircraft PLURAL NOUN + SINGULAR VERB

Some nouns have a plural form but take a singular verb. Examples: news The news is on at 6.30 p.m. athletics Athletics is good for young people. linguistics Linguistics is the study of language. darts Darts is a popular game in England. billiards Billiards is played all over the world. Some nouns have a plural form and take a plural verb. Examples: trousers My trousers are too tight. jeans Her jeans are black. glasses Those glasses are his. others include:

PLURAL NOUN + PLURAL VERB

savings, thanks, steps, stair, customs, congratulations, tropics, wages, spectacles, outskirts, goods, wits

UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

Uncountable nouns are substances, concepts etc that we cannot divide into separate elements. We cannot "count" them. For example, we cannot count "milk". music, art, love, happiness

advice, information, news furniture, luggage rice, sugar, butter, water electricity, gas, power money, currency

We usually treat uncountable nouns as singular. We use a singular verb. For example:

This news is very important. Your luggage looks heavy.

We do not usually use the indefinite article a/an with uncountable nouns. We cannot say "an information" or "a music". But we can say a something of:

a piece of news a bottle of water a grain of rice

We can use some and any with uncountable nouns:

I've got some money. Have you got any rice?

We can use a little and much with uncountable nouns:

I've got a little money. I haven't got much rice.

Nouns that can be Countable and Uncountable Sometimes, the same noun can be countable and uncountable, often with a change of meaning. Countable There are two hairs in my coffee! There are two lights in our bedroom. Shhhhh! I thought I heard a noise. Have you got a paper to read? (= newspaper) Our house has seven rooms. hair light noise Uncountable I don't have much hair. Close the curtain. There's too much light! It's difficult to work when there is too much noise.

paper I want to draw a picture. Have you got some paper? room Is there room for me to sit here?

We had a great time at the party. Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's greatest works.

time work

Have you got time for a coffee? I have no money. I need work!