Noun-Number

1. Singular:
When we speak about one person and one thing, we use the noun in singular form.
Examples:
a. A man is smoking within the premises.
b. A group of cows is called Herd.
c. Joy is what we want in our lives.
d. Church is the worshipping-place of Christians.
e. This chair is made of plastic.

2. Plural:
When we speak about more than one person and one thing, we use the noun in plural form.
Examples:
a. Few men are standing in the foyer.
b. The groups of cows, coming back to their sheds, are not milch cows.
c. These chairs are made of plastic.
d. Children should be given proper guidance.
e. Keep the knives in a safe place.
In these sentences, the words men, groups, chairs, Children and knives are plural-nouns.

1. By suffixing s to the singular-noun.

Joy - joys Canto - cantos
Run - runs Momento - momentos
Chair - chairs Dynamo - dynamos
Radio - radios Piano - pianos

2. By suffixing es to the singular-noun

Glass - glasses Negro - negroes
Bench - benches Hero - heroes
Bush - bushes Echo - echoes
Church - churches Mango - mangoes
Watch - watches Potato - potatoes
Buffalo - buffaloes

3. By changing the last letter y into ies.

Baby - babies City - cities
Lady - ladies Army - armies
Story - stories
4. By changing the inside vowel of the singular.
Man - men Tooth - teeth
Woman - women Goose - geese
Foot - feet

5. By suffixing en to the singular.

Ox - oxen
Child - children

6. By changing f or fe into ves.

Thief - thieves Knife-knives
Life - lives Wolf-wolves
Wife - wives Leaf-leaves
Calf - calves Shelf-shelves
 Exceptions:
Chief -chiefs Safe - safes
Roof - roofs Proof - proofs
Gulf - gulfs Hoof - hoofs

7. Singular-nouns from foreign languages retain their original plural.

Erratum - errata Criterion - criteria
Index - indices Memorandum - memoranda
Radius - radii Terminus - termini (or terminuses)
Formula - formulae (or formulas) Hypothesis - hypotheses
Axis - axes Cherub - cherubim (or cherubs)
Basis - bases Parenthesis - parentheses

8. By suffixing s to the main word in a compound word.

Commander-in-chief..commanders-in-chief Passer-by..passers-by
Son-in-lawsons-in-law Man-servant..men-servant
Step-sonstep-sons Man-servant..man-servants
Maid-servant.maid-servants

9. Special cases.
a. Few nouns which end in s are used in singular form: News, Mathematics, Physics, politics, innings etc

b. Few collective nouns, though they are in singular forms, are used in plural forms:
Poultry, Cattle, People, gentry etc

c. Few nouns have the same forms both in singular and plural forms: Sheep, deer, swine, cod etc

d. Few nouns are used only in the plural forms : trousers, scissors, spectacles, drawers, thanks, billiards, draughts, annals,
tidings etc

e. Few nouns have two different forms in plural. But the two forms have different meanings.
Brother.Brothers (sons of same parents) Brethren (members of a society)
Cloth.....Cloths (pieces of cloth) Clothes (items of cloth)
FishFish (more than one of same variety) Fishes (of different varieties)
GeniusGeniuses (persons of great talent) Genii (spirits)
Index..Indexes (tables of contents) Indices (signs used in algebra)

10.Few nouns have different meanings in the singular and in the plural:
Advice (counsel).advices (information)
Air (atmosphere).airs (artificial manners)
Good (morally correct)goods (merchandise)
Force (strength)...forces (troops)
Physic (medicine).physics (a branch of science)
Wood (portion of tree)woods (a grove of trees)

11.Few nouns have one meaning in singular but two or more meanings in plural.
Custom (habit)customs (habits & taxes collected on imports
Quarter (one fourth & a direction)quarters (fourth parts, living places & directions)
Effect (result)...effects (results & property)

12.Letters, numbers and other symbols form their plural by adding an apostrophe ands.
Write your is and ls clearly.
Add two 8s and six 4s.
 Determiners

A determiner is used to modify a noun. It indicates reference to something specific or something of a particular type. This
function is usually performed by articles, demonstratives, possessive determiners, or quantifiers.

Determiners vs pronouns
Determiners are followed by a noun.
The man
This book
Some people
Subject pronouns ( I , you , he , etc.) and possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his, etc.) cannot be determiners because they
can never be followed by a noun.

Types of determiners
Articles
The definite and indefinite articles are all determiners.
Definite article - the
Indefinite article - a or an (a is used before a consonant sound; an is used before a vowel sound.)
Close the door, please.
I've got a friend in Canada.

Demonstratives
There are four demonstrative determiners in English and they are: this, that, these and those
Note that demonstrative determiners can also be used as demonstrative pronouns. When they are used as determiners they
are followed by the nouns they modify. Compare:
This is my camera. (Demonstrative used as a pronoun, subject of the verb is)
This camera is mine. (Demonstrative used as a determiner modifying the noun camera.)

Possessives
Possessive adjectives - my, your, his, her, its, our, your, their - modify the noun following it in order to show possession.
Possessive determiners are different from possessive pronouns - mine, his, hers, yours, ours, their.
Possessive pronouns can stand alone and are not followed by nouns.
Possessive determiners, on the other hand, are followed by nouns.
Compare:
This is my house. (my is a possessive determiner. It is followed by the noun house which it modifies)
Is that car yours? (yours is a possessive pronoun. It is not followed by a noun.)

Quantifiers
Quantifiers are followed by nouns which they modify. Examples of quantifiers include: some, any, few, little, more, much,
many, each, every, both, all, enough, half, little, whole, less etc.
Quantifiers are commonly used before either countable or uncountable nouns.
He knows more people than his wife.
Little knowledge is a dangerous thing .
 The Adjective

Adjectives are used to describe or give information about things, ideas and people: nouns or pronouns.

Articles
There are only three articles, and all of them are adjectives: a, an, and the. Because they are used to discuss non-specific
things and people, a and an are called indefinite articles.

For example:
Id like a
Lets go on an.

The word the is called the definite article. Its the only definite article, and it is used to indicate very specific people or things:

Please give me a banana. Id like the one with the green stem.
Lets go on an adventure. The Grand Canyon mule ride sounds perfect!

Possessive Adjectives
My, Your, His, Her, Its, Our, Their
.
Demonstrative Adjectives
Like the article the, demonstrative adjectives are used to indicate or demonstrate specific people, animals, or things. These,
those, this and that are demonstrative adjectives.

These books belong on that

This movie is my favorite.
Please put those cookies on the blue plate.

Coordinate Adjectives
Coordinate adjectives are separated with commas or the word and, and appear one after another to modify the same noun.
The adjectives in the phrase bright, sunny day and long and dark night are coordinate adjectives. In phrases with more than
two coordinate adjectives, the word and always appears before the last one; for example:

The sign had big, bold, and bright letters

.
Some adjectives that appear in a series are not coordinate. In the phrase green delivery truck, the
words green and delivery are not separated by a comma because green modifies the phrase delivery truck. To eliminate
confusion when determining whether a pair or group of adjectives is coordinate, just insert the word and between them.
If and works, then the adjectives are coordinate and need to be separated with a comma.

Numbers Adjectives
When theyre used in sentences, numbers are almost always adjectives. You can tell that a number is an adjective when it
answers the question How many?

The stagecoach was pulled by a team of six

He ate 23 hotdogs during the contest, and was sick afterwards.

Interrogative Adjectives
There are three interrogative adjectives: which, what, and whose. Like all other types of adjectives, interrogative adjectives
All three of these words are used to ask questions.

Which option sounds best to you?

What time should we go?
Whose socks are those?
 Indefinite Adjectives
Like the articles a and an, indefinite adjectives are used to discuss non-specific things. Theyre formed from indefinite
pronouns. The most common indefinite adjectives are any, many, no, several, and few.

Do we have any peanut butter?

Grandfather has been retired for many
There are no bananas in the fruit bowl.
I usually read the first few pages of a book before I buy it.
We looked at several cars before deciding on the best one for our family.

Attributive Adjectives
Attributive adjectives talk about specific traits, qualities, or features in other words, they are used to discuss attributes.
There are different kinds of attributive adjectives:
Observation adjectives such as real, perfect, best, interesting, beautiful or cheapest can indicate value or talk about
subjective measures.
Size and shape adjectives talk about measurable, objective qualities including specific physical properties. Some examples
include small, large, square, round, poor, wealthy, slow and
Age adjectives denote specific ages in numbers, as well as general ages. Examples are old, young, new, five-year-old, and
Color adjectives are exactly what they sound like theyre adjectives that indicate color. Examples include pink, yellow,
blue, and
Origin adjectives indicate the source of the noun, whether its a person, place, animal or thing. Examples include American,
Canadian, Mexican, French.
Material adjectives denote what something is made of. Some examples include cotton, gold, wool, and
Qualifier adjectives are often regarded as part of a noun. They make nouns more specific; examples include log cabin,
luxury car, and pillow cover.