Nouns

          INDEX

     UNIT I

·        Nouns

·        Pronouns

·        Verbs

·        Adverbs

·        Adjectives

·        Prepositions

·        Conjunctions

·        Interjections

UNIT II

·        List of Verbs

·        Tenses

·        Present Tense

·        Past Tense

·        Future Tense

·        Present Perfect Tense

·        Past Perfect Tense

UNIT III

·        Can, Could

·        Has / Have / Had / Will have

·        Should / Have to / Has to /Had to

·        Used to

UNIT IV

·        Questions

·        Question Tags

UNIT  V

·        Articles ( A, An and The )

·        Determiners

·        Active and Passive Voice

·        Direct and Indirect Speech

·        Common Errors

UNIT VI

·        Simple , Compound and Complex Sentences

·        The Infinitive

·        The Gerund

 

UNIT I

NOUNS

Kinds and functions

A    There are four kinds of nouns in English

Common nouns : dog, man, table

Proper Nouns : India, Delhi, Mr. Prithvi Raj etc etc

Abstract Nouns : Beauty, charity, courage, fear, joy

Collective Nouns : crowd, flock, group, swarm, team

B.  A noun can function as :

The subject of a verb: Prithvi  arrived

The complement of the verbs be, become, seem: Prithvi is an actor

The object of a verb : I saw Prithvi

The object of a preposition : I spoke to Prithvi

A noun can also be in the possessive case:  Prithvi’s books

Gender

·        Masculine : men, boys and male animals ( pronouns  he/they)

Feminine : women, girls and female animals ( pronouns   she/they)

Neuter : inanimate things, animals whose sex we don’t know and some times babies whose sex we don’t know ( pronouns   it/they)

Exceptions : ships and some times cars and others vehicles when regarded with affection or respect are considered feminine, countries when referred to by name are also normally considered feminine.

The ship struck an iceberg, which tore a huge in her side.

Scotland lost many of her bravest men in two great rebellions

·        Personal masculine / feminine nouns

1 different forms:

·        Boy, girl

Bachelor, spinster

Bridegroom, bride

Father, mother

Gentleman, lady

Husband, wife

Man, woman

Nephew, niece

Son, daughter

Uncle, aunt

Widower, widow

Main Exceptions :

Baby

Child

Cousin

Infant

Parent

Relation

Relative

Spouse

Teenager

B   duke, duchess

      Earl, countess

 Kind, queen

Lord, lady

Prince, princess

·        The majority of the personal nouns have the same form:

Artist       cook             driver   guide   assistant    dancer    doctor  etc

Main exceptions :

Actor , actress

Conductor , conductress

Heir, heiress

Hero, heroine

Host, hostess

Manager, manageress

Steward, stewardess

Waiter, waitress

  

Also salesman, saleswoman etc, but some times person is used instead of man, woman

B     Domestic animals and many of the larger wild animals have different forms

Bull, cow      duck, drake        ram, ewe             stallion, mare

Cock, hen     gander, goose       stag, doe             tiger, tigress

Other have the same form

Plurals

A  The plural of a noun is usually made by adding (s) to the singular :

Day, days          dog, dogs              house, houses

(s) is pronounced / s / after a P,k or f sound, otherwise it is pronounced /z/

When s is placed after ce, ge, se or ze and extra syllable (/iz/) is added to the spoken word.

Other Plural forms

B   Nouns ending in o or ch, sh, ss or x form their plural by adding es :

Tomato, tomatoes          brush, brushes         box, boxes

Church, churches             kiss, kisses

But words of foreign origin abbreviated words ending in o add s only :

Dynamo, dynamos                kimono, kimonos           piano, pianos

Kilo, kilos                         photo, photos                   soprano, sopranos

When es is placed after ch, sh, ss or x an extra syllable (iz) is added to the spoken word.

 C    Nouns ending in y following a consonant form their plural by dropping the y and adding ies:

Baby, babies          country, countries             fly, flies               lady, ladies

 Nouns ending in y following a vowel form their plural by adding s :

Boy, boys               day, days                  donkey, donkeys            guy, guys

D    Twelve nouns ending in f or fe drop the f or fe and add ves, these nouns are calf half, knife, leaf, life, loaf, self, sheaf, shelf, thief, wife, wolf

Loaf, loaves            wife, wives                   wolf, wolves    etc

 The nouns hoof, scarf and wharf take either s or ves in the plural:

Hoofs or hooves        scarfs or scarves      wharfs or wharves

Other words ending in f or fe add s in the ordinary way:

Cliff, cliffs       handkerchief, handkerchiefs                 safe, safes

E     A few nouns form their plural by a vowel change:

Foot, feet         louse, lice         mouse, mice         woman, women

Goose, geese                man, men               tooth, teeth

The plurals of child and ox are children, oxen

F      Names of certain  creatures do not change in the plural.  

   Fish is normally unchanged. Fishes exists but uncommon.

Some types of fish do not normally change in the plural.

 Carp      pike       salmon      trout

Cod        plaice      squid        turbot

But if used in a plural sense they would take a plural verb. Others add s :

Crabs        herrings        sardines     eels            lobsters        sharks

Deer and sheep do not change : one sheep, two sheep

Sportsmen who shoot duck, partridge, pheasant etc, use the same form for singular and plural but other people normally add s for the plural

e.g : ducks, partridges, pheasants

The word game, used by sportsmen to mean an animal/animals/hunted is always in the singular, and takes a singular verb.

G     A few other words don’t change

Aircraft, craft ( boat/boats)         quid ( slang for euro 1)

Counsel ( barristers working in court )

H       collective nouns : crew, family, team etc, can take a singular or plural

Verb, singular if we consider the word to mean a single group or unit.

Our team is the best

Or plural if we take it to mean a number of individuals :

Our team are wearing their new jerseys.

When a possessive adjective is necessary, a plural verb with ‘their ‘ is more usual than a singular

Verb with ‘its’ , though sometimes both are possible:

The jury is considering its verdict

The jury are considering their verdict

 A..      certain words are always plural and take a plural verb :

Clothes          police

Garments consisting of two parts :

Breeches      pants      pyjamas      trousers       etc

And tools and instruments consisting of two parts :

Binoculars                  pliers            scissors           spectacles    glasses

Scales          shears       etc

Also certain other words including :

Arms ( weapons )             particulars                 damages ( compensation )  

Premises/quarters           earning                       riches

Goods/wares                    savings                        greens (vegetables )

Spirits (alcohol)                grounds                      stairs

Outskirts                            surroundings             pains ( trouble/effort)

Valuables

J          A number of words ending in ics, acoustics, athletics, ethics, hysterics, mathematics, physics, politics, etc., which are plural in form, normally take a plural verb :

His mathematics are weak;

But names of sciences can some times be considered singular :

Mathematics is an exact science

K           words plural in form but singular in meaning include ‘news’:

The news is good

Certain diseases and certain games:

Mumps             rickets                 shingles

Billiards             darts                    draughts

Bowls              dominoes

L           some words which retain their original greek or latin forms make their plurals according to the rules of greek and latin:

 Crisis, crises                                         phenomenon, phenomena

Erratum, errata                                    radius, radii

Memorandum, memoranda              terminus, termini

Oasis, oases

But some follow the English rules :

Dogma, dogmas, gymnasium, gymnasiums

Formula, formulas

Some times there are two plural forms with different meanings :

Appendix, appendixes  or appendices  (medical terms )

Appendix, appendices ( addition /s to a book)

Index, indexes ( in books ), indices ( in mathematics )

Musicians usually prefer Italian plural forms for Italian musical terms :

Litretto, libretti, tempo, tempi

But it is also  possible : litrettos, tempos.

M        Compound nouns

Normally the last word is made plural :

Boy-friends         break - ins     travel agents

But where man and woman is prefixed both parts are made plural :

Men drivers                women drivers

The first word is made plural with compounds formed of verb+er

Nouns + adverbs :

Hangers – on                 lookers – on                   runners – up

And with compounds composed of noun + preposition + noun:

Ladies – in – waiting        sisters – in – law         wards of court

A             Initials can be made plural :

MPs (Members of parliament )

VIPs (very important person)

OAPs ( old age pensions )

UFOs ( Unidentified flying objects )

Uncountable Nouns : ( also known as non-count nouns or mass nouns )

Names of substances considered generally :

Bread           cream           gold          paper                 tea

Beet             dust               ice            sand           water

Cloth             gin                jam           soap           wine

Coffee           glass             oil             stone          wood

Abstract   nouns :

Advice        experience            horror                pity           beauty

Fear             information            relief           courage           help             

Knowledge                 suspicion            death             hope            mercy

Also considered uncountable in English:

Baggage            damage                   luggage                shopping

Camping            furniture                parking                  weather

These, with hair, information, knowledge, news, rubbish, are some times countable in other languages.

B    uncountable nouns are always singular and are not used with a / an

I don’t want ( any) advice or help. I want ( some) information

He had no experience in this sort of work.

These nouns are often preceded by some, any, no, a little etc, or by nouns such as bit, piece, slices etc

A bit of news                   a grain of sand / a pot of jam

A cake of soap                a pane of glass / a sheet of paper

A drop of oil                    a piece of advice

C   many of the nouns in the above groups can be used in a particular sense and are hence countable and can take a / an in the singular. Some examples are given below

Hair ( all the hair on one’s head ) is considered uncountable, but if we consider each hair separately we say one hair, two haris, etc

Her hair black. Whenever she finds a grey hair she pulls it out

We drink beer, coffee, gin, but we can ask for a cup of coffee, a gin, two gins etc, we drink wine out of a glasses. We can walk in the woods

Experience meaning ‘something which happened to some one ‘ is countable:

He had an exciting experience /some exciting experiences

Work meaning ‘ occupation/employment / a job/ jobs is singular

He is looking for work / for a job.

I do homework.       She does housework

But road works means ‘ repair of roads’

Works ( plural only) can mean ‘ factory ‘ or ‘ moving parts of a machine ‘

Works (usually plural ) can be used of literacy or musical compositions:

Shakespeare’s complete works.

Some abstract nouns can be used in a particular sense with a / an, but in the singular only

A help        

My children are a great help to me        A good map would be a help

A relief:

It was a relief to sit down.

A knowledge + of

He had a good knowledge of mathematics

A dislike / dread/ hatred/ horror/ love + of is also possible:

A love of music                 A hatred of violence

A mercy/pity/shame/wonder can be used with that – clauses introduced by it:

It’s a pity you weren’t here.        It’s a shame he wasn’t paid.

A fear/fears, a hope/hopes, a suspicion / suspicions

These can be used with that – clauses introduced by there:

There is a fear/ there are fears that he has been murdered

We can also have a suspicion that…….

Something can arouse a fear / fears, a hope/ hopes, a suspicion / suspicions