Count nouns have two forms: singular and plural.
Singular count nouns refer to one person or thing:
| a teacher | a book | a wish | an idea |
Plural count nouns refer to more than one person or thing:
| teachers | books | wishes | ideas |
Singular count nouns
Singular count nouns cannot be used alone. They must have a determiner:
| the English teacher | that book | a wish | my latest idea |
- Singular count nouns 1
- Singular count nouns 2
Plural count nouns
We usually add –s to make a plural noun:
| book | > | books |
| school | > | schools |
| friend | > | friends |
We add –es to nouns ending in –s, –ch, –sh, –ss, –x and –o:
| class | > | classes |
| watch | > | watches |
| gas | > | gases |
| wish | > | wishes |
| box | > | boxes |
| potato | > | potatoes |
When a noun ends in a consonant and –y, we make the plural with –ies:
| lady | > | ladies |
| country | > | countries |
| party | > | parties |
If a noun ends in a vowel and –y, we simply add –s:
| boy | > | boys |
| day | > | days |
| play | > | plays |
Some common nouns have irregular plurals:
| man | > | men |
| woman | > | women |
| child | > | children |
| person | > | people |
| foot | > | feet |
- Plural count nouns 1
- Plural count nouns 2
Plural count nouns do not have a general determiner when they refer to people or things in general:
Computers are very expensive.
Do you sell old books?
But they may have a specific determiner:
Those computers are very expensive.
The books in that shop are very expensive.
Her sisters live there.
or a quantifier:
| some new books | a few teachers | lots of good ideas |
or a numeral:
| two new books | three wishes |
- Plural count nouns 3
- Plural count nouns 4
- Plural count nouns 5
Comments
Hello,
I would like to ask which of the following is correct
1.The house has got a lot of windows or
2. The house has got lots of windows?
Thank you in advance
Hello
I would like to ask which of the following is correct
1.The house is close to shops, schools and mall Or
2.The house is close to the shops, the schools and a mall?
Thank you in advance
Hello agie,
Neither is incorrect. As is often the case with articles, it depends upon the context in which the sentence is used and what knowledge is already shared between the interlocutors.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello,
I would like to ask you which of the following is correct
When we sell a house we say.
1.The good/bad thing is that it has a small garden and a small kitchen or
2. The good /bad things are the..and the..
Thank you in advance
Hello,
I would like to ask if the following is correct
1.When we post a video or photo from our holidays, and send it to friends can we say
Hello /Goodmorning from Italy/Rome etc
The preposition from is ok?
Thank you in advance
Hello agie
Yes, 'from' is correct and very commonly used in this kind of sentence.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello,
I would like to ask which of the following is correct
1.He is the Basketball player who played for the LA team or
2.He is the Basketball player who played with the LA team?
Thank you in advance
Hello agie,
Both 'for' and 'with' are possible. I think 'for' is more common, at least in UK English.
I suspect there are problems with articles in both sentences, however, though it is not possible to be sure without knowing the context in which the sentences appear.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello,
I would like to ask which of the following is correct
1.I still have some free teaching hours in maths or
2.I still have some free hours of teaching in maths
Thank you in advance
Hello agie,
I think the first one is the more natural way to express this, but the second one is not grammatically incorrect. Without knowing the context and what you intend to express, however, it is impossible to say more.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
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