Mixed uses of countable and uncountable nouns
Some nouns may be countable or uncountable sometimes with a difference of meaning:
countable |
uncountable |
• a single item He ate a whole chicken! I had a boiled egg for breakfast. |
• substance/material Would you like some chicken? There's egg on your face. |
• thing / broke a glass this morning. Would you like an ice? |
• material Glass is made from sand. Ice floats. |
• Specific A good education is expensive. Try not to make a noise. She gave a reading of her poems. |
• general Education should be free. Noise is a kind of pollution. Reading is taught early. |
Equivalent Countable |
Uncountable |
a loaf a garment a laugh a case, a bag a coin, a note a job |
bread clothing laughter luggage money work |
NOTE: Nouns for animals are countable; nouns for meat are uncountable: a calf-veal, a cow - beef, a deer - venison, a pig - pork, a sheep - mutton.
Collective nouns
• Singular collective nouns refer to a group of people or animals or to institutions. They may be treated as singular or plural. They are treated as plural (more commonly in British English than in American English) when the focus is on the group as individuals rather than a single entity and a personal kind of action is emphasized. They may take a plural verb, and plural pronouns may be co-referential with them: e.g. The Argentina team are in possession now inside their own half.
• Here are some common examples of collective nouns:
administration army audience cast class committee company crew crowd |
enemy family firm gang government group herd jury |
majority minority mob nation public staff swarm team |
NOTE: There are some words associated with
certain animals:
a flock of sheep or birds, e.g., geese/pigeons;
a herd of cattle, deer
a school of fish
a swarm of insects (or any particular insect, most typically flying ones), e.g., a swarm of bees/gnats
A pack of can be used for dogs, hyenas, wolves, etc., as well as for (playing) cards. We also say a deck of cards.
things in general
a pile/heap of papers/clothes/dishes, etc.;
a set of tools/pots and pans, dishes, etc.;
a bunch of flowers/bananas/grapes, etc.;
a clump of trees/bushes/grass/plants, etc.;
a stack of chairs/tables/boxes, etc.
The number
Irregular plural nouns
NOTE: l.Some plural nouns keep their plural ending when used attributively: a goods
Formation |
Examples |
1. Some nouns that end in -o add - es to form the plural: |
echoes heroes potatoes tomatoes |
2. Some nouns that end in -o add only -s: |
autos photos solos tattoos kilos pianos sopranos videos memos radios studios zoos |
3. Some nouns that end in -o add either -es or -s: |
mosquitoes/mosquitos volcanoes/volcanos tornadoes/tornados zeroes/zeros |
4. Some nouns that end in -for -fe are changed to -ves in the plural: |
calf- calves, leaf- leaves, thief- thieves, half- halves, loaf- loaves, scarf- scarves/scarfs |
5. Some nouns that end in -f simply add -s to form the plural: |
belief- beliefs chief- chiefs cliff- cliffs roof- roofs |
6. Some nouns have the same singular and plural form: (e.g., One deer is ...Two deer are...) |
deer fish means series sheep |
7. Some nouns borrowed from other languages (in particular from Latin and Greek) may retain their foreign plurals, but generally only in technical usage. In non-technical usage, the regular plural is normal in some of the instances listed below: • nouns in -us, with plural in -i: • nouns in -us, with plural in -a: • nouns in -a, with plural in -ae: • nouns in -um, with plural in -a: • nouns in -is, with plural in -es: • nouns in -ex or -ix, with plural in -ices • nouns in -on, with plural in -a: • nouns in -eau, with plural in -eaux • nouns in -o, with plural in -i:
|
stimulus –– stimuli, alumnus, bacillus, nucleus, corpus ––– corpora, genus –– genera, alga –– algae, antenna, formula, vertebra medium - media, addendum, curriculum, hypothesis –– hypotheses, thesis, crisis, oasis , appendix –– appendices, codex, index, matrix phenomenon –– phenolmena, criterion bureau –– bureaux tempo-tempi, virtuoso |
8. Some nouns are • uninflected plurals, without singulars: • inflected plurals, without singulars: • singulars, without plurals: |
cattle, livestock, police, poultry, vermin arms(weapons), customs (tax), manners (behavior), premises (building) linguistics, news, physics |
9. Binary plurals-some nouns with plural inflection refer to instruments or articles of clothing that consist of two parts that are joined together ; they take a plural verb: |
scissors, shorts, binoculars, tweezers, pants, clothes, tongs, pajamas, people, trousers, (eye)glasses, spectacles, slacks |
10. Compounds generally follow the regular rule by adding the regular-s inflection to their last element:
• compounds ending in an adverb also generally follow the regular rule: • though having the plural inflection at the end, these two break the spelling rule by retaining у before the inflection: • the following two compounds are exceptional in taking the inflection on the first element: • a few compounds ending in -ful usually take the plural inflection on the last element, but have a less common plural with the inflection on the first element: • compounds ending in -in-law allow the plural either on the first element or (informally) on the last element: • some compounds consisting of a noun plus a postmodifying adjective also allow both alternatives: • other compounds with a postmodifying adjective or prepositional phrase have the plural inflection only on the first part: |
Gunfight –––gunfights, pop group –– pop groups, two-year-old ––– two-year-olds gin-and-tonic ––– gin-and-tonics
close-up –– close-ups, take-over ––– take-overs
lay-by –– lay-bys, stand-by –– stand-bys
passer-by ––– passers-by, listener-in ––– listeners-in
mouthful ––mouthfuls/mouthsful spoonful ––– spoonfuls/spoonsful
sister-in-law –– sisters-in-law or sister-in-laws
attorney general –– attorneys general or attorney generals
poet laureate –– poets laureate or poet laureates court martial ––– courts martial or court martials heir apparent ––– heirs apparent, notary public –– notaries public commander-in-chief –– commanders-in-chief right-of-way –– rights-of-way |
train, a glasses case. When used without the plural ending, a different meaning appears: a good train, a glass case.
Media in the sense «mass media» is often treated as singular.
The noun does not have a plural ending when it is preceded by a numeral + a noun: a three-week holiday/a three weeks' holiday
a two-mile walk/a two miles' walk