Exercises

Exercise 1. Form the plural of the following nouns. Classify them according to the pronunciation of the ending -s/-es. Mind the spelling.

A seed, a tax, a discovery, a sketch, a method, an enemy, a toy, a baby, a song, a trip, a book, a step, a lock, a match, a box, a guy, a flash, a bag, a day, a rug, a sandwich, a judge, a page, a face, a watch, a chicken, a duck, an egg, a shape, a blouse, a clock, a sentence, an adjective, a noun, a preposition, a dress, a wage.

Exercise 2. Give the plurals of the following nouns.

A cow, an army, a baby, a story, a tomato, a potato, a box, a wish, a child, a wolf, a patio, a tooth, a monkey, a key, a house, a goose, a way, a scarf; a lady, a gentleman, a housewife, a forget-me-not, a mother-in-law, a relative.

Exercise 3. Complete the sentences with a singular or plural noun.

l. The ... smells delicious (cake, cakes). 2. The ... is full (box, boxes). 3. Do you know the ... that lives next door (woman, women)? 4. Our ... are modern (computer, computers). 5. ... are dangerous animals (lion, lions). 6. These ... are very funny (photo, photos). 7. ... grow very well here (potato, potatoes).

Exercise 4. a) Write the following nouns in the plural and use quantifiers. Study the table.

All kinds of nouns	Class nouns (countable nouns)	Material nouns
some	some	some
any	any	any
no	no	no
a lot of	many	much
lots of	(a) few	(a) little
plenty of	lot of	a lot of
	lots of	lots of
	several	a good deal of
	plenty of	plenty of
	a number of

A leaf, a wish, a zoo, a knife, a rose, one tomato, one tooth, a thief, a chief, a roof, a piano, a photo, an auto, a hero, a mosquito, a goose, a mouse, a fish, a bacterium, one cactus, a crisis, a phenomenon, a butterfly, a volcano, a baby, a wolf, a scarf, a tax, a taxi, the editor-in-chief, a mother-in-law, a forget-me-not.

b) Translate into English

1. Много воды, некоторое количество газет, масса снега, мало яблок, немного хлеба, несколько человек, какое-то количество машин, много детей. 2. Дайте мне какие-нибудь газеты. 3. В этом лесу много оленей. 4. Мы собирали ягоды летом. 5. Где твои часы? 6. Крыши черные. 7. Листья уже желтые. 8. Кто эти женщины? 9. Посмотри на этих прохожих. 10. У нее очень много денег. 11. Сегодня новости хорошие.

Exercise 5. Rewrite the following in the plural:

A. This cup, that boy, this woman, my toothbrush, his teacup, this lady, this baby, that flower, my piano, his scarf, this fork, that spoon, her cat, this cat.

B. A good book, a pretty girl, a nice dress, a long night, a bright pupil, a large flat, a short man, a black dress.

C. 1. My brother is in the army. 2. The cake is delicious. 3. A bus is the best way of getting to town. 4. A lion is a dangerous animal. 5. His father is an actor. 6. A computer is expensive. 7. A train is faster than a bus. 8. This film is not suitable for children. 9. The address on the letter is wrong. 10. The letter is on the table. 11. This is a cup of tea. 12. He is a teacher. 13. This girl is an actress. 14. This is a good book. 15. This is a thick textbook. 16. That is a nice tie. 17. This woman is a doctor 18. That girl is my niece. 19. This boy is my cousin. 20. This film is very long. 21. This play is dull. 22. This lady is our new neighbour.

Exercise 6.

A. Read and rewrite the following in the plural.

A flower, this mug, that bookshelf, my furniture, bad news, a tall gentleman, a grown-up, a spoonful, his work, a naughty child, my brother’s wife, his photo, that table, this book, that knife, her scarf, the roof.

B. Read and rewrite the following in the singular.

Two matchboxes, these chairs, these rows, those mosquitoes, ten sheep, their feet, several flower shops, some passers-by, many mice, those cactuses, his trousers, these data, two spoonfuls, two postmen, naughty children, those geese, these women, those leaves, these handkerchiefs.

С. Read and rewrite in the opposite number.

l. The roof of the house is wet. 2. Both my cousins are actresses. 3. Three little mice live under the floor. 4. This knife is silver, that knife is iron. 5. This is a mosquito and that is a beetle. 6. There is a bed of flowers in front of the flower shop. 7. The children put on their scarves and warm coats. 8. Two postmen brought a large parcel. 9. This is a matchbox and that is a box of chocolates. 10. Both my friends are pilots.

Exercise 7.

A. Use the following plural nouns to complete the sentences below: trousers, feelings, scissors, jeans, goods, sights, belongings, clothes, holidays.

l. He is very unhappy. Probably, we have hurt his ... . 2. She was wearing brown ... . 3. I was asked to buy a pair of ... . 4. My brother likes to wear ... . 5. Britain needs to export more ... . 6. We walked round the city to see the ... . 7. He packed all his ... into one suitcase. 8. My ... are soaking wet. I need to change. 9. The children aren’t at school. They are on ... .

B. Use the following singular nouns to complete the sentences below: a walk, the sun, the dark, a rest, news, information, electricity, traffic, freedom, advice, help, food, water.

1. The ... is shining brightly. 2. Why don’t we go for ... . 3. Children are often scared of ... . 4. I’m tired. Let’s have ... . 5. She’s worried. She’s got bad ... . 6. I’d like some ... about the trains. 7. Do you cook by gas or ... ? 8. The street is busy. There’s so much ... . 9. He spoke about ... . 10. If you need my ... , call me. 11. I need ... with my translation. 12. The horse needed ... and ... .

C. Use the following collective nouns to complete the sentences below: police, family, crew, media, Spartak, audience, staff.

1. The ... are informed at once. 2. My … are perfectly well. 3. The ... of the ship were saved. 4. Newspapers and other ... are very important. 5. Do you think Moscow ... are the best football players? 6. He didn’t like the ... at the last night’s performance. 7. The office is closed. The ... are on holidays.

Exercise 8. Translate the following sentences into Russian.

1. Мне нужно купить хлеба. 2. Где можно купить хлеба? 3. Объясните эти явления, пожалуйста. 4. Эти данные очень интересны. 5. Вечером прохожие торопятся домой. 6. Осенью гуси и утки летят на юг. 7. На их ферме есть коровы и овцы. 8. Кошки ловят мышей. 9. У нее красивые ровные зубы. 10. Чья эта одежда? 11. Полиция уже здесь. 12. Ее советы помогают. 13. Новости довольно интересны. 14. У нее есть довольно много информации для вас. 15. Отсутствие новостей – уже хорошая новость. 16. Где её одежда? – Она висит на вешалке в шифоньере.