Грамматика

Lesson 3

Rule 1. The plural form of nouns

Mножественное число существительных образуется прибавлением окончания s ( после s, ss, sh, ch, x). Оно произносится как:

[s] после глухих согласных:

e.g. desks, texts

[z] после звонких согласных и гласных:

e.g. beds, cars

[iz] после шипящих и свистящих (sibilants) [s, z, S, Z, C, G].

e.g. boxes, sentences, bridges, cages.

Если слово оканчивается на у, то во множественном числе у меняется на i и добавляется –es.

e.g. a city – cities

Rule 2. Word order

Порядок слов в английском предложении отличается строгостью и постоянством: подлежащее – сказуемое – дополнение (косвенное, прямое, предложное) - обстоятельство (места, образа действия и времени).

e.g. Не went to the theatre by taxi at half past six.

e.g. Give me a pencil.

Give me (кому? – косвенное дополнение (indirect object) a pencil (кого? что? – вин. падеж, прямое дополнение (direct object)).

Если прямое дополнение выражено личным местоимением, то оно оказывается впереди, а косвенное дополнение ставится за ним с предлогом “to”.

e.g. Give me the pencil. – Give it to me.

Show us the picture. –Show it to us.

Rule 3. Negative sentences

Отрицательные предложения образуются при помощи отрицательной частицы not, которая ставится после глагола to be, вспомогательного или модального глагола, not ударяется.

e.g. ‘This ‘not a ˎclock.

The ‘dog is ‘not ˎbig.

If the singular ends in -sh, - ch, - s, - x, - z, the plural is made by adding - es. e.g. buzzes

Nouns ending in a single - z have plurals in - zzes:

e.g. quiz/ quizzes, fez/ fezzes

After one of the sibilant sounds [s, z, S ,Z, C, G], the plural ending - es is pronounced [ z], e.g. garages ['gxra:Ziz], crashes ['krxSiz]

After any other unvoiced sound, the plural ending -s is pronounced [s]. e.g. beliefs [bi‘li:fs], cloths [kloTs]

2. Proper names ending in a consonant +y usually have plurals in -ys. e.g. Do you know the Kennedys?

I hate Februarys.

3. Nouns ending in vowel+o have plurals in -s (e.g. radios, zoos). So do the following, and most new words that come into the language:

commandos	logos
concertos	solos
Eskimos	sopranos
Kilos
A few common words ending in -o can have plurals in -s or - es
buffalo(e)s	tornado(e)s
mosquito(e)s	volcano(e)s

4. Dwarf, hoof, scarf, wharf can have plurals in either -fs, or - ves.

5. The regular plural pennies can be used to talk about separate penny coins; pence is used to talk about prices and sums of money. Some British people now use pence as a singular, (e.g. That '11 be three pounds and one pence, please).

6. There is also a singular noun people (plural peoples meaning nation).

7. Some words ending in - s do not change in the plural.

barracks means species

crossroads series works (=factory)

headquarters

8. Plurals with irregular pronunciation.

bath [ba:T] - baths [ba:Dz], house [haus] - houses ['hauzi z].

Note: Third person singular forms (e.g. catches, wants, runs) and possessive forms

(e.g. George's, Mark's, Joe's) follow the same pronunciation rules as regular plurals.

9. Groups of people

Singular words like family, team, government which refer to groups of people, can be used with either singular or plural verbs and pronouns.

e.g. This team is /are going to lose.

Plural forms are common when the group is considered as a collection of people doing personal things like deciding, hoping or wanting; and in these cases we use who, not which, as a relative pronoun. Singular forms (with which as a relative pronoun) are more common when the group is seen as an impersonal unit.

Compare:

- My family have decided to move to Nottingham. They think it's a better place to live.

- The average British family has 3.6 members. It is smaller and richer than 50 years ago.

- The government, who are hoping to ease export restrictions soon,...

The government, which is elected by a single majority,...

- My firm are wonderful! They do all they can for me.

My firm was founded in the 18^lh century.

When a group noun is used with a singular determiner (e.g. a/an, each, every, this, that), singular verbs and pronouns are normal.

Compare: The team are full of enthusiasm.

A team which is full of enthusiasm has a better chance of winning. (More natural than 'A team who are full...')

Examples of group nouns which can be used with both singular and plural verbs in British English:

bank family party

the BBS firm public

choir government school

class jury staff

club ministry team

committee orchestra union

In American English singular verbs are normally used with most of these nouns in all cases. Plural pronouns can be used.

e.g. The team is in Detroit this weekend.

They have a good chance of winning.

10. Some singular uncountable nouns end in - s. These have no plurals. Examples are news, billiards, draughts (and some other names of games ending in -s), measles (and some other illnesses).

11. Most words ending in - ics (e.g. mathematics, physics, athletics, politics) are normally singular uncountable and have no plural use.

e.g. Too much mathematics is usually taught in schools.

12. Nouns which do not change in the plural are craft (meaning vehicle), aircraft, hovercraft, spacecraft, sheep, fish, deer, and the names of some other living creatures (especially those that are hunted or used for food).

13. Some foreign plurals (e.g. agenda, spaghetti) are singular in English.

14. The plural of mother-in-law and similar words is generally mothers-in-law etc., but some people use mother-in-laws etc.

15. In noun+noun combinations, the first noun is usually singular in form even if the meaning is plural.e g. a shoe shop

a toothbrush

16. Cattle is a plural word used to talk collectively about bulls, cows and calves; it has no singular, and cannot be used for counting individual animals (one cannot say, for instance, three cattle).

e.g. Many cattle are suffering from a disease called BSE. (NOT Much cattle is...)

17. Police is normally used as a plural.

e.g. The police are looking for a fair-haired man in his twenties. (NOT The police is looking)

18. Trousers, jeans, pyjamas, pants, scales, scissors, glasses, binoculars, and the names of many similar divided objects are plural, and have no singular forms.

e.g. Your jeans are too tight. (NOT Your jeans is...)

Where are my glasses? - They 're on your nose.

19. Other common words which are normally plural include:

clothes, congratulations, contents, customs, funds (=money), goods, manners (=social behavior), the Middle Ages, oats (but 'corn, wheat, barley' are singular uncountaole), odds (=chances), outskirts, premises (=building), regards, remains, savings, stairs, steps, surroundings, thanks

20.Words which do not usually have plurals sometimes have an apostrophe when a plural form is written.

e.g. It's a nice idea, but there are a lot of if’s.

He writes b's instead of d's.

21. Some nouns have the plural - s even when they modify other nouns. These include nouns which have no singular form (like clothes), nouns which are not used in the singular with the same meaning (like customs), and some nouns which are more often used in the plural than in the singular (like savings).

In some cases (e.g. sport(s), drug(s)), usage is divided, and both singular and plural forms are found. Some examples:

A clothes shop	a savings account	a greeting card
a glasses case	the accountants department	the drug(s) problem
a customs officer	the sales department	a sports car
arms control	the outpatients department (of hospital)	a sport(s) shoes
a drinks cabinet	the arrivals hall	a goods train

22. The plurals men and women are used to modify plural nouns when they have a 'subject' meaning; man and woman are used to express an "object" meaning. Compare:

-men drivers (=men who drive)

women pilots (=women who fly planes) –

man-eaters (=lions or tigers that eat people)

woman-haters (=people who hate women)