1. Can you complete the following definition?

English nouns are divided into two groups: a) proper nouns b)common nouns The b) group is further divided into countable and uncountable nouns. Uncountable nouns usually denote substances or concepts. They can be classified as countable when they refer to single units, items, things made of certain materials and named after them, specific things, events, to particular varieties, kinds of something or specific example meant by the noun. The quantity of uncountable nouns is expressed by partitive constructions (e.g. a piece of, a slice of).

2. Can you decide whether the following nouns are countable nouns, uncountable nouns or both?

a) literature

literature is an uncountable noun when it refers to its general meaning, but sometimes it can be used as a countable noun to describe a specific collection of books, literary works, or papers related to a given subject.

b) champagne is an uncountable noun when it refers to sparkling wine.

c) character is an uncountable noun when referring to the particular combination of features and qualities that makes a thing or place different from all others (nature), but a countable noun when it defines a person in a book/movie or set of someone’s qualities.

d) show can also be countable and uncountable: countable when talking about a specific performance/TV program etc., uncountable in more general contexts.

e) love can be countable or uncountable in different contexts. Love may refer to a feeling (uncountable) or a person (countable).

3. Can you complete these definitions?

Singular invariable nouns are proper nouns that take a singular word. For example:

a Volkswagen, the Thames, Oxford, Mary, etc.

Plural invariable nouns are those that refer to the plural verb, tools, articles of dress consisting of 2 parts, and nouns written only in plural. For example: scissors, knickers, wages, troops.

Variable nouns are nouns that occur with singular or plural number. Plural variable nouns can be regular and irregular. For example: regular (studies, problems, studios); irregular (children, oxen, geese).

EVAA FUCKING ATTENTION &&&&&&?????

Noun damage can be used both countably but only in plural!!!! She is claming damages.

Neither the President nor his ….. ARE to attend the meeting

Either the station or the cinema is a good pleace to meet

The fifty pounds he gave me WAS soon spent

PER CENT (percent) we use SINGULARRRR

Around 10 per cent of the forest is destroyed.

Id say that about 50 per cent need repairs/

Only 20 percent admit to smoking

Lecture 8

Morphological characteristics and classification of nouns. Countable and uncountable nouns.

1) Proper nouns

2) Common nouns

Countable Uncountable (mass)

Concrete Abstract Concrete Abstract

English nouns are divided into two classes:

1. Proper nouns (e.g. personal names: Andrew; forms of address: Mum, Dad; Geographical names: Asia, India; place names: Regent Street; months, days of the week; seasons, spring; festivals: Christmas, Easter), written with capital letters, articles are not normally used

2. Common nouns (any noun that is not the name of a particular person, place, thing). Common nouns fall into 2 subclasses: countable and uncountable, also known as mass nouns.

Countable nouns are items, separable entities (one car, several books). Uncountable nouns are substances or concepts seen without natural boundaries (much pork, much time).

Many count nouns are concrete (have individual physical existence), e.g. persons, animals, plants, objects, groups, units of measurement. There are also concrete uncountable nouns, e.g. materials, liquids, gases: cotton, milk, water, air; grains, powder: rice, dust, flour; activities: camping, drinking; languages: Italian, English. A few countable nouns are abstract (a hope, an idea, a situation, a remark); many uncountable nouns are abstract (anger, equality, honesty).

Problems with the classification:

Sometimes a noun is uncountable in English (e.g information, homework, knowledge, luggage, advice) but countable in Slovak. In contrast, Slovak lístie, krovie are uncountable nouns, but they are countable in English leaves, bushes. In addition, many uncountable nouns can be countable with different meanings in certain contexts. Therefore, the strict classification of nouns into countable and uncountable is unreliable. We should think in terms of countable and uncountable uses of English nouns instead. For example:

Uncountable Countable

a) materials, substances single units, items:

Would you like some chicken? He ate a whole chicken.

There is (some) egg on your face. I had a boiled egg for breakfast.

Is there apple in this salad? I bought an apple.

Have some cake. He baked a cake.

I bought a metre of ribbon. I tied it up with a ribbon.

The house is built of stone. Someone threw a stone.

A table made of wood. In the middle of the wood.

Coal is black. As black as a coal.= uhlík

Feather is light. As light as a feather. = pierko

Comb one´s hair. A hair in the soup.

b) materials things made of the material:

Glass is brittle. I broke a glass. = pohár

Ice floats. Would you like an ice? = zmrzlina

Tools made of iron. Press the clothes with an iron. = žehlička

Wrap up a present in brown paper. What do papers say? = noviny

A paper on Rubens = článok, referát

c) nouns which refer to sth general to particular varieties, kinds of

I like bread. There is a better bread than the one I bought.

What breads have you got today?

This region produces wine. This region produces an excellent wine.

d) nouns which refer to sth general to a specific example, often with an adj:

He has enough experience for the job. The journey was a great experience. = zážitok

Education should be free. A good education is expensive.

To have good health. To drink a health to a p. hais p.45

Life is too short to do everything. She had an interesting life.

Do you like sport? Volleyball is a sport.

Light travels faster than sound. I need a light by my bed. The lights came on.

Noise can make you ill. I heard a sudden noise.

e) nouns ending in –ing in general a specific thing, event:

Painting is my hobby. He has a painting by Picasso. (a Picasso)

I am good at drawing. Are these drawings by Goya?

Reading is taught early. She gave a reading of her poems.

Quantity of uncountable nouns can be expressed through partitive constructions:

a) measure partitives relate to precise quantities: a yard of cloth, a mile of cable, an acre of land, a pint of beer, a gallon of petrol, a pound of butter, a ton of coal;

b) typical partitives: a slice of bacon, cake, a loaf of bread, a stick of chalk, a bar of chocolate, a lump of sugar, a blade of grass, a strip of land, a roast of meat, a cloud of smoke, a grain of rice, a pile/heap of rubbish, a tube of toothpaste, a jar of jam, an attack of fever, a fit of passion, a stroke of luck

c) general partitives are not restricted to specific lexical items: a piece of chalk, coal, advice, a bit of grass, trouble, an item of information, news

Singular invariable nouns

Proper nouns take a singular verb, they are typically invariable: Henry, the Thames, but can be also reclassified as countable:

a) a member of the class: He wore Wellingtons. (boots)

b) a place: There are several Cambridges in the world.

c) a product: A Rolls Royce (a car manufactured by RR), a Volvo

d) persons: There are 2 Harrys in our family.