Грамматика. Практикум

МИНИСТЕРСТВО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ И НАУКИ РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ федеральное государственное бюджетное образовательное учреждение высшего профессионального образования

«КРАСНОЯРСКИЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ ПЕДАГОГИЧЕСКИЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ им. В.П. АСТАФЬЕВА»

Е.С. Мучкина С.В. Контримович М.А. Битнер

ГРАММАТИКА АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА Практикум

КРАСНОЯРСК 2011

Some nouns in the plural change the pronunciation of their final consonant:

/s/ - /ziz/ house – houses, etc.

/Ө/ - /∂z/ bath - baths, mouth - mouths, path – paths, etc.

II.The Spelling/Formation

In writing the following spelling rules should be observed:

1)the suffix –es is added to nouns ending in -s, -sh, -ch, -x, -z: glasses, boxes, brushes, etc.

2)nouns ending in –o usually have the plural ending –es, pronounced as [z]: hero -heroes

['hiərouz], etc.

Note: In some cases the nouns, ending in –o, have the plural ending –s. It occurs in the following cases:

after a vowel - kangaroos, radios, studios, zoos, etc.

in proper names - Romeos, Eskimos, etc.

in abbreviations - kilos (kilogramme), photos (photograph), etc.

in some borrowed words - pianos, stilettos, etc.

3)Nouns ending in –y usually have the plural ending –es (the letter –y changes into –i and then the ending –es is added): sky – skies, etc.

Note : The letter -y remains unchanged -ys:

after vowels: days, etc.

in proper names: the Kennedys, etc.

in compounds: stand-bys, blow-ups, etc.

4) Thirteen nouns ending in -f(e) form their plural changing -f (e) into -v(e). The ending in this case is pronounced [z].

Other nouns ending in -f(e) have the plural ending -s in the regular way, the ending is pronounced [s]. Examples are:

cliffcliffs

In a few cases both -fs and -ves forms are possible:

5)For historical reasons certain nouns form their plural differently:

6)Some nouns borrowed from other languages keep their foreign plural forms:

Note : Some borrowed nouns can have two plural forms: the English plural and the original foreign one:

7)With compound nouns it is usually the final component that is made plural:

III.Nouns Used only in the Singular

There are some nouns in English that can be used only in the singular. That means:

we cannot use them with the indefinite article (a money, a news, etc.);

we substitute them with the pronoun it: the advice is… – it is;

we use the singular verb: the advice is/was/has/does, etc.

We can classify such nouns into several groups.

1)Names of some games/sports: billiards, dominoes, draughts, darts, bowls, baseball, golf,

etc.

2)Names of subjects/activities: physics, economics, classics, gymnastics, aerobics, athletics, linguistics, maths, politics, etc.

Note: Nouns ending in –ics when they don’t mean academic subjects take a plural verb. Examples are:

Your statistics are unreliable. Your phonetics are good.

3)Names of diseases: diabetes, measles, mumps, flu, pneumonia, etc.

4)Cities and countries: Athens, Brussels, Naples, Wales, etc.

5)Some nouns: information, advice, furniture, knowledge, equipment, progress, weather, homework, work, luggage, research, accommodation, money, currency, travel, applause, hair, anger, assistance, behavior, countryside, courage, education, evidence, intelligence, luck, music, news, peace, progress, seaside, traffic, trouble, truth, wealth, baggage, crockery, cutlery, furniture, jewellery, money, rubbish, etc.

6)Mass nouns (fluids, solids, gases, particles): tea, beer, blood, bread, air, oxygen, flour, etc.

7)Languages: English, Chinese, French, etc.

8)Natural phenomena: darkness, fog, gravity, sunlight, snow, shade, etc.

Note 1: With expressions of duration, distance or money meaning a whole amount we use a singular verb.

Five thousand pounds is too much to lose in a casino.

Note 2: Some nouns in English can be both countable and uncountable depending on the meaning:

IV. Nouns Used only in the Plural

There are some nouns in English that can be used only in the plural. We can classify them into several groups.

1)Tools, instruments, pieces of equipment that consist of two parts: scissors, pliers, pincers, tweezers, tongs, binoculars, scales, handcuffs, shears, glasses, spectacles, compasses, etc.

2)Things we wear that consist of two parts: clothes, pyjamas, shorts, trousers, tights, braces, trunks, dungarees, leggings, jodhpurs, knickers, underpants, jeans, pants

3)Other nouns to remember: cattle, military, clergy, gentry, poultry, police, vermin, people, staff, the rich, the poor, the homeless, arms, wages, customs, thanks, holidays, lodgings, goods, foundations, premises, authorities, acoustics, contents, looks, outskirts, surroundings, traffic-lights, stairs, proceeds, whereabouts, belongings, savings, brains (=intellect), congratulations, earnings, manners, headphones, etc.

Note 1: Nouns like crossroads, headquarters, kennels, series, species and works (=factory) are singular when they refer to one, and they are plural when they refer to more than one. Examples are:

This species of moth is rare. There are thousands of species.

Note 2: Some nouns are used only in the plural in Russian but have two forms in English depending on the number of objects they denote: a watch – watches, a sledge – sledges, a gate – gates, etc.

V. Collective nouns

A collective noun is a noun such as family or team that refers to a group of people or things. We use a singular verb with such nouns if we see the institution or the organization as a whole unit, and a plural verb if we see it as a collection of individuals. Often we can use either with very little difference in meaning, although in formal writing (such as academic writing) it is more common to

use a singular verb: family, government, association, audience, committee, community, company, crowd, department, firm, group, jury, orchestra, school, team, university, and the names of specific organizations such as the Bank of England, the BBC, IBM, Sony, etc.

All the family are fond of sports.

Every family here owns a cottage.

Note 1: We can use singular or plural verbs with nouns like the majority, the public, the youth of today. Examples are:

The public want (wants) to know how they are (it is) governed.

The Category of Case

Case is a grammatical category which shows relation of the noun with other words in a sentence. English nouns have two cases: the common case and the possessive (genitive) case. However, not all English nouns possess the category of case; there are certain nouns, mainly nouns denoting inanimate objects, which cannot be used in the possessive case.

I.The Formation

The possessive case is formed by means of the apostrophe and the inflexion -s added to the stem of the noun in the singular or the apostrophe alone added to the noun in the plural.

II.The Pronunciation

In speech there are four forms of pronunciation of the possessive case:

/z/ after vowels and voiced consonants: Negro's, dog's, etc.

/s/ after voiceless consonants: student's, etc.

/iz/ after sibilants: prince's, etc.

zero: girls', etc.

III.The Use

The Possessive case is used:

1)with nouns denoting persons: Tom's car, John's idea, etc.