The plural of Nouns

The plural of Nouns is usually formed with –s:

a flower → flowers

a week → weeks

a nice place → nice places

this shop → these shops

Spelling:

-s, -sh, -ch, -x + es consonant + y → ies

bus → buses baby → babies

church → churches party → parties

box → boxes dictionary → dictionaries

dish → dishes

potato → potatoes vowel + y → ys

tomato → tomatoes day → days

bush → bushes monkey →monkeys

bench → benches boy → boys

-f, -fe → ves

shelf → shelves But: roofs

knife → knives handkerchiefs

wife → wives safes

These things are plural in English:

scissors pants

glasses tights

trousers pyjamas

jeans shorts

These things are only singular:

hair news

advice money

information vocation

progress Phonetics

knowledge Physics

Some nouns form plural differently:

man → men tooth → teeth

woman → women mouse → mice

child → children goose → geese

foot → feet deer → deer

sheep → sheep ox → oxen

person → people fish → fish

3. Appearances and Traits of Character.

Vocabulary 1

mother mother-in-law niece

father father-in-law nephew

sister sister-in-law cousin

brother brother-in-law parents

grandmother stepmother aunt

grandfather stepfather uncle

granddaughter stepdaughter husband

grandson stepson wife

stepparents

Note 1. В английском языке отношение принадлежности лицу выражается при помощи, так называемого, притяжательного падежа (отвечает на вопрос чей? (whose?) и образуется при помощи апострофа “ ’ ” и окончания “ ’s ”.

E.g. Prime-minister’s residence;

my mother’s nephew.

У сложных существительных таких, как mother-in-law “’s” ставится перед первым существительным

E.g. My brother’s-in-law wife.

His mother’s-in-law niece.

Note 2. При образовании притяжательного падежа с существительными во множественном числе “s” не употребляется, ставится только апостроф:

e.g. My cousins’ father.

My sisters’ toys.

Notes: Притяжательный падеж не употребляется с неодушевленными существительными, за исключением некоторых существительных, обозначающих время, пространство и вес.

e.g. This bank’s profit.

Last year’s events.

This country’s population.

Two days’ leave.

This month’s events.

Training exercises:

Ex. 1. Fill in the right words.

Ties of Relationships

1. Your relatives on your wife’s side are: Your wife’s sister is your …, and her brother is your ... , your parents will refer to your wife as their … while your brothers and sisters will refer to her as … . Your wife’s parents will speak of you as … . Your wife’s parents will speak of you as their … .

2. Your brother’s and sister’s sons and daughters are your … and … .

3. Your mother’s and father’s brothers and sisters are your… . The children of your uncles and aunts are your … and the children of your first cousins are your … .

4. Your mother’s and father’s parents are your … and the latter will refer to you as their … .

Ex. 2. Describe the relations of the members of your family. Use as many sentences as possible.

Model: My parents are husband and wife. My father’s and mother’s brothers are my uncles. Their children are my cousins, etc.