Drozdova_gram

1.Collective nouns are usually singular and are used with singular verbs, when thev denote a thing as a whole. But sometimes a plural verb is used, when it denotes a number of people or elements:

•The Russian team was playing well.

•The hockey team are coming tonight.

2.Some collective nouns have singular and plural:

•My family is small.

•The two families were very friendly.

3.Nouns of material are uncountable and are generally used in the singular. They are used in the plural to denote different sorts of a given material:

•wine - wines

•fruit - fruits

•glass - glasses

•ice - ices

4.Abstract nouns are usually uncountable though some of them mav be countable (idea, hour). But they may change their meaning and become class nouns. In this case they are used with the article and may be plural.

•beauty - a beauty - beauties

•sight - a sight - sights

II

1.Many nouns can be used as countable and uncountable nouns. Usually there is a difference in meaning:

2.Some nouns are usually uncountable in English but often countable in other languages. Here are the most important of these:

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•I'm looking for accommodation.

•Tom gave me some good advice.

•Where did you buy your furniture?

•I'm looking for work.

•The news is very depressing today.

EXERCISES

Ex. 1. (A) Write the countable and uncountable nouns into two different columns:

Wall, pen, air, chalk, picture, water, match, tea, time, hour, bread, river, friend, copper, cigarette, tobacco, cheese, teacher, glass (стакан), glass (стекло), paper (бумага), paper

(газета), music, coffee, armchair, gold, ship, milk, shop, idea, ice, furniture, butter, happiness, wood, tree, word, ink, money, coin, university, hero, assistance, assistant, darkness, meat, machine, instrument.

Ex. 2. (A) Underline the noun in each sentence and write 'C' or 'U' to show whether the noun is countable or uncountable.

I

1.I bought an excellent iron. C.

2.She has wonderful hair.

3.How many photos did he take?

4.Add a little more salt.

5.Did you buy a paper this morning?

6.Hope keeps me going.

7.It is made of iron.

8.We've got plenty of coal.

9.There is a hair in my soup.

II

1. Trade with China has increased. Ц.

2.Do you like ice cream?

3.I eat two eggs every day.

4.Too much cake isn't good for you.

5.I need a cloth to wipe the table.

6.Would you like an ice?

7.I need two clean glasses.

8.Don't throw stones.

9.Be careful! There is broken glass on the road.

10.Can I have a cake, Mum?

Ex. 3. (B) State whether the nouns in italic type are collective nouns or nouns of multitude.

1. It is a new company. 2. The company are rehearsing a new production. 3. Then one by one the worn out crew were helped on board. 4. The crew of the ship consists of twenty seamen including the captain and his mate. 5. No one had seen him since and the police were searching for him. 6. The band were changed, and in the gallery already. 7. And Stilleveld, in company with the many other places like it, had also been the birthplace of a new people. The people who were neither white nor black.

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Ex. 4. (В, С) Choose between a singular or a plural verb to use it in the following sentences.

1. The play is witty and the cast (be) wonderful. 2. The cast (be) all amateurs. 3. All the family (to be) gathered to see the dog. 4. Monty's family (to be) of about the same social status as my own. 5. Do you know what the family (to get) into their heads about this business? 6. Everybody says the Swiss police (to be) great at finding people. 7. The public (not to think) so. 8. The public (to request) not to leave litter in these woods. 9. When he came the baseball team (to practise) on the school field. 10. The team (to have) baths at the moment and then (to come) back here for tea. 11. The team (to play) tomorrow morning.

12. The clergy (to be) generally dressed in black. 13. The Government (to discuss) the matter for a long time but they have shown no signs of reaching agreement. 14. The Government (to decide) to pass the bill. 15. In the meantime the young couple (to be) to live in the old house. 16. That day the committee (to be) to meet at her friend's house. 17.1 had to find out whether the committee (to be) competent enough to consider the project. 18. The board (to be) extraordinarily kind to you. 19. The board (to be) going to consider your application at the next sitting. 20. You've bought yourself a nice car. Your money (to be) well spent. 21. His advice (to be) always useful for me.

Ex. 5. (C) Translate the sentences from Russian into English.

1. Полиция - не дураки. Этот человек не поверил ни одному моему слову. 2. Команда

обычно прекращает погрузку (loading) в 12.00, и все собираются на палубе. 3. Ты знаешь, каковы новости? 4. В письме важная информация. 5. Вся компания сидит в кафе. Они собираются здесь обедать. 6. У комитета сложилось мнение, что этот вопрос нужно решить немедленно. 7. Когда директор пришел, весь штат уже собрался. 8. Штат очень небольшой, я не знаю, как он справляется.

3. THE CATEGORY OF NUMBER

English countable nouns have two numbers: the singular and the plural.

THE RULES FOR FORMING THE PLURAL OF THE ENGLISH NOUNS

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SPELLING RULES

There are. however, many peculiarities

1. Nouns consisting of two or more parts are used only in the plural (as in Russian). They are:

2.Remember the nouns which are used in the plural in English whereas they are singular in Russian:

3. There are nouns which are used in the singular in Russian, but they are plural in English.

a carrot

4.The noun vacation is used only in the singular in English (it is plural in Russian).

•Our summer vacation lasts 2 months.

But: We have two vacations a year.

5.In English the nouns gate, sledge, watch, clock are used both in the singular and in the plural (in Russian they are only plural):

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•The gate is open.

•All the gates were closed.

•My watch (clock) is slow.

•He has two watches (clocks).

EXERCISES

Ex. 1. (A) Write the plurals of these nouns in the columns below to show their pronunciation.

Shop, glass, friend, bottle, cinema, clock, guitar, hotel, island, lake, light, month, office, park, piece, smile, space, tape, village, box, match, beach, address.

Ex. 2. (A, B) Give the plural of the following nouns.

A

Toe, city, hero, piano, calf, cliff, proof, chief, stitch, bath, belief, life, shelf, berry, valley, roof, pen, window, wall, week, clock, ship, library, watch, dress, country, glass, day, party, play, bus, leaf, life, colony, fox, half, mass, eye, language, place, key, thief, ray, bush, mouth, journey;

В

foot, boot, ox, fox, man, woman, month, mouse, child, ship, goose, deer, cheese, sheep;

С

crisis, phenomenon, datum, nucleus, basis, apparatus, criterion, series, analysis, formula;

D

room-mate, fellow-worker, court-martial, man-of-war, boy-messenger, onlooker, passer-by, sister-in-law, postman, son-in-law, fisherman, schoolgirl, text-book, pocket-knife, statesman, editor-in-chief.

Ex. 3. (B) Change the number of the noun in italic type where possible and make all other necessary changes.

I

1. Put the box on the shell. 2.1 was presented with a dozen handkerchiefs. 3. The boy must have two teeth pulled out. 4. The hunter got a prize for killing the woll that had caused much damage to the village flock. 5. The child was bitterly crying over the broken toy. 6. He showed me a photo of his country house. 7. The scout brought some valuable information. 8.1 bought a pair of nylon gloves. 9.1 saw a mouse in the kitchen. 10. The ox drove a cart of hay. 11. A very strange phenomenon was observed by astronomers yesterday. 12. Her hair was soft and curly.

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II

1. Boy drove the sheep to the village. 2.1 have hurt my foot. 3. This is a lady-bird. 4. Where is the knife? 5. This factory has a good laboratory. 6. The last leaf fell from the tree. 7. This story is very long. 8. The speech was very interesting. 9. He left the key on the table.

10. Where is the brush? 11.1 like his new play. 12. The root of the house was covered with snow. 13. The wife of the sailor stood on the shore. 14. My aunt has a goose.

III

1. The mice live behind the stove. 2. The keys to the boxes were lost. 3. The wolves have been shot. 4. The fish were caught. 5. We have good postmen in our area. 6. The cargoes will be discharged tomorrow.

Ex. 5. (B) Use the appropriate form of the verb.

for a greater number of years than we feel called upon to state, at present (was, were).

loose and half-falling, and she wore a nurse's dress (was, were). 11. The nurse's wages good (was, were).

Ex. 6. (В, C) Translate into English.

A

1. Эта лестница ведет к морю. 2. Он дал мне хороший совет 3. Все сведения были очень важные. 4. Мы получили такие же сведения. 5. Эти деньги не мои. 6. У меня было мало денег. Я не мог позволить себе покупать такие дорогие вещи. 7. Его

познания в математике поразили нас. 8. Ваших знаний недостаточно, чтобы сдать экзамен. 9. Какая интересная работа! 10. Какие вы нам принесли новости? 11. Эти

новости уже всем известны.

В

1. Я купил эти часы в Лондоне. Они очень хорошие. 2. Ваши часы спешат. 3. Я не мог войти в сад, так как ворота были закрыты. 4. Сани стоят у ворот. 5. Экспорт этого товара значительно увеличился.

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с

1. Какие из этих овец будут посланы на выставку? 2. Этот груз прибыл на прошлой

неделе. 3. Его одежда совсем новая. 4. Там было очень мало людей. 5. Картофель

очень хороший в этом году. 6. Морковь очень дешевая осенью. 7. Фрукты в нашем

саду уже созрели. 8. Его заработная плата очень высокая. 9. Содержание его письма

было совсем неожиданным. 10. Франция славится своими винами.

D

1.В аквариуме пять рыбок. Одна рыбка золотая. 2. Эти новости очень интересные.

3.Кому принадлежат деньги? - Я не знаю, кому они принадлежат. 4. Фермеры

довольны. Они вырастили много свиней и овец. 5. Ваши деньги на столе. Возьмите

их. 6. Наши зимние каникулы кончаются 6-го февраля. 7. Вы получили эти сведения

несколько дней тому назад. 8. Ваши советы мне очень помогли. 9. Витрина привлекала

внимание всех прохожих.

4. THE CATEGORY OF CASE

English nouns denoting living beings (and some lifeless things) have two cases: the common case and the genitive (or possessive) case.

THE GENITIVE

1.We show possession in English with the genitive form of a noun. This means we normally use's or s' for people and some living creatures. We put the possessive before the noun

it refers to:

•Frank's car. (Not "the car of Frank/the car of Frank's").

2.The simplest rule to remember is: Add's to any personal noun unless it is in the form of a plural ending in -s. in which case just add an apostrophe ('). This means:

•add's to singular nouns and names not ending in -s:

a boy's tie; Tom's hat.

•add's to singular nouns ending in -s: an actress's career; a waitress's job.

•add's to irregular plural nouns:

children's games; the men's club; sheep's wool.

•add an apostrophe (') after the -s of regular plurals: the girls' uniforms.

•add's to names ending in -s:

Charles's address; Doris's panty; St. James's Park.

Famous names ending in -s just add ('): Yeats' poetry (pronounced [s] or [iz]).

• add's to the last element of the word group:

My friend Peter's watch; my father-in-law's house.

APOSTROPHE S ('S/S'j, COMPOUND NOUN, OR 'OF'?

1.When we want to show possession with things, we can use 'of: the leg of the table. However, we often prefer to use a compound noun instead of 'of': the table leg.

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2.We must use 'of when we can't form a compound noun: the book of the film (Not 'the film's book'); the top of the box (Not 'the box's top'). You can only learn these from experience. If you are in doubt, use 'of.

THE USE OF 5 AND 5 WITH NON-LIVING THINGS: "AN HOUR'S JOURNEY'

We use's and s' with some non-living things:

It's also used with nouns expressing space and weight, with the names of countries, cities and ships and with the nouns world, country, city, ship:

•the river's edge

•Moscow's theatres

•world's best museums

•our country's best opera house

•the ship's crew

We can use's when the first noun is an organisation:

•the government's decision

•the company's success

The Genitive is used in some set expressions:

•for Heaven's sake / for God's sake

•at one's wit's end

•a hair's breadth

U at a stone's throw

OMISSION OF THE NOUN AFTER 5

We generally omit the noun after's when referring to work-places, shops, and houses: the doctor's rather than the doctor's surgery, my mother's rather than my mother's house.

EXERCISES

Ex. 1. (A, B) Use's or s' only where possible with these nouns.

1.the clothes of the boys the bovs' clothes

2.a journey of two days

3.the walls of the room

4.the days of the week

5.the birthday of my daughter Helen

6.the pages of the book

7.work of seven years

8.the surface of the Earth

9.the orders of the Commander-in-Chief

Ex. 2. (A, B) What could we use in place of the words in brackets?

1.Your father has gone to (the shop owned by the butcher) the butcher's.

2.I'll meet you at (the shop owned by the chemist)

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Ex. 5. (A, B) Supply a phrase with's or a compound noun in place of the phrases in italics.

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