Leaderboard Banner

Nouns: Nouns #1: Countable Nouns

Dennis Oliver
Nouns #1:
Countable Nouns (Introduction)

Nouns (names of people, places, things, ideas) are
very important in English. They are used as subjects
of sentences and clauses and as objects of verbs
and prepositions. There are many different kinds
of nouns in English, and they may be classified
(divided into groups) in many ways.

Probably the most basic classification of nouns is
into two broad types: countable and uncountable.
Countable nouns have two forms--singular
(for only one of the noun) and plural (for more
than one of the noun). Uncountable nouns cannot
be counted in the same way as countable nouns
because they have only one form--no plurals.

Let's take a brief look at countable nouns first.

Countable Nouns


We can divide countable nouns into two large
groups: regular and irregular.

Regular Countable Nouns


Regular countable nouns make their plurals

1. by adding -s or -es to the singular form;
 2.

by changing final y to i and adding -es
if the singular ends in a consonant + y.

Note: Nouns ending in a vowel + y
do not change y to i and then add -es.

Irregular Countable Nouns


Irregular countable nouns make their plurals
in special ways:

1. Some nouns ending in f change the
f to v and then add -es.
2. Some nouns have the same singular
and plural forms.
3. Some nouns use plural forms from
other languages--not from English.

___________________________________________

 

Special Note:

Singular countable nouns almost always need
an indefinite article (a or an) or another
determiner (this thatmy / your / his, etc.)

Don't forget this important requirement!

Leaderboard Banner