Nouns - Singular & Plural

A noun is the name of a person, animal, place or thing.

Nouns can be expressed in singular or plural forms.

e.g. this flower (singular)

these flowers (plural)
that girl (singular)
those girls (plural)

a) The plural form of a noun can be formed by:

i) adding "s"

e.g. advertisement + s = advertisements

glove + s = gloves
book + s = books

ii) adding "es"

e.g. ash + es = ashes

box + es = boxes

iii) changing "-y" that follows a consonant into "-ies"

e.g. apology + ies = apologies

baby + ies = babies
city + ies = cities

iv) changing "-f" or "-fe" into "-ves"

e.g. half + ves = halves

leaf + ves = leaves
life + ves = lives

v) changing the vowels in the nouns

e.g. bacterium = bacteria

foot = feet
man = men

vi) adding "-e" or "-en"

e.g. child + ren = children

larva + e = larvae

b) Some mnouns are always expressed in the singular form.

c) Some nouns are always expressed in the plural form.
d) Compound nouns are also expressed in singular and plural forms.
Exercise 1

children blouse handbag boys postman

lady bone rabbit fish bath

1. The________ handed me a letter.

2. The dog held a________ in its mouth.
3. _________ love to watch cartoons on television.
4. Those__________ were kicking a ball in the rain.
5. Mother was cleaning a _______ for dinner.
6. Sulin took a __________ and put on a clean __________.
7. A__________ is a furry white animal.
8. The well-dressed_________ is carrying an expensive__________.

Exercise 2
Underline the nouns in the following sentences.

1. The little girl is licking her fingers.

2. The moon shone brightly in the sky.
3. That angry woman shouted at the shopkeeper.
4. I kept the money and the note in my wallet.
5. Many ants were crawling on the floor and up the pillar.
6. There was plenty of food on the table.
7. The monkey climbed up the tree and plucked a coconut.
8. She ate an ice-cream and stained her frock.
9. The clumsy man tripped over a box and fell on his face.
10. Insects are six-legged creatures.

Exercise 3
Fill in the blank with the plural form of the word in brackets.

1. The__________(policeman) looked smart in their clean and crisp uniforms.

2. The__________(child) were warned not to play near the construction site.
3. About a hundred__________(sheep) were grazing on the hillside.
4. Mother put five_____________(tablespoonful) of sugar into the pot.
5. The________(thief) were caught and handed over to the police.
6. There are_________(fungus) growing on the trunk of the fallen tree.
7. She kept the __________(glass) in the cabinet.
8. ___________(library) usually keep a variety of books.
9. Those_________(mango) were sweet and juicy.
10. The __________(princess) were waited upon by their servants.
Nouns - Countable & Uncountable

Nouns which can be counted are called countable nouns.

e.g. men, elephants, marbles

Nouns which cannot be counted are called uncountable nouns.

e.g. rice, milk, sand

Words which are used with countable nouns:

a, an, few, many, several, a large(or small) number of

e.g. a flower an umbrella a large number of trees

Words which are used with uncountable nouns:

a little, much, a large(or small) amount of

e.g. a little dust much salt a large amount of flour

Words which can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns:
some, any, plenty of, a lot of

With countable nouns:

e.g. some apples any chairs plenty of books

With uncountable nouns:

e.g. some soil any electricity plenty of soil

Exercise 1

legs umbrella books eagle eggs

bottles buttons skirt plates seats

1. She put all the ten_________ into a basket.

2. That spider has eight hairy____________.
3. An__________ is very useful when it rains.
4. There are several empty_________ in the bus.
5. There are plenty of__________ of lemonade in the store-room.
6. This library has a lot of new_____________.
7. There is a box full of_________ on top of the sewing machine.
8. She packed several__________ and cups into the picnic basket.
9. Mother went to the department store and bought a_________ and a pair of
shoes.
10. John saw an_________ soaring high in the sky.

Exercise 2
Choose the right answer. The underline it.

1. I have (a few, a little) money in my wallet.

2. Is there (any, some) stew left in the pot?
3. No, there isn't (some, any) stew left.
4. I have (any, some) books which I would like to lend you.
5. Timothy does not have as (many, much) marbles as Brian.
6. There are ( a great deal of, a lot of) books in the library but not (many,
much) magazines.
7. Give me (a little, a few) more minutes to finish my homework.
8. Joel has a large (amount, number) of stickers in his album.
9. She poured a small (amount, number) of milk into the glass.
10. Don't put so (many, much) eggs into one basket.
11. There are (a little, a few) more biscuits in that container.
12. Do you need (some, any) help?

Exercise 3
Rewrite these sentences by replacing the underlined words in each sentence
with "not many" or "not much".

1. There is a lot of jam in the jar.

______________________________________________________________

2. There are several children in that playground.

______________________________________________________________

3. There are plenty of mango trees in Mr Chen's orchard.

______________________________________________________________

4. There was plenty of sand by the roadside.

______________________________________________________________
Proper Nouns

A proper noun is a name given to a person, animal, thing or place. It always

begins with a capital letter.

Possessive Nouns

A noun that shows possession is called a possessive noun.

e.g. The boy's shoes are expensive.

The policemen's uniforms are smart-looking.
Those ladies' dresses are beautiful.

The words boy's, policemen's and ladies' are called possessive nouns since
they show possession.

e.g. The wheels of the bicycle.

The cover of the pen.
The zip of the handbag.

The nouns bicycle, pen and handbag are non-living. The words "of the" are
used with such nouns to show possession.

Possessive nouns can therefore be formed in the following ways:-

a) By adding an apostrophe s('s) to singular and plural nouns which do not
end in s.

e.g. 1) This is the elephant's trunk.

2) That is the girl's toy.
3) Those are the women's watches.
4) These are the children's toys.

b) By adding an apostrophe(') to plural nouns which end in s.

e.g. 1) Tigers' teeth are very sharp.

2) The girls' dresses are soiled.

c) By using "of the" with things that are non-living.

e.g. 1) The tyres of the car are punctured.

2) A leg of the table is broken.

The apostrophe is used only when referring to persons, animals, measure or

time.

e.g. person (This is Jennifer's ring.)

animal (It is the squirrel's tail.)
measure (We shall meet in an hour's time.)
time (Next week's appointment has been cancelled.)
Exercise 1
Rewrite the sentences by using the apostrophe.

1. The garden of that old man is neat.

______________________________________________________________

2. The flowers of the plants are beautiful.

______________________________________________________________

3. The shoes of this child are muddy.

______________________________________________________________

4. The fur of the cat is soft.

______________________________________________________________

5. The legs of those boys are injured.

______________________________________________________________

6. The hair of that girl is glossy.

______________________________________________________________

7. The debate of next Thursday is postponed.

______________________________________________________________

8. Her allowance of one month was forfeited.

______________________________________________________________

9. The knives of the butchers are sharp.

______________________________________________________________

10. The dresses of the ladies are expensive.

______________________________________________________________

Exercise 2
Rewrite these expressions making them plural.
1. The boy's shirt
______________________________________________________________

2. The mouse's tail

______________________________________________________________

3. The man's hand

______________________________________________________________

4. The grocer's shop

______________________________________________________________

5. The lady's purse

______________________________________________________________
Forms of the Verb

A verb can take four forms, namely,

a) the Simple Present Tense
b) the Simple Past Tense
c) the Present Participle
d) the Past Participle

For examples, the verb "eat" can be used in the following ways:-
a) I eat a slice of bread every morning.
b) I ate a slice of bread yesterday morning.
c) I am eating a slice of bread now.
d) I have eaten a slice of bread.

Helping words "am" and "have" is used.Other helping words are "is" and "has".

Exercise 1
Write down four other forms of the verb in each these sentences.

1. Everyday : He takes his daughter to school.

Now : __________________________________________________
Yesterday : __________________________________________________
Already : __________________________________________________
Tomorrow : __________________________________________________

2. Everyday : She washes the clothes.

Now : __________________________________________________
Yesterday : __________________________________________________
Already : __________________________________________________
Tomorrow : __________________________________________________

3. Everyday : Tommy feeds his cat with fish.

Now : __________________________________________________
Yesterday : __________________________________________________
Already : __________________________________________________
Tomorrow : __________________________________________________

4. Everyday : Jennifer helps to water the plants in the garden.

Now : __________________________________________________
Yesterday : __________________________________________________
Already : __________________________________________________
Tomorrow : __________________________________________________

5. Everyday : He writes a letter to his wife.

Now : __________________________________________________
Yesterday : __________________________________________________
Already : __________________________________________________
Tomorrow : __________________________________________________
Exercise 2
Fill in the blanks.

1. The students who___________(take) part in the debate spoke very well.

2. She________ (be) with me yesterday.
3. He always _________(forget) to close the window.
4. They_________ (go) home by bus every day.
5. It is eight years since she ___________(see) him.
6. She____________(leave) in a hurry as she did not want to miss the train.
7. I__________(wash) my hair on alternate days.
8. They_________(visit) us two days ago.
9. This dog ___________(wag) its tail whenever it sees me.
10. The moon ________(get) its light from the sun.
11. We__________(wait) for her until it rained.
12. My father __________(polish) his car once a month.
13. She_________(perform) very well at the concert last night.
14. My aunt always ____________(make) delicious pineapple tarts.
15. The farmer_________(plough) the field last month.
16. She is_________(argue) with her sister.
17. They have__________ (go) to watch a movie.
18. We were________(take) a stroll in the park.
19. She has already __________(write) a reply to your letter.
20. I am __________(meet) him for lunch.
21. They are ___________ (train) hard for the football match.
22. Who has ____________(take) my book?
23. This song was __________ (sing) by Michael Jackson.
24. He was ________(shiver) with cold.
25. Have you _________( split) the piece of log in two?
26. The wire fencing was ___________(cut) with a pair of pliers.
27. She is _________(teach) her nice how to swim.
28. Have you__________(swim) across this river before?
29. The baby is __________(sleep) soundly now.
30. The jewels were ___________(steal) by an armed robber.
The Simple Present Tense