Nouns and determiners

Introduction
This chapter is divided into two main parts. The first part pays particular
attention to the features of nouns, and the second part describes the features of
determiners.

Nouns
Nouns can be divided into two major grammatical types, count nouns and
non-count nouns. Their grammar differs principally in terms of whether they can
express contrasts of number.
Count nouns are the largest group of nouns. They denote entities which are
treated as units. They refer to objects, people, abstract entities, etc. which are seen
as easily counted (e.g. leaves, cups, footballers, cousins, results, ideas). Count
nouns are also known as countable nouns.
Non-count nouns denote things treated as non-divisible. They refer to
entities (e.g. cheese, music, sand, water, love, advice, air, progress, coffee). They
show no contrast in number between singular and plural. Non-count nouns are also
known as uncountable nouns. Some things that English treats as non-divisible are
easy to perceive that way (e.g. sand or water) but English also treats as non-count
things such as luggage, money, furniture, which are composed of elements which
can be counted (e.g. someone`s luggage may consist of two cases and a bag;
money may consist of six coins and two notes) but which are treated as single
indivisible entities.
Count and non-count are not mutually exclusive terms. Many nouns have
both count and non-count uses.
There are also other grammatical and semantic types of noun (proper names,
plural-only nouns and collective nouns) referred to in this chapter.

Determiners
Determiners indicate the type of reference a noun phrase has; for example
whether the determiner is definite or indefinite (the, a), possessive (my, her, etc.),
demonstrative (this, those, etc.). Determiners can also indicate number or quantity
(some, many, twenty, etc.).
Determiners come first in the noun phrase, before other elements such as
adjectives and noun modifies. They include words like: a, each, his, several, some,
the, those, which, and numerals such as one, two, first:
This is a message for Helen Crawford.
I`m just about to eat my pizza.
 The rules for the use of determiners depend on the grammatical type of the
head noun of the noun phrase. For example, a/an cannot be used with singular or
plural non-count nouns such as furniture, information, outskirts or belongings.

Count nouns
Count nouns and determiners
Count nouns denote people and things which are treated as units. They refer
to objects, people, abstract entities, etc. which are perceived as easily counted.
Count nouns have both a singular and a plural form. The indefinite article a/an can
be used with count nouns in the singular. Numerals can also be used in front of
count nouns:
I`d prefer a cat to a dog. Cats are interesting.
Three cars were involved in the accident.
Singular count nouns cannot stand without a determiner:
Would you pass the teapot, please?
Have you ever worked in a hotel?
This book is interesting.
Plural count nouns are used with determiners when a specific meaning is indicated,
but without determiners when a general meaning is indicated:
These hotels offer you every comfort.
(specific)
Your books have arrived
(specific)
Rats terrify me.
(general: all members of the class)

Count nouns: same singular and plural forms

A limited number of count nouns have an identical singular and plural form:
We encountered a series of problems on the way.
The BBC are planning two new drama series for autumn.
Other examples of identical singular and plural forms include:
Aircraft Series
Chassis Corps
Precis
Agreement with singular and plural verbs and/or with singular and plural
determiners indicates whether the noun is being used with singular or plural
meaning:
The aircraft is the same one we flew out to Greece in. These aircraft were used in
the Second World War and are too old to fly now.
It's a new series. They took the previous series off because it wasn't suitable
viewing for children.
There are three different series of the computer. We think they were all made in
South Korea.
Many count nouns which refer to animals or birds also have an identical
singular and plural form. When an individual creature is referred to. singular
determiners and verbs are used, but when referring to several animals in a group or
in large numbers. plural determiners and verbs are used:
He saw a grouse moving very slowly across the field.
Grouse are always shot at this time of year.
A deer attacked a motorist late last night.
There are many lovely deer in the royal park.
This salmon is not very fresh.
These salmon return to the same stream every year.
Other examples are: bison, reindeer, sheep, fish (cod, halibut, herring,
mackerel, trout and other fish names).
In the case of many tree- and plant-name count nouns, the singular and
plural forms may both be used to express more than one example of the class:
Several beech lined the long path leading to the palace.
[rookeried means 'containing rooks' nests']
When he rode back over the hill to Bulford and took in the timeless cluster of
rooftops and church tower, the rookeried beeches behind the Rectory, how did it
seem?
[text about the spread of different types of tree across Europe in prehistoric times]
In time, a broadleaved band of hazel, wych-elm, oak and alder grew across
southern Britain and mainland Europe, displacing the original forests of birch and
pine as winters became less severe and summers lasted longer.
Bog-like conditions prevail with mosses, ferns and heathers attracting fox moths
and heather beetles. In damper ground orchids also thrive, sending up spectacular
stalks of flowers. Trees too may take root, the stands of grey willow and alder
providing still more shelter.
The women sported thistles in their hats or heather in their lapels.

Sort of, type of, kind of, class of + count noun

With expressions such as sort of, kind of, type of, class of. category of,
singular count nouns normally occur without a/an:
What type of shop do you think people use instead of the corner shops?
[the Fink of Forth is a wide river channel in Scotland]
A famous example of this kind of bridge is the road bridge across the Firth of
Forth.
However, in informal spoken contexts, a/an may be used:
What kind of a dad are you?
It went away, then it came back. It was that kind of a flu.
When the plural forms sorts of, kinds of, types of. classes of, categories of
are used either a singular or a plural noun may follow:
[advertisement for a security firm]
All types of locks and security devices fitted, and estimates given.
There are two types of microphone: condenser microphones (otherwise known as
electret) which require a battery, and dynamic microphones which do not.
What kinds of ambitions did you have when you were younger?
The banks give different interest for different classes of deposits.
Various categories of vehicle are exempt front the need to obtain an operating
licence.

Non-count nouns
General
Non-count nouns show no contrast in number between singular and plural.
They refer to things treated as indivisible entities, not as separate units. They
typically refer to things such as materials and liquids, states of mind, conditions,
topics, processes and substances. There are two types of non-count nouns: singular
and plural.

Singular non-count nouns

Singular non-count nouns arc not used with the indefinite article a/an or in the
plural:
I can hear music.
The furniture was very old.
They got good advice from the student counsellor.
Some common examples of singular non-count nouns are:
advice happiness truth
baggage help luggage
bread violence progress sand
cement rain information
cheese snow water
electricity knowledge paint
fun soap weather
furniture luck patience
Singular non-count nouns may have concrete meanings (cheese, furniture,
luggage. sand) or more abstract meanings (advice, knowledge, patience, progress).
When concrete nouns are singular non-count, it is usually because they are
seen as an undifferentiated mass. The names of many common items of food and
drink are treated as singular non-count nouns, as are the names of materials. The
nouns in the lists below that are liquids, gases and solids consist of collections of
small particles that are not usually divided and so are seen as a whole:
Food and drink:
cake milk spinach
cheese tea rice
pasta salad water
jam curry yoghurt
Juice oil fruit
spaghetti sugar coffee
Liquids, gases and solids:
fuel fog petrol
air plastic fur
cement cloth deodorant
dye ointment soap
wool paint metal
The following examples of singular non-count nouns are count nouns in
many other languages:
accommodation advice harm publicity
homework rubbish safety shopping
money cash knowledge traffic
information work news music
hair furniture equipment clothing
Where have you left your luggage?
Non-count nouns ending in –s
Some non-count nouns end in -s but are grammatically singular. They include
names of some school/university subjects, physical activities, diseases. and games:
school/university activities diseases games
civics athletics shingles bowls
classics aerobics measles billiards
economics gymnastics mumps darts
maths callisthenics dominoes
linguistics
Aerobics is really popular these days, particulary with older people.
Exceptionally, plural verbs may occur with such nouns when the noun
phrase has a more specific reference:
David's politics keep getting him into trouble.
(political views)

Plural non-count nouns

The following commonly occurring non-count nouns are always grammatically
plural:
belongings thanks remains
congratulations stairs likes
dregs proceeds goods
earnings outskirts savings
The outskirts of the city are rather drab and uninteresting.
The proceeds of the concert are all going to charity.
Some nouns with plural forms have different meanings. For example:
pictures = cinema (now becoming outdated)
pictures = plural of picture
premises = a building or buildings
premises = plural of premise (meaning 'ideas or theory on which an argument is
based')
Some plural non-count nouns refer to things perceived as having two parts, e.g.
trousers have two legs ('bipartite' items):
A: Where are my jeans?
B: They're in the wash.
Bipartite nouns include garments with two legs worn around the waist (e.g.
jeans), instruments worn over both eyes or both ears related to sight and hearing
(e.g. headphones) and tools consisting of two similar parts on a pivot (e.g.
scissors):
Bipartite nouns
instruments garments tools
binoculars briefs pincers
glasses jeans pliers
gogeles jodhpurs scissors
headphones knickers shears
spectacles overalls lungs
pyjamas tweezers
underpants
This group of nouns is productive in that new nouns (including the names of
manufacturers) which fit into these categories generally take on the same syntactic
features. Recent examples include:
combats, chinos, Levis (types of trousers)
boxers (underwear shorts)
shades, Ray-bans (types of sunglasses)
In order to refer to more than one example of this type of noun, the partitive
expression a pair of/pairs of is commonly used:
He needs a new pair of glasses, I think.
(or: He needs new glasses, I think.)
We bought a small pair of binoculars.
(or: We bought sonic small binoculars.)
In some cases it is difficult to tell whether a singular or plural reference is made:
I didn't buy much but I did buy some trousers.
(one pair or several could be indicated)

PARTITIVE EXPRESSIONS (A BIT OF, A PAIR OF)

Sometimes it is necessary to be able to count the things denoted by singular
and plural non-count nouns, and especially to count concrete things. Partitive
expressions allow this. Examples of partitive expressions are: bit of, item of, pair
of piece of. Of these, the most neutral and widely used expressions involve bit
piece and item:
I gave her two bits of advice.
Some items of furniture were destroyed.
Would you like this piece of cheese?
Partitive expressions collocate strongly with particular non-count nouns:
a loaf of bread
two slices of bread/cake/cheese/chicken breast
a bar of chocolate/soap
a bit of fun
a piece of furniture
a stroke of luck
a spell of bad weather
Examples of informal everyday partitive expressions commonly occurring
with non-count nouns. both concrete and abstract. are:
bit of mass of sliver of
chunk of sheet of spell of
dash of pile of spot of
drop of portion of touch of
lump of slice of trace of
There are two piles of dirty washing over there. Whose are they?
He always adds a nice touch of humour to the commentary.
They say we might just gel a spot of rain in the late afternoon.
We had a spell of very mild weather in limitary.
Shall I get six slices of cheese, or is that not enough?
Partitive expressions commonly refer to the shape, size. movement or the amount
of something:
There`s whole stream of people queuing outside the post office.
He gave us a torrent of abuse.
At the end of the evening several jets of coloured water and light were sent flying
up into the sky.
One massive final gust of wind blew the tree over on its side.
Some partitive expressions with –ful refer to containers or spaces which -
commonly hold the item referred to. These include: handful of, mouthful of
spoonful of, bowlful of, cupful of.
I always add a spoonful of salt to the pasta water.
The plural of such expressions is usually formed by adding -s after -ful:
Just put three teaspoonfuls of olive oil and one of vinegar and you have a
perfect salad dressing.
Partitive expressions often used metaphorically to describe more abstract
quantities.
They had a slice of luck when the coach went off the road but didn't hit
anything.

NON-COUNT NOUNS USED COUNTABLY

Masses and units
A number of singular non-count nouns can refer both to masses and to units.
These nouns can be used with the indefinite article or in the plural when they refer
to a particular unit or to units of something, or to different types and qualities of
something.
 Nouns in this class include those referring to food and drink and other
materials and substances. The class also includes some abstract nouns such as
difficulty. experience, failure, injustice, success. They are often referred to as 'dual
class' nouns, because of their ability to operate in two different ways:
Do you drink tea?
(general, non-count use)
Dazzle is an excellent washing powder.
(a particular type or quality)
Do vou want some cake?
(general, non-count use; a piece of a big cake)
Do you want a cake with your coffee?
(an individual item)
These cakes are delicious.
(a number of individual items)
Since they find difficulty in taking off front flat ground, they tend to colonise
the steeper slopes first.
An additional difficulty, as some see it, is that the country now has multi-
party democracy.
(one individual problem or difficulty)
She had some very odd experiences, 1 must say.
(odd events have happened to her).