HANDOUT III NOUNS (Number)

1 Form plural forms of the following nouns.

1. book _____________ 18. sheep _______________ 35. postman
2. play _____________ 19. wife _______________ _____________
3. cake _____________ 20. grandchild 36. story _____________
4. church _______________ 37. class _____________
_____________ 21. baby _______________ 38. goose _____________
5. family_____________ 22. child _______________ 39. salmon
6. man _____________ 23. radio _______________ _____________
7. foot _____________ 24. boy _______________ 40. exercise
8. day 25. series _______________ _____________
_____________ 26. match _______________ 41. half _____________
9. bottle _____________ 27. mouse_______________ 42. ox
10. photo _____________ 28. shelf _______________ _____________
11. fish _____________ 29. deer _______________ 43. oasis _____________
12. kiss _____________ 30. idea _______________ 44. life
13. tooth _____________ 31. tomato _____________
14. fruit _____________ _______________ 45. box _____________
15. potato _____________ 32. volcano 46. stimulus
16. woman _______________ _____________
_____________ 33. crossroads 47. species
17. language _______________ _____________
_____________ 34. scarf _______________ 48. leaf _____________
49. criterion
_____________
50. referendum
____________
51. dozen _____________

2 Divide the above nouns into the following categories based on their plural form.
-s -es
______________________ ______________________
______________________ ______________________
______________________ ______________________
______________________ ______________________
______________________ ______________________
______________________ ______________________
______________________ ______________________

O
Y
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________

irregular plural
fàv _______________ _______________ _______________

1
_______________ mutation plural foreign plural
_______________ _______________ _______________
_______________ _______________ _______________
_______________ _______________ _______________
_______________ _______________ _______________
_______________ _______________
_______________ _______________
_______________ _______________
_______________ _______________

zero plural
_______________
_______________
_______________
_______________
_______________
_______________
_______________
_______________

2
3 In the following sentences, change singular nouns to plural (or use a numeral), if possible,
and make all the necessary changes.

1. I want a Christmas card with a snowman on it.

_____________________________________________________________________________
2. This good value wooden bookshelf is for $25.
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. Where can I get a silk scarf and a pure linen handkerchief?
_____________________________________________________________________________
4. I need a dozen eggs.
_____________________________________________________________________________
5. I want a story about spacecraft.
_____________________________________________________________________________
6. I need a hundred pins.
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. This is an interesting series of children’s books.
_____________________________________________________________________________
8. I like this encyclopedia.
_____________________________________________________________________________

4 Complete the sentences.

9. She’s busy writing an index and the appendix to her book. She seems to spend more time
writing _______________ and _________________ than actual books.
10. This is a crisis. Oh dear, your whole life is a series of _______________.
11. He’ll send you a memorandum. He’s always sending _______________.
12. Have you got a prospectus? There are two _______________; which do you want?
13. He needs a stimulus. But he never reacts to any _______________.
14. What’s your criterion for personal success? I think different people have different
__________.
5 Translate.

1. Dal na stôl obsah svojich vreciek. ____________________________________________

2. Máš v kúpeľni váhu? ____________________________________________
3. Počas colnej prehliadky môžu kontrolovať tvoju batožinu.
____________________________________________
4. V zime dáva svojim teliatkam ovos. ____________________________________________
5. Zatvor tie dvere.
____________________________________________
6. Nemám hodinky.
____________________________________________
7. Vianoce sú v decembri.
____________________________________________
8. Idem kúpiť noviny. ____________________________________________
9. Vieš hrať na husliach?
____________________________________________
10. Umy si vlasy. Sú špinavé. ____________________________________________
11. Čo máš v ústach?
____________________________________________
12. Predávate tu horolezecké vybavenie?
____________________________________________
13. Chce zlepšiť svoje vedomosti z angličtiny.
__________________________________________
14. Nerobí žiadne pokroky v anglickej gramatike.
________________________________________
15. Potrebujem nejaké informácie o miestnej doprave.
____________________________________
16. Dal mi veľa dobrých rád. ____________________________________________
17. Vedia, že ukradol tie peniaze. Majú mnoho dôkazov.
__________________________________
____________________________________________
18. Táto univerzita je dôležité centrum vedeckých výskumov.
____________________________________________
19. Aké sú tvoje mesačné výdaje na jedlo?
____________________________________________
20. Nemá dosť skúseností pre túto prácu.
____________________________________________

6 Note the peculiarities of the nouns as to the category of number:

1. No news is good news.
2. Athens was the centre of ancient Greek civilization.
3. In order to avoid taking immediate action, they adopted a classic delaying tactic of setting
up a committee of inquiry.
4. His sense of the ridiculous and hysterics were driving me mad.
5. Einstein’s favorites were logic and rhetoric.
6. The concert is held under the auspices of the Mayor.
7. In Britain banns are read out on three separate Sundays before a marriage takes place.
8. Foreign students must present their credentials, even those who graduated with first class
honors.
9. Father brought three brace of partridge.
10. Is there a public for that sort of book?
11. They are just simple country folk.
12. It only cost a few pence.
13. They have several offspring.
14. He caught five fish.
15. These kind of movies and these sort of directors I cannot tolerate any more.
16. The phrase often used in learning to type - The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog –
uses three e’s, two h’s, four o’s, two r’s, two t’s, and two u’s. (T. Augarde)

7 Put into plural and note the changes in spelling and pronunciation:
1. Our new neighbor seems a nice person.
_______________________________________
2. I heard the echo in the cave. _______________________________________
3. He is just a lazy good-for-nothing. _______________________________________
4. The fisherman caught a trout.
_______________________________________
5. It was a man’s boot. _______________________________________
6. The girl’s hat was on the peg.
_______________________________________
7. The boy robbed a bird’s nest. _______________________________________
8. The man shot the deer.
_______________________________________
9. He is a man of means.
_______________________________________
10. I can see a salmon in the water.
_______________________________________

8 Use the nouns acoustics, politics and statistics with singular and plural concord and point out
the differences in meaning.
acoustics

politics

statistics

9 Put into the plural:

air raid __________________ house __________________
alga __________________ housewife __________________
alumna __________________ l __________________
apex __________________ lay-by __________________
archipelago __________________ libretto __________________
Ashby __________________ locus __________________
assistant director _________________ looker-on __________________
attorney general _________________ Lord-justice __________________
aquarium __________________ Lord Mayor __________________
basis __________________ manhole __________________
bath __________________ man-of-war __________________
beau __________________ manservant __________________
bias __________________ Miss Kennedy __________________
Bloody Mary __________________ mongoose __________________
boy friend __________________ moth __________________
breakdown __________________ mouthful __________________
brother-in-law __________________ MS __________________
buffalo __________________ Nero __________________
bureau __________________ No __________________
buzz __________________ notary public __________________
c __________________ oaf __________________
cargo __________________ oasis __________________
chatterbox __________________ opus __________________
cherub __________________ ovum __________________
coat-of-arms __________________ p __________________
codex __________________ parenthesis __________________
convoy __________________ passer-by __________________
commander-in-chief _____________ PhD __________________
corps __________________ phenomenon __________________
corpus __________________ poet laureate __________________
court martial __________________ portfolio __________________
daily __________________ pro __________________
data __________________ proof __________________
dragoman __________________ radio __________________
dry __________________ radius __________________
editor-in-chief __________________ ray __________________
embryo __________________ rendezvous __________________
era __________________ Roman __________________
ex __________________ Sioux __________________
f __________________ sit-in __________________
faux pas __________________ still life __________________
fez __________________ soliloquy __________________
forefoot __________________ soprano __________________
forget-me-not __________________ Swiss __________________
fungus __________________ symposium __________________
gentleman __________________ t __________________
farmer __________________ taxi __________________
gin-and-tonic __________________ trough __________________
grant-in-aid __________________ truth __________________
grotto __________________ veto __________________
grown-up __________________ waif __________________
hanger-on __________________ woman doctor __________________
heir-apparent __________________ woman-hater __________________
Henry __________________ youth __________________

10 Explain the peculiarities of the category of number in the following nouns:

arm ___________________________ ground ___________________________
brain ___________________________ iron ___________________________
bowel ___________________________ letter ___________________________
brother ___________________________ lodging ___________________________
color ___________________________ paper ___________________________
craft ___________________________ picture ___________________________
die ___________________________ premise ___________________________
draught ___________________________ quarter ___________________________
force ___________________________ relation ___________________________
fruit ___________________________ spirit ___________________________
good ___________________________ step ___________________________

11 State the differences in meaning between the singular and plural.

air/airs ______________________________________________________________
ash/ashes ______________________________________________________________
content/contents ______________________________________________________________
custom/customs ______________________________________________________________
damage/damages ______________________________________________________________
drawer/drawers ______________________________________________________________
glass/glasses ______________________________________________________________
look/looks ______________________________________________________________
manner/manners ______________________________________________________________
minute/minutes ______________________________________________________________
pain/pains ______________________________________________________________
scale/scales ______________________________________________________________
saving/savings ______________________________________________________________
spectacle/spectacles ______________________________________________________________
step/steps ______________________________________________________________
work/works ______________________________________________________________

12 Explain the two meanings of the plurals of the following nouns (regular and foreign):
antenna ____________________________________________________________________
formula ____________________________________________________________________
genius ____________________________________________________________________
index ____________________________________________________________________
medium ____________________________________________________________________

13 Correct the mistakes, if any:

1. This is a better bread than the one I bought last.
2. Which game is played on a billiards-table?
3. German measles are an infectious disease in which red spots appear on the body.
4. There is a stain on your left trousers leg.
5. The average human brains weighs 14 oz.
6. It is easy to detect the silver contents of a coin.
7. Head or tail? (when tossing a coin)
8. The holidaymakers set up a holidays camp.
9. Suddenly the heaven opened.
10. He´s got a cancer in his left lungs.
11. There´s a new barracks there.
12. British public are not really interested in this issue.
13. Another ten minutes passed.
14. A small stack of pence fell down.
15. He had several gos at the exam before he passed.
16. Where is/are your poultry?
17. Long thick sticks carried when walking are called staffs.
18. Silly gooses!
19. He called them swine.
20. This is the latest in series of proposals on arms limitations.
21. This data is very interesting.