01. Noun (Gender/plurals/irregular plurals/compounds/only singular/Group nouns)

Существительное. Виды существительных

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

Nouns can be:

Proper (собственные) = specific names capitalized

Common (нарицательные) = names of things

cup, table, hand

Род существительных

Formation of feminine gender

Formation of feminine gender (образование женского рода):

• by using an entirely different word (e.g., man – woman, boy – girl, father – mother, horse – mare, husband – wife, cock – hen, gentleman – lady);

• by adding a syllable -ess,-ine,-trix (e.g., actor – actress, hero – heroine, lion – lioness, prince – princess).

Gender of a noun

In English, most nouns do not have grammatical genders. So, they may refer to male or female people or animals.

Nouns Gender

masculine

мужской род

boy, lion, hero, man, brother, son

feminine

женский род

girl, lioness, heroine, woman, sister, daughter 

neuter

средний род

neither male nor female

book, pen, paper, stone, tree, star

common

общий род

either male or female

parent, student, teacher, child, friend, cousin, neighbor

Remember!

When you want to replace the noun in the sentence with the personal pronoun, you have to use he or she for people (male or female) (рис. 2), it – for most other nouns.

Пример:

This is the bravest man I have ever seen.

He has saved my life!

This woman goes in for sports.

She goes for a run every morning!

This armchair is very comfortable. 

It is my favourite one.

Множественное число существительных. Исключения из правил

Plural nouns

Noun + –s

car – cars, lamp – lamps, table – tables

Noun + –es (after s, ss, x, sh, ch)

box – boxes, dish – dishes, sandwich – sandwiches

f —> ve + s

calf – calves, knife – knives, loaf – loaves, shelf – shelves, wolf – wolves, wife – wives, leaf – leaves

No change f —> ve

chief – chiefs, handkerchief – handkerchiefs, roof – roofs, safe – safes

Singular form = plural form

a sheep – two sheep, a deer – two deer, a swine – several swine, a bison – five bison, a fish – two fish, a means – several means, a species – different species, a series – two series

Use these nouns with the singular verb (if they are used in singular) or with the plural verb (if they are used in plural).

Пример:

A deer is a graceful animal.

There are three deer in the Zoo.

This is a big fish. My father has caught it.

Tropical fish are small and brightly colored.

Irregular nouns

Существительные, используемые только в единственном числе

Nouns only in singular in English

Uncountable nouns

music, water, friendship, childhood, love, iron

Nouns that have plural forms in Russian

advice (совет/советы)

information (информация/сведения)

knowledge (знание/знания)

progress (успех/успехи)

news (новость/новости)

Пример:

She gave me some good advice. – Она дала мне несколько хороших советов.

We have little information about it. – У нас мало информации об этом.

I am happy to know some good news from him. – Я очень рад узнать хорошие новости от него.  

Subjects ending in — ics

mathematics, physics, phonetics, linguistics

Пример:

Linguistics is fascinating.

Существительные, используемые только во множественном числе

Nouns Plural Form

Spelling:

• nouns ending in consonant and -y → -ies (e.g., baby – babies, gallery – galleries, city – cities,army – armies); 

• nouns ending in -o + -es (e.g., potato – potatoes, hero – heroes).
  BUT: piano – pianos, photo – photos, kilo – kilos, zero – zeros.

Сложные существительные

Nouns only in plural

Pair objects (things made up of two parts)

scissors, trousers, scales, glasses, gloves

Пример:

These scissors are very sharp.

Where are my glasses?

Your trousers are too long.

Use these nouns with the expression “

a pair of

” if you want to count them (with singular/plural verbs)

a pair of jeans, a pair of shoes, a pair of slippers, a pair of gloves, a pair of earrings

Пример:

This pair of earrings suits you.

These four pairs of jeans need washing.   

Nouns: clothes (одежда), goods (товар/товары), contents (содержание), stairs (лестница/лестницы), firearms (оружие), outskirts (окраина/окраины), wages (зарплата)

Пример:

Your clothes are dirty.

These goods are very important to us.

These outskirts are very picturesque.

Stress in compound nouns

Compound nouns are very common in English. So, you need to stress them correctly. In compound nouns both words are stressed. And primary stress is on the first word.

Пример: football, armchair, mailbox, writingdesk, highschool, swimming pool.

Compound nouns

Compound nouns consist of two or more words. They may be written separately (e.g., night club, full moon), written with a hyphen (e.g., check-in, forget-me-not), or written as one word (e.g., flashlight, toothpaste).

Plural for compound nouns

Noun + —s/es

to the chief word for hyphenated and spaced nouns

father-in-law – fathers-in-law, couch potato – couch potatoes 

Noun + s/es

to the final word for one – word nouns 

photocopy – photocopies, toothbrush – toothbrushes

Remember!

If the chief element irregular, change it according to its rules

workman – workmen

Собирательные существительные

Collective nouns

Collective nouns refer to a group of something as a whole unit (рис. 5).

Пример:

army, class, company, group, team

These nouns are unique because they can function as plural or singular nouns without changing forms. So, they can go with singular or plural verbs. The choice depends on the following:

• noun used as a singular one – if it is described as a single unit

• noun used as a plural one – if it is made up of individuals

Пример:

Every summer the football team goes on holiday. All members of the team are satisfied with the game.

Nouns people and police are always plural.

Пример:

People say that the police are investigating the case.

Note! If the noun \"people\" means nation, it can be used as a singular noun (people) or as a plural one (peoples).

Пример: The Russian people is hospitable. – Русский народ гостеприимный.

The peoples of this area have been living there for ages. – Народы в этой местности жили на протяжении веков.

Упражнение

Чтобы лучше понять и усвоить особенности употребления существительных, необходимо выполнить следующее упражнение.

Open the brackets and put the word in the correct form

1. They ate some (tomato).

2. Why do you need two (piano)?

3. You can put some (sugar) in your tea.

4. I need to wash my (hair).

5. They have a lot of (money).

6. How many (people to be) at the cinema with you?

7. Could you give me some (information) on your project?

8. Those (woman) seem to be very tired.

9. Why are these (child) crying?

10. I saw many beautiful (fish) in the Red Sea.

11. The police in our town (work) well.

12. These deer (to be) so graceful.

13. All members of our class (like) this teacher.

Ответы к упражнению:

1. They ate some tomatoes.

2. Why do you need two pianos?

3. You can put some sugar in your tea.

4. I need to wash my hair.

5. They have a lot of money.

6. How many people are at the cinema with you?

7. Could you give me some information on your project?

8. Those women seem to be very tired.

9. Why are these children crying?

10. I saw many beautiful fish in the Red Sea.

11. The police in our town work well.

12. These deer are so graceful.

13. All members of our class like this teacher.

Список литературы

1. Афанасьева О.В., Михеева И.В. Английский язык. 9 класс. – М.: Дрофа, 2008.

2. Баранова К.М., Дули Д., Копылова В.В. Английский язык. – М.: Просвещение, 2011.

3. Биболетова М.З., Трубанева Н.Н. Английский язык. 9 класс. – М.: Титул, 2008.

Домашнее задание

1. Упр. 89 Голицынский Ю. Грамматика: Сб. упражнений. – 5-е изд., – СПб.: КАРО, 2005. – С. 71.

2. Упр. 99 Голицынский Ю. Грамматика: Сб. упражнений. – 5-е изд., – СПб.: КАРО, 2005. – С. 77.

3. Переведите на английский язык, обращая внимание на число существительных:

а) Тарелки на столе.

б) Я дам тебе пару советов.  

в) Эти штаны нужно укоротить. 

г) Они насчитали три свиньи и десять куриц.

д) Многим мужчинам нравится футбол.

е) Её невестки всегда покупают ей подарки.

ж) Полиция арестовала опасного преступника.

з) Всем детям нравятся карусели.  

 Дополнительные рекомендованные ссылки на ресурсы сети Интернет

1. Интернет-портал Myenglishpages.com (Источник).

2. Интернет-портал Englishclub.com (Источник).

3. Интернет-портал Learnenglish.de (Источник).