Ms. Jasmin ELT

UNIT 1: Plurals / Countable - Uncountable Nouns

Plural Number

Most nouns form their plural by adding -s.

Examples:

• Singular: a car
• Plural: two cars

Image: a car - two cars (Page 6)

Nouns ending in -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, -o, take -es in the plural:

Examples:

• bus - buses
• dress - dresses
• brush - brushes
• torch - torches
• box - boxes
• tomato - tomatoes

Image: a tomato - two tomatoes (Page 6)

Nouns ending in a consonant + y drop the -y and take -ies in the plural.

Examples:

• a strawberry - three strawberries
• baby - babies
• cherry - cherries
• country - countries
• story - stories
• secretary - secretaries
• hurry - hurries
• study - studies
• apply - applies
• try - tries

Image: a strawberry - three strawberries (Page 6)

Nouns ending in -f or -fe, drop the f or -fe and take -ves in the plural.

Examples:

• a leaf - four leaves
• a wolf - two wolves
• knife - knives
• wife - wives
• shelf - shelves
• calf - calves
• half - halves
• life - lives
• thief - thieves

Image: a leaf - four leaves, a wolf - two wolves (Page 6)

Nouns ending in a vowel + y take -s in the plural.

Examples:

• a boy - two boys
• day - days
• toy - toys
• monkey - monkeys
• key - keys
• tray - trays

Image: a boy - two boys (Page 6)

But some nouns ending in -o take only -s.

Examples:

• radio - radios
• piano - pianos
• photo - photos
• rhino - rhinos
• hippo - hippos
• video - videos
• kilo - kilos
• zoo - zoos

Adjectives do not take -s in the plural.

Examples:

• a happy girl - two happy girls

Image: a happy girl - two happy girls (Page 6)

UNIT 1: Plurals / Countable - Uncountable Nouns

Irregular Plurals

Some nouns are Irregular. For example:

• child - children
• man - men
• woman - women
• goose - geese
• tooth - teeth
• foot - feet
• ox - oxen
• mouse - mice
• sheep - sheep
• deer - deer

Image: Irregular Plurals examples (Page 7)

UNIT 1: Plurals / Countable - Uncountable Nouns

Pronunciation

The suffix of the plural form is pronounced:

/s/ when the verb ends in a(n) /f/, /k/, /p/, /t/ or /θ/ sound.

Examples:

• Cliffs, books, shops, cats, myths, etc.

Image: Pronunciation /s/ (Page 8)

/ɪz/ when the verb ends in a(n) /s/, /ks/, /ʃ/, /tʃ/, /dʒ/, /z/ or /ʒ/ sound.

Examples:

• buses, foxes, brushes, torches, bridges,
• roses, mirages, etc.

Image: Pronunciation /ɪz/ (Page 8)

/z/ when the noun ends in any other sound.

Examples:

• rooms, boys, pears, leaves, lemons,
• pianos, etc.

Image: Pronunciation /z/ (Page 8)

UNIT 1: Plurals / Countable - Uncountable Nouns

Countable - Uncountable Nouns

Countable nouns are nouns which can be counted (e.g. one apple, two apples, etc.) and can be in the singular or the plural. We put a before the noun in the singular when it begins with a consonant sound (b, d, p, etc.) and an when it begins with a vowel sound (a, e, i, o, u).

Image: a flower - three flowers, an apple - two apples (Page 8)

Uncountable nouns are nouns which cannot be counted and they usually have no plural. These nouns include:

food: cheese, butter, meat, salt, pepper, bacon, bread, chocolate, honey, jam, etc.

liquids: coffee, milk, water, tea, wine, lemonade, petrol, oil, etc.

materials: gold, iron, silver, wood, paper, etc.

abstract nouns: beauty, love, happiness, etc.

others: hair, money, news, snow, furniture, weather, advice, etc.

We use some with uncountable nouns and not a/an.

We also use some with countable nouns but only in the plural.

Image: some cheese - some bananas (Page 8)