UNIT 21

Grammar:

Noun

Phrases

Countable nouns



Countable nouns have a singular and plural form.



That painting is amazing.



Those paintings are dreadful.



Some countable nouns ...

- have irregular plurals, e.g. person/people, mouse/mice.

- do not change in their plural form, e.g. the sheep is ... , the sheep are ...



With hyphenated countable nouns, we usually form the plural by pluralizing the key word, e.g.

brothers-in-law and over-achievers.



With organizations and groups of people (e.g. group/team/etc), it often makes no difference

whether the verb is singular or plural.



The government is/are not doing anything to help the arts.



With some countable nouns, when we want to refer to a group, we use certain phrases ending in

of. These include: a flock of birds/sheep, a herd of cows/elephants, a pack of cards/dogs, a

bunch of flowers/grapes/keys, a set of encyclopedias/keys

Singular uncountable nouns



Singular uncountable nouns only have a singular form. They only take verbs in the singular.



Is the information reliable?



Singular uncountable nouns include: advice, blood, bread, furniture, hair, information, jewelry,

knowledge, luggage, milk, money, news, permission, respect, water



With singular uncountable nouns, if we want to describe one particular item, we have to use a

phrase ending in of before the noun. Common phrases include: a bar of chocolate/soap, a bit of

help/advice, a blade of grass, a block of concrete, a breath of fresh air, a drop of water, a grain

of salt/sand, a gust of wind, a loaf of bread, a lump of sugar, a piece of bread/information, a

scrap of paper, a sheet of paper, a slice of bread/cheese, a speck of dust/dirt, a spot of ink

Plural uncountable nouns



Plural uncountable nouns only have a plural form. They only take verbs in the plural.



The scissors aren’t on the table.



Plural uncountable nouns include: arms, binoculars, cattle, clothes, congratulations, earnings,

glasses, goods, groceries, jeans, odds, pants, pliers, premises, pyjamas, regards, remains,

savings, scales, scissors, shorts, surroundings, thanks, tights, trousers, valuables



With plural uncountable nouns, we can sometimes use a pair of, usually when we see something

as having two parts/legs/etc., e.g. a pair of binoculars/trousers/scissors/etc.

Watch out



Some uncountable nouns end in -s but are singular, e.g. diabetes, news, physics, politics.



Many nouns are countable with one meaning and uncountable with another meaning.

These include: cake, chicken, chocolate, damage, glass, hair, paper, time, wood, work



The table is made of wood. (uncountable, = the material)



It’s a picture of a local wood. (countable, = a small forest)



Some nouns which are usually uncountable are used as countable nouns in certain

expressions, e.g. a knowledge of, a great help.