I.

Singular and plural

Rule 1
Most nouns at the end
Book
Car

books
cars

Rule 2
Nouns that end in s, ss, sh, ch, and x: add es
Class
Dish
Box

classes
dishes
boxes

Rule 3
Nouns that end in vowel + y: add s
Boy
Keykeys

boys

Rule 4
Nouns that end in consonant + y : ies
Party
Baby

parties
babies

Rule 5
Nouns that end in o: add es
Echo
Hero
Potato
Tomato

Rule 6
Some nouns that end in o add only s:
Auto
Ghetto
Kangaroo
Kilo
Memo
Photo

piano
radio
solo
soprano
studio
tatoo

video
zoo

Rule 7
Some nouns that end in o and add s or es:
Memento
Mosquito
Tornado
Volcano
Zero

Rule 8
Nouns that end in f or fe change to ves:
Calf

shelf
thief

Half
Knife
Leaf
Life
Loaf
Self

wolf
scarf scarves/scarfs

exceptions
Belief
Chief
Clif
Roof

beliefs
chiefs
clifs
roofs

Other exceptions
man

men
woman women
Child
children
Ox
oxen
Foot
feet
Goose
geese
Tooth
teeth
Mouse mice
Louse
lice

Some that stay the same

Deer

deer

Fish

fish
means
ofspring
series
sheep
shrimp
species

Means
Ofspring
Series
Sheep
Shrimp
Species

More exceptions
Criterion

criteria
Phenomenon phenomena

Cactus
Fungus
Nucleus
Stimulus
Syllabus

cacti/catuses
fungi
nuclei
stimuli
syllabi/syllabuses

Analysis
Basis
Crisis
Hypothesis
Oasis
Parenthesis
Thesis

analyses
bases
crises
hypotheses
oases
parentheses
theses

Latin root
Bacterium

bacteria
Curriculum
curricula
Datum
data
Medium
media
Memorandum memoranda

Formula
Vertebra
Appendix
Index

formulae
vertebrae
appendices/appendixes
indices/indexes

Possessive nouns
Singular noun+apostrophe+s+possession
Boys eyes
Carloss house

Plural nouns that end in s

Plural noun+apostrophe+possession
The boys car
The girls sport

Plural noun exception

Plural noun+apostrophe+s+possession
The childrens toys
The mices tails

Using nouns as modifiers

When a noun is used as modifiers, it is used in

its singular form:

Vegetable soup> they add as

adjectives and adjectives never take s
A five-year-old son

Count nouns
May be preceded by a/an in the singular
It can change to plural
Chair
A book

chairs
three books

Noncount nouns
Many nouns refer to a whole that is made up

of diferent parts:
Furniture
fruit
Sugar
garbage
Cofee
hardware
Baggage
jewelry
Clothing
junk
Equipment
luggage
Food
machinery

mail
makeup
money
cash/change
postage
scenery
traffic

A phenomenon of nature
Sunshine

rain

Weather

sleet
snow
thunder
wind
darkness
light
electricity
fire

Dew
Fog
Hail
Heat
Humidity
Lightning
Rain

fluids
Water
Cofee
Tea
Milk
Oil
Soup
Gasoline
Blood

solids
Ice
Bread
Butter
Cheese
Meat
Gold
Iron
Silver
glass

paper
wood
cotton
wool

gases
Steam
Air
Oxygen
Nitrogen
Smoke
Smog
Pollution

particles
Rice
Chalk
Corn
Dirt
Dust
Flour
Grass
Hair
Pepper
Salt
Sand
Sugar
wheat

abstractions
Beauty, confidence, courage, education, enjoyment
Fun, happiness, health, help, honesty, hospitality,
Importance, intelligence, justice, knowledge, laughter,

luck, music, patience, peace, pride, progress, sleep,

Recreation, significance, truth, violence, wealth
Advice, information, news, evidence, proof
Time, space, energy
Homework, work
Grammar, slang, vocabulary

languages
Arabic, Chinese, English

Fields of study
Chemistry
Engineering
History
Literature
Mathematics

recreation
Baseball
Soccer\tennis
Chess
Bridge
poker

Activities : gerunds
Driving
Studying
Swimming
Traveling

Some can be count or

noncount
Ana has brown hair.
I found a hair in the soup.
I let the light in.
Dont forget to turn on the light of the room.

Guidelines for article

usage
The:
1. when you assume the listener is familiar
Please open the door.
2. for the second mention of an indefinite

noun
The man was outside.

3. dont use the for plural count or noncount

when are making a generalization

Gold is a metal.

Expressions used with count

nouns

One
Each
Every
Two
Both
A couple of
A few
Several
many

a number of

no
some/any
plenty
most
all

Expressions used with

noncounts

A little
Much
A great deal of
No
Some/any
A lot/lots of
Plenty of
Most
all

A few and a little

Give a positive idea, they indicate that

something exists:
She has a few friends.
Im glad, I have saved a little money.

Few and little

Give a negative idea
They indicate that something is largely absent
I feel sorry for her, she has few friends.
I have little money.
Very+ few/little
I have very little money. I dont even have

money to buy food.

Expressions of quantity that

always
contain
of

A lot of
Lots of
A number of
A great deal of
A majority of
Plenty of

Expressions that
sometimes
have of and
All both
Most
several
sometimes
not

Almost all
some
Many
any
Much
when the noun is specific preceded:
A few
my
A little this
One
the
Two

Dont use of with

nonspecific
Many books are here.

All of/ both of

Specific: of is optional
All of the students are here.
All students are here.
Both of those men are here.