NOUN GENDER
1. Generally, English nouns indicate masculine and feminine gender only for persons. All things are considered as neuter.
Examples:
Masculine (he)
man, father, uncle
Robert is a man. He is a man
My father is English. He is EnglishFeminine (she)
woman , aunt, mother
Elisabeth is a woman. She is a woman.Neuter( it)
tree, table, table
My watch is Swiss. It is Swiss.
The dog is a Spaniel. It is a Spaniel.
The car is three years old. It is three years old.Some nouns can be used for either a masculine or a feminine subject:
Examples:
cousin, teenager ,teacher ,doctor, cook ,student, parent ,friend, relation, colleague, partner, leader,
a. Mary is a doctor. She is a doctor.
b. Peter is a doctor. He is a doctor.
c. Arthur is my cousin. He is my cousin.
d. Jane is my cousin. She is my cousin.3.In some cases special object nouns are given gender.
Examples:
I love my car. She (the car) is my greatest passion.
France is popular with her (France's) neighbours at the moment.
I travelled from England to New York on the Queen Elizabeth , she (the Queen Elizabeth) is a great ship.
THE PLURAL OF NOUNS
1 Most nouns form the plural by adding s or es.
Singular Plural boat boats hat hats house houses river rivers2.A noun ending in a y preceded by a consonant makes the plural with -ies.
Singular Plural a cry cries a fly flies a nappy nappies a poppy poppies a city cities a lady ladies a baby babies3.There are some irregular formations for noun plurals. Some of the most common ones are listed below.
Examples of irregular plurals:
Singular Plural woman women man men child children knife knives tooth teeth foot feet bus buses person people leaf leaves half halves wife wives life lives loaf loaves box boxes kiss kisses glass glasses potato potatoes cactus cacti focus foci fungus fungi nucleus nuclei syllabus syllabi analysis analyses diagnosis diagnoses oasis oases thesis theses crisis crises phenomenon phenomena criterion criteria4.Some nouns have the same form in the singular and the plural.
Examples:
Singular Plural sheep sheep fish fish species species aircraft aircraft5. Some nouns have a plural form but take a singular verb.
Examples:
news: The news is on at 6.30 p.m.
athletics: Athletics is good for young people.
liguistics: Linguistics is the study of language.
darts: Darts is a popular game in England.
billiards: Billiards is played all over the world.6. Some nouns have a plural form and take a plural verb.
Examples :
trousers: My trousers are too tight.
jeans: Her jeans are black.
glasses: Those glasses are his.others :
savings, thanks, steps, stairs, customs, congratulations ,tropics ,wages, spectacles ,outskirts ,goods ,wits
COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
1.Countable nouns
a. For things we can count.
one dog, a horse, sixteen men, the shop.b. They usually have a singular and plural form.
two dogs, ten horses, a man, the shops.2. Uncountable nouns
a. For the things that we do not usually count.
tea, sugar, water, air, rice, etc.
b. For abstract ideas or qualities.
knowledge, beauty, anger, fear, love.
c. They do not usually have a plural form.
Examples of common uncountable nouns:
money, advice, information, furniture, happiness, sadness, news, research, evidence, safety, beauty, knowledge.
COMPOUND NOUNS
1 Formation
a. Formed from two or more other words. The two words are not necessarily nouns.
b. The meaning of the words together is different from the meaning of the words on their own.
Examples :
head + ache = headache (noun + verb)
girl + friend = girlfriend (noun + noun)
work + man = workman (verb + noun)
hair + cut = haircut ( noun + verb)
hold + up = holdup (verb + prep).
PROPER NOUNS
Capital letters
Use capital letters for :
1.Pronouns and family names
Sarah, Peter, Tim
2.Titles
Death in Venice, The Barber of Seville3.The names of months, days and holiday names
Monday, October, Easter4.Adjectives derived from proper nouns
Italian cooking, a German car5.Geographic names
French alps, the Thames , the Atlantic6. Names of streets, buildings, parks etc..
Oxford Street, Tower of London, Regent's Park
Examples:
1.Names and titles of people
a. Winston Churchill
b. Marilyn Monroe
c. the Queen of England
d. the President of the United States
e. the Headmaster of Eton
f. Doctor Mathews
g. Professor Samuels.
2.Titles of works, books etc.
a. War and Peace
b. The Merchant of Venice
c. Crime and Punishment
d. Tristan and Isolde
3. Months of the year
1.January
2.February
3.March
4.April
5.May
6.June
7.July
8.August
9.September
10.October
11.November
12.December4.Days of the week and seasons
Days of the week
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, SaturdaySeasons
Winter, Summer, Spring, Autumn5.Holidays
Christmas
Easter
New Year's Day
Boxing Day
May Day
Thanksgiving Day
6.Adjectives derived from proper nouns
Examples
French music, German literature, Australian animals, Arabic writing, Chinese food, Indonesian poetry
7.Geographical names
names of countries and continents
America, England ,Scotland, China ,Peru, Albania, Africa, Europe, Asia
names of regions, states, districts etc.
Sussex ,California, Queensland, Provence, Tuscany, Vaud, Florida, Costa Brava ,Tyrol,
names of cities, towns, villages etc
London, Cape Town ,Rome, Florence, Bath, Wagga Wagga, Vancouver, Wellington, Peking
names of rivers, oceans, seas, lakes etc.
the Atlantic,the Dead Sea, the Pacific, Lake Leman, Lake Victoria ,Lake Michigan, the Rhine ,the Thames ,the Nile,
names of geographical formations
the Himalayas, the Alps, the Sahara
8. Names of streets, buildings, parks etc.
Park Lane, Central Avenue, Pall Mall, George Street ,Wall Street ,Central Park, Hyde Park ,the Empire State Building
NATIONALITIES
Examples: Nationalities
Country : I live in England.
Adjective : He reads English literature.
Noun : She is an Englishwoman.COUNTRY ADJECTIVE NOUN Africa African an African America American an American Argentina Argentinian an Argentinian Austria Austrian an Austrian Autralia Australian an Australian Belgium Belgian a Belgian Brazil Brazilian a Brazilian Britain British a Briton/Britisher Cambodia Cambodian a Cambodian Chile Chilean a Chilean China Chinese a Chinese Columbia Columbian a Columbian Czech Republic Czech a Czech Denmark Danish a Dane England English an Englishman/Englishwoman Finland Finnish a Finn France French a Frenchman/Frenchwoman Germany German a German Greece Greek a Greek Holland Dutch a Dutchman/Dutchwoman Hungary Hungarian a Hungarian Iceland Icelandic an Icelander India Indian an Indian Indonesia Indonesian an Indonesian Iran Iranian an Iranian Iraq Iraqi an Iraqi Ireland Irish an Irishman/Irishwoman Israel Israeli an Israeli Jamaica Jamaican a Jamaican Japan Japanese a Japanese Mexico Mexican a Mexican Morocco Morroccan a Morroccan Norway Norwegian a Norwegian Peru Peruvian a Peruvian Poland Polish a Pole Portugal Portuguese a Portuguese Rumania Rumanian a Rumanian Russia Russian a Russian Scotland Scottish a Scot Sweden Swedish a Swede Switzerland Swiss a Swiss Thailand Thai a Thai The USA American an American Tunisia Tunisian a Tunisian Turkey Turkish a Turk Vietnam Vietnamese a Vietnamese Wales Welsh a Welshman/Welshwoman