Problems with Nouns

Singular or Plural????
Women?
Woman?

2001 by Ruth Luman

References

Womans?

Introduction
Problems with Nouns
Look at the sentences below. Whats wrong? Move your
Bedrooms should be
mouse over each sentenceplural
to because
see the
answer.
the
sentence says there are
The word milks is
three.
incorrect, because it is a
non-count noun and
cannot have an s.

1. I have three bedroom in my house.

2. There are many milks in the refrigerator.
3. Those chair are in the wrong room.
4. There are five reds cars.
5. Some of the class are at night.

6. Your childs are beautiful.

7. Would you like a few milk?

Guideline #1
Count and Non-Count Nouns
In English, we have countable and non-countable nouns.
Some examples of countable and non-countable nouns are
below.
Countable Nouns
chair

More NonCountable
Nouns

Non-Countable Nouns
love

student

money

day

weather

song

food

computer

fruit

room

furniture

Guideline #2
Countable Nouns

Countable nouns can have singular and plural forms and

can be counted numerically. Most countable nouns can be
made plural by adding s or es.

book

books

3 books

box

boxes

2 boxes

Guideline #3

Non-Countable Nouns
Non-countable nouns have only one form and cant be
counted numerically. Look at the examples below.

monies

one money
healths
two health

money

money
health
health

Guideline #4

Non-Countable Nouns
Non-countable nouns cannot take the plural s or es or
an article (a, an).

a furniture

furniture

furnitures

furniture

a news

news

newses

news

Guideline #5

Irregular Plural Nouns

Some nouns have an irregular plural form. Look at
the examples below.

woman

child

womans

childs

women

children

Click here to see a list of

irregular plural nouns.

Guideline #6

Noun Quantifiers

Words like, a few, a little, much, any, some, and many

are used differently depending on whether the noun in the
sentence is count or non-count.
a few

count nouns

a few bananas

a little
non-count nouns

a little flour

(Continued)

Noun Quantifiers
many
count nouns

many chairs

much

non-count nouns

much furniture

some

non-count nouns
count nouns

some furniture
some chairs

(Continued)

Noun Quantifiers

Any is used in negative sentences with count and

non-count nouns. Notice the difference in plural and
singular verbs.
any

count nouns

There arent any chairs.

any

non-count nouns

There isnt any furniture.

Guideline #7
Agreement with Demonstrative Adjectives
Remember to make demonstrative adjectives (this, that,
these, those) agree with the nouns they modify.
This/That

singular

These/Those

plural

these room

these rooms

this rooms

this room

Guideline #8

Nouns and of phrases

A countable noun is always plural after an of phrase that

shows quantity. A non-count noun is always singular after an
of phrase.
plural

Some of the chairs are broken.

of phrases

singular

Some of the furniture is broken.

Click here to see a list of

common of phrases.

Guideline #9
Adjectives

Adjectives are never plural.

Those are beautifuls houses.

beautiful

adjective

That is an olds book.

old

adjective

Practice Exercises
Click on the links below to look at additional grammar notes
and do some practice exercises with count and non-count
nouns.

More Grammar Notes and Exercises

Practice Exercises
Now you are ready to practice what youve learned. Click
the link below to return to Unit D. Print and complete the
Practice Exercise on count and non-count nouns. Check your
answers with a tutor.

Editing Checklist
Look at your essay. Circle all of the nouns in your essay.
Using the guidelines you have learned in this lesson, decide
why each noun should be singular or plural. Discuss your
decisions with a tutor.

After you have checked your essay for singular/plural noun

problems, read your essay draft aloud to your tutor. As you
read it,listen to make sure there are no errors in
singular/plural nouns.