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There are many more nouns than any other part of speech. Since nouns are numerous types in English, you are constantly having to make decisions. For example, you may have to decide if a noun requires a capital letter or not. You may also have to decide if a noun should be in the plural form, and if so, how to form the plural. Most important, in English, you will have to decide if a noun can be counted or not. This distinction can affect of the grammar of a sentence, including which quantity words can occur with a noun.

A. Nouns can be classified as follows:

B. Proper Nouns and Capitalization

1. Use proper nouns for the names of specific people or things, including names of countries, languages, nationalities, cities, oceans, rivers, lakes, MI mins, parks, buildings, stores, schools, religions, historical periods of events, styles of art and architecture, months, holidays, and days of week.

2. Always use a capital letter with a proper noun.

My birthday is і a June.

Henry Wright went to Columbia University last September to study French.

Д When a proper noun is accompanied by the definite article the, do not capitalize the article unless it is the first word of the sentence or the first word of a title, such as the title of a book or movie.

The Thames runs through London, past the Houses of Parliament.

3. Use a capital letter with adjectives derived from proper nouns.

She is wearing a sari made of Indian silk.

Capital letters are not used for areas of study (unless you name a specific course), relatives (unless you name a specific person), seasons, or centuries.

He finds biology fascinating. She is taking Biology 101 this semester.

My uncle met me after school. I saw Uncle Jack in the diner.

I can't wait for spring.

She was born in the middle of the twentieth century.

4. Nouns that do not name unique one-of-a-kind places, people, or objects are called “common nouns" Do not use a capital letter with a common noun unless іt is the first word of a sentence. Most nouns arc common nouns. Here are some typical common nouns: bird house happiness essay computer history'

Do not use a capital letter to emphasize a common noun or to suggest that it is important.

My Boss. Mr. Morris, Is giving his Assistant a big Raise.

Task 1. In the following sentences adapted from The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language, find the proper nouns and capitalize them.

1. Shorthand probably began in ancient greece and rome.

2. The historian xenophon used shorthand to write the memoirs of the philosopher socrutus.

3. Later, a roman, marcus tullius tiro, invented a system to record the speeches made by the great orator cicero.

4. Many people in this period learned shorthand, including julius caesor.

5. In the eighteenth century, because of the industrial revolution, the use of shorthand grew in popularity in business administration.

6. The popularity of shorthand continued to grow in europe with the result that over 400 systems exist for the english language alone.

Countable Nouns and Their Plurals

Countable nouns form one of the two classes of common nouns.

1. A countable noun is a noun that you can count. You can talk about one, two, more, several, many, seventeen, and so on. Countable nouns have a plural form,

A few countable nouns occur in the plural form only and cannot be counted, examples are clothes, pants, Jeans, shorts, and pajamas.

2. The most common way to form a plural countable noun is to add -s or -es, it even when there is a numeral included to signify more than one.

Never add a plural -s ending to an adjective:

"They bought some specials gifts.

3. For countable nouns ending in a consonant + -y, change the -v to -ies.

However, when a vowel precedes -y just add -s for the plural form:

4. Add -es to countable nouns ending in a consonant + -o. For countable nouns ending in -f or -fe, change the ~f to a -v and add -es.

5. Some countable nouns have highly irregular plural forms and do not end in -s.

Use your dictionary to check any plural forms that you are not sure of.

6. Very rarely, you need an apostrophe before the -s to form the plural. You do this only when you form the plural of a letter of the alphabet or the plural of a word referred to as a word rather than the concept it represents.

I like to get Q’s in Scrabble.

This paragraph has too many and's in it.

In all other cases, an apostrophe with a noun signals possession, not number.

Task 2. Give the plural form of the following nouns. Use a dictionary to check your answers. Do not rely on general patterns; these often have exceptions.

Foot, house, mouse, woman, goose.

Belief, comedy, donkey, radio, hoof, thief, tomato.

Nouns Keeping Foreign Plurals

Plurals of the nouns of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew origin are often used in English scientific writing even though their English plurals may exist in general use.

(Academic Writing and Speaking Сourse Pack)

D Uncountable Nouns

Uncountable nouns form the second of the two classes of common nouns.

1. Uncountable nouns are used for nouns describing a mass, a natural substance, food, an abstract concept, a game, a disease, or a subject of study. Some examples follow.

A mass: clothing, equipment, furniture, garbage, homework, jewelry', luggage, machinery, money, scenery, traffic, transportation

A natural substance: air, blood, coal, copper, cotton, hair, heat, ice, iron, silver; water, wood, wool

Food; bacon, beef, bread, coffee, milk, rice, sugar

An abstract concept: advice, courage, education, fun, happiness, health, honesty, information, knowledge, success

A game: checkers, chess, soccer, tennis

A disease: arthritis, diabetes, influenza, measles, smallpox

A subject of study: biology, economics, history, physics, statistics

Countable and uncountable nouns vary from language to language. Also, nouns that are countable in English, such as furniture, information, and hair, may be uncountable in other languages.

Uncountable nouns have no plural form. You can use nouns such as pieces, items.

or bits to indicate exact quantities.

She took a great deal of luggage on her trip, (singular; uncountable)

She took ten pieces of luggage on her trip.

Luggage has no plural form; the countable noun piece is used to indicate the number of items.

Note that even the uncountable nouns that end in -s in the list in item D such as diabetes and physics) are singular and uncountable.

Some countable nouns can be considered as countable or uncountable, depending on the context. Used as an uncountable noun, they refer to the concept in general; used as a countable noun, they refer to a particular one. Uncountable:

Chocolate is fattening. (All chocolate: generalization about a mass noun.)

Countable: He ate a chocolate. (One piece, one serving in a box of chocolates.) He ate four more chocolates.

Uncountable: Life is precious. (Generalization: life as a concept.)

Countable: She leads a busy life. (Specifically the type of life she leads is a busy one. It could be a boring life, a dangerous life, and so on.)

People say that a cat has nine lives.

Task 3. In the context of each of the following sentences, adapted from Panati’s Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things, indicate in the spaces after the nouns whether they are countable (C) or uncountable (U).

Levi Strauss came to California in the 1850s dining the Gold Rush to make clothes for the miners (-). He knew that they would wear out their clothes quickly, so he made them out of canvas (-), which was used at the time to make tents (-). Later he replaced the canvas with denim – a softer fabric (-) originating from the city of Nimes in (-) France. In Europe this fabric was known as “serge de Nimes" and because of the way (-) it was pronounced, it came to be known as denim in (-) America. Strauss began to dye the miners' pants blue so that stains would not show, and this color increased their popularity (-). To achieve a snug fit cowboys (-) would soak them in water (-), then put them on and lie in the sun to shrink the material (-) as it dried.

(Grammar Troublespots: 81)

E. Quantity words

Some quantity words can he used only with uncountable nouns, with countable singular nouns, or with countable plural nouns. Others can be used with both uncountable nouns and countable plural nouns. Refer to the following chart for correct usage.

Note the difference between few and a few, little and a little. Few and little have a negative connotation and mean hardly any or almost no. A few and it little are positive and mean some.

She has few friends. She has a few friends.

The difference between few and a few means that the two sentences above must be continued in different ways.

She has few friends, so she stays home most weekends.

She has a few friends, so she often goes out with them on weekends.

Use not with any. Use no and none alone.

Where are the screwdrivers? I don't have аnу. I have no screwdrivers. I have none.

In standard English, do not use two negative expressions in a clause,

He doesn't have no toots. He doesn't have none.

Task 4. The student who wrote the following paragraph made mistakes with nouns, plurals, and quantity words. Correct the errors.

My best Friend and I wanted to take another trips to Europe and africa, but we didn't have many money. When I saw my two ancient Suitcase, I knew it was lime to buy some new luggages. I looked in the windows of all the store in the center of Town. But all I saw was clothing. I tried on three dress, but і didn't buy one. At last. I saw a wonderful bag made of spanish leather, but it was very 'expensive and I didn't have no money. I decided to go shopping other day.

Task 5. Identify the sentences with a mistake and correct it.

1. A number of U.S. lecturers comes to our University next week.

2. Critically he studied the article on transgenic food products.

3. As the annual report of the Mesa Garden states, these cactuses grow exclusively in the northern parts of Mexico.

4. Either the journalist or the witness know the truth about this mysterious event.

5. Elaborated will be in this paper the model of corrosive destruction of metals under lacquer-paint coatings.

6. The teacher asked the students if they knew the health effects of insecticides.

7. The premises of the library is cleaned every day.

8. Twenty dollars are not enough to buy this book.

9. Many mathematical symposiums are held in Europe every year.

10. Bile acids contains significant amounts of cholesterol.

11. This extremely interesting new Ukrainian historical novel has been favorably reviewed.

12. In no ease the work on the project will be terminated.

This + Summary Word

A good way to maintain flow is to use this/these + a noun to join ideas together, e.g.: English language instructors know that students need to understand the difference between formal and informal language. However, this understanding cannot usually be acquired quickly.

What does this understanding refer to?

Task 6. Complete the following.

1. According to a recent survey, 26% of all American adults, down from 38% thirty years ago, now smoke. This ___________ can be partly attributed to the mounting evidence linking smoking and cancer.

a) decline; b) reduction; c) improvement; d) decrease; e) drop

2. Early in September each year, the population of Ann Arbor, Michigan [the town where the University of Michigan is located], suddenly increases by about 20,000 as students arrive for the new academic year. This _________ changes the character of the town in a number of ways.

a) influx; b) increase; c) invasion; d) rise; e) jump

3. Nowadays, laptop computers are lighter, more powerful, and easier to use than they were five years ago. These ________ have led to an increase in the sales of these machines.

a) changes; b) developments; c) advances; d) improvements

Task 7. Choose a summary word from the list to complete each sentence. number amount improvement assurance trend risk fall drop support proposals increase measures

1. In the United States, the levels of harmful substances have fallen between 1978 and 1987. Despite this ______, the air is still contaminated.

2. Ozone levels in the USA have been steadily increasing from 1986 to 1990. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials are concerned that if this _______ continues, serious environmental damage may occur.

3. The EPA has revealed that 20 of the 320 known toxic chemicals in the air probably cause more than 2,000 cases of cancer annually. While this ________ may not seem high, it is a cause of concern.

4. The EPA states that individuals living near chemical plants have a higher than normal chance of developing cancer. This _______ has been substantiated by numerous studies.

5. The Chemical Manufacturers Association has decided it will more strongly support the pollution control efforts of the EPA. This ________ was a major factor in the drafting of new regulations.

6. Lawmakers in southern California are proposing banning the sale of new charcoal grills and demanding that by the 21st century 40% of all cars and buses run on clean fuel. These _________ may indeed become law in the near future.

Task 8. Provide summary words to improve the flow of the passage.

(1) A 1986 study of 7,000 recovering alcoholics showed that 3% were under age 20 and 18% were between 21 and 30.

(2) Moreover, the study revealed that the average age of alcoholics seems to be falling.

(3) This ________ worries health officials.

(4) In the past, alcohol addiction was considered a social problem closely related to criminal or immoral behavior.

(5) However, today this _________ is no longer widely held.

(6) Many alcoholics have lived through difficult childhoods, divorces, and professional disappointment.

(7) Even so, these _________ are not good predictors of who will become an alcoholic.

(8) In a recent study, children of alcoholics were found to be four times as likely as children of nonalcoholics to be alcoholics. This ___________ has led researchers to believe there is a genetic link in alcoholism.

Like other European languages, academic English makes use of Latin abbreviations and expressions. You must have also met some of them while reading Russian academic texts, where such expressions are easy to notice, because they are often written in the Roman alphabet. In English texts, such expressions (rather than abbreviations) are sometimes given in italics.

Did you know that per in percent or kilometers per hour is a Latin preposition that originally mean through or by? Per is also used in the Latin expression per se meaning through / of / by itself, and hence, ‘intrinsically.’

Although education conveys important economic benefits, it is also valuable per se.

As this example shows, Latin expressions are often set apart from the English language text by italics.

Did you know that all the following abbreviations derive from Latin? How many do you know? How many can you give the full form for?

e.g. i.e. NB a.m .p.m. P.S. etc. A.D. et al.

Below are the lists of abbreviations and expressions that you may use while writing in English.

(Academic Writing and Speaking Сourse Pack: 175)

Task 9. Read the sentences paying attention to Latin abbreviations and expressions. Check yourself whether you understand/ remember their meanings.

1. The in vitro packaging system developed for recombinant DNA appears to bring the cloning of unenriched DNA.

2. Although knowledge of foreign languages is practically important, it is also valuable per se.

3. History knows several examples when countries were ruled by de facto kings.

4. Chemical processes usually flow in vivo quicker than in laboratory conditions.

5. Mastery of genre and styles conventions liberates the ego of a writer and provides him/her with the tools of self-expression.

6. You may find Errata in the section "Announcements" of the journal.

7. While some scholars argue that conceptual systems do not exist a priori, others think that social groups, within which individuals function, are determined by and interact with prior "systems."

8. To elaborate a new decision, the committee gathered for an ad hoc meeting.

9. For this trip, per diem expenses must not exceed $40.

10. Per capita income is an important economic category.

11. Minerals get their names from various sources; e.g., alexandrite was named for Alexander I of Russia.

Home assignment: Vocabulary in Use Units 2, 7.