TRADITIONAL EXCEPTIONS

THE NOUN

SEMANTIC CLASSIFICATION OF NOUNS

Rebecca Lake Huron

a tree an idea glass love

a house an offer iron fear

NOTE: Both common and proper nouns can be animate (e.g. a lady, Miss Brown) and inanimate (e.g. a feather, Newcastle)

PLURAL OF NOUNS

1. REGULAR FORMATION

 

 

a jacket – jackets; a book – books if the noun ends in a sibilant

a watch – watches; a box – boxes

ENDING -S is pronounced as:

· [s] after voiceless consonants a desk-desks;

· [z] after voicedconsonants and vowels – a dog – dogs, a boy-boys;

· [iz] after sibilants (шипящие и свистящие звуки)in nouns ending in--s,-ss,-xx, -z,-sh, -ch,-tch, e.g.a bus – busses,a match-matches.

2. NOUNS ENDING IN “–Y”

 

 

if preceded by a vowel - y+S changes into -i + es, if it

a toy – toys; a day –- days is preceded by a consonant

a lady – ladies, a city - cities

3. NOUNS ENDING IN “–TH” = Noun + th + s, e.g.

a bath – baths; a moth – moths; a mouth – mouths; cloth – cloths

NOTES:

· Do not confuse clothes (одежда) and cloths (тряпки, куски ткани)

· In standard English –th before the ending –s is pronounced as [ðz] after long vowels and diphthongs and [θs] after short vowels, e.g.

a youth – youths [ju:θ] – [ju:ðz]; a smith – smiths [smiθ] – [smiθs]

4. NOUNS ENDING IN “- O”

 

 

pianos potatoes

If a noun ends in -o, it is necessary to decide whether it is a foreign word, abbreviated word like piano or neither of these.

a) Noun + o + s = If it is a foreign word or an abbreviated word, the ending –s is added to–o. It is true for:

· musical terms of Italian origin, e.g.

a solo – solos; a soprano – sopranos; a concerto-concertos; a piano - pianos

· proper names, e.g.

an Eskimo – Eskimos; a Philippino - Philippinos

· words of Greek origin, e.g.

a photo – photos; a radio - radios

· abbreviations, e.g.

a kilo (from kilogram) – kilos;

a memo (from memorandum) – memos;

· when the final letter –o is preceded by a vowel letter or sound, e.g.

a kangaroo– kangaroos; a cuckoo – cuckoos; a zoo – zoos

b) Noun + o + es = If it is supposed to be of British origin, the ending –es is added, e.g.

a potato - potatoes; a cargo – cargoes;

an echo- echoes; a hero- heroes;

a Negro – Negroes; a tomato- tomatoes;

a torpedo – torpedoes; a motto – mottoes;

a veto – vetoes

c)The letter “e” is optional in the following words:

commandoes; grottoes; haloes; mosquitoes; tornadoes; volcanoes.

5. NOUNS ENDING IN “–F”

Some nouns change –f into – ves, while others don’t. To be on the safe side just remember 13 nouns that have these changes and don’t bother about the rest – treat them as regular nouns. The fact that some of these words rhyme may help you.

TRADITIONAL EXCEPTIONS

These are old plural forms that have survived in Modern English. They should be learnt by heart!

a man – men a woman– women a child – children

a tooth – teeth a foot – feet a goose – geese

an ox – oxen a mouse – mice a louse – lice

Date: 2016-01-03; view: 1722