Nouns and articles

 

Plurals of nouns

 

boyboys girl----7 girls name --7 names

parent --7 parents

 

familyfamilies secretarysecretaries

 

watchwatches crash --7 crashes addressaddresses six sixes

 

childchildren man men womanwomen life lives wife wives knifeknives foot feet

potato ----7 potatoes tomatotomatoes

 

Pronunciation of plural -s

 

1. lzl after vowels and most voiced sounds

(/b/, ldl, fgl, lvl, /61, /1/, /m/, In!, IQI)

days /deu/ trees /tri:z/ heads /hedz/

wives /warvz/ miles /marlz/ pens /penz/

 

2. Is! after most unvoiced sounds (/p/, It/, /k/, /f/, /9/)

cups lkAps/ plates /plerts/ books /buks/

 

3. lrzl after Is!, lzl, III, /3!, ltJI, ld3/

buses l'bAsrz/ noses /'nauzrz/ watches /'wntJrz/

 

4. Exception: house /haus/--?>houses /'hauzrz/

 

Articles

 

A and an; pronunciation of the

 

an artist an engineer an apple an orange an hour (/aua/)

. '!:IJ,s,e· a: fqt.rons'oaani$.

a doctor a housewife a banana a tomato a university (/ju:m'v3:sati/)

l tc#ls?t oced /6i:A

the egg /Oi: 'eg/ the Italians /Oi: r'tcelranz/

):§nsn '· the;s.pronottnced laal.

the book /Oa 'bukl the problem /Oa 'problam/

 

Alan and the

 

We use the when the listener knows which one we are talkiog about.

 

Do you mind if I open the window? (The listener knows which window.)

Who's the girl in the red dress? (I tell the listener which girl I mean.)

We've got a cat and a dog. The dog's name is Pete. (The listener knows which dog I mean, because of the sentence before.)

 

We use alan when we mean 'any one', 'it doesn't matter which one', or when the listener doesn't know which one.

I'd like to have a dog.

She lives in a small flat somewhere in Paris.

 

And we use alan when we give the class or group that somebody/something is in.

'What do you do?' 'I'm a student.' ('I'm student. ')

'What's that?' 'It's a camera.'

We also use alan to mean 'every' in prices and measurements.

eighty pence a kilo fifty kilometres an hour

 

Expressions without articles

at home (at th€ hom€) go home (go to hom€)

in bed at school at work

 

 

Countable and uncountable nouns

 

The difference between countable and uncountable nouns

 

Countable nouns are the names of things that you can count. {For example: a car, one problem, two trees, four hundred pounds.) We can use alan with countable nouns (alan means 'one'). Countable nouns have plurals. · ·

 

Uncountable nouns are the names of things that you can't count. (For example: milk; air, music: you. can't normally say two milks or four mtisics.) Normally, we can't use alan with uncountable nouns, and they have no plurals. Compare:

 

Would you like a sandwich? Would you like some milk? (WoHld yoH like a milk?)

Ilike those books.

I like that music. (... those m Hsi cs.)

 

Generalisations: not using the

 

When we talk about things in general {for example: all oranges, all music or all oil), we do not use the with plurals or uncountables.

 

Oranges were expensive when I was young. (The orasges...)

I like music. (I like the musi€.)

Oil is produced in Texas.

 

We use the to talk about particular thin[l$.·that the listener knows about.

 

'Could you pass the oranges?' 'Here you are.' The music's too loud. Could you turn it down?

 

Some problems with countables, uncountables, singulars and plurals

 

'fhe, following wocds, are uncountable'We d<i110t'u thwith a/an, and,tbey, have no plurals: advic:e,·....·... information, hai,ri eadnews, weather., En.glishJand

the· namesof other,languages}, »Jedicnua flu,

toothache (but headache iscountable).

Could you give me some information?

(... as isformatios... some isformatioss) I'd like to give you a piece of advice.

(... as adYice.)

What colour is her hair? Here is the news.

We're having terrible weather. (--.-.-.-a-terrible weather.)

She speaks very good English.

(... a Yery good Esglish.)

I've got toothache. (BUT I've got a headache.)

 

.Words ·like pomm;·.dQtlar.,franc,.yfln; p •.

countable, but,.the wodi ·moWis'un tap; z

' ' ' - " '- ';,; ':, 2,,, -

It costs eight francs.

It costs a lot of money. (... a lot of moseys.)

Trousers;1e m,Wi4mas,:pc.wit$ teL•e,pl l:,

glasses and stair.$.. ·.· · ·:;::'., ',': · "

 

Those trousers are too big for you.

I need some new jeans. (... a sew jeas.) I wear glasses for reading.

It's up the stairs on the right. (... the stair...)

 

Alan and some/any

 

not p05sible. fe: ·.;nl

There's a woman at the reception desk. There are some books on the table.

There's some milk in the fridge. (There's a m il k...)