Chapter 3
Nouns
Teaching Aims
 help the Ss to have an understanding about
how nouns are used in the English language
 help the Ss to be clear about the plural form
and the possessive form of nouns
Teaching Points
 the plural form of nouns in English
 The possessive form of nouns in English
1. classification of nouns
2. number forms of nouns
3. partitives
3. possessive form of nouns
4. the gender of nouns
5. usage of nouns in sentence
6. keys to the excises
Nouns
simple nouns
compound nouns
derivative nouns
A simple noun is a noun that contains only
one free morpheme, e.g. man chair
A compound noun is a noun that is
composed of two or more morphemes, e.g.
armchair motherland
A derivation noun is a noun that comes
from a verb, an adjective or a simple noun with
affixes, e.g. arrangement greatness
proper nouns
Nouns
individual nouns
common collective nouns
nouns
material nouns
abstract nouns
countable
uncountable
A proper noun is the name used for a
particular person, place or thing, and spelt
with a capital initial letter, e.g. Anderson,
Britain
A common noun is a name common
to a class of people, things or abstract
ideas, e.g. boy, tiger, water. Common
nouns can be further divided into
individual nouns (e.g. boy, house, tiger ),
collective nouns (e.g. family, team),
material nouns (e.g. air, tea, snow),
abstract nouns (e.g. glory, failure ,
education)
Individual nouns and collective nouns are
usually countable nouns (nouns that have
plural and which can collocate with numbers
and with such determiners as a, an, many few,
these, several, etc) while material nouns and
abstract nouns are usually uncountable nouns
(nouns that can not go with the above
mentioned determiners)
Exercise 1. Fill the blanks with a suitable noun
to complete the following sentences.
1. Can you describe the car? The police need a
full _____ in order to find it.
2. I’ve already arranged for your appointment,
and this _____ can not be changed.
3. Very few people attended the lecture. The
speaker was disappointed at the _____.
4. That comedian loves to exaggerate. His humor
is based on the ____ of his misfortunes.
5. There is no point in arguing about this situation,
because this _____ can never be resolved.
6. His contributions to charity were generous. His
_____ was appreciated by those he helped.
7. The scientist persisted in making the
experiment. His _____ resulted in the discovery
of a new vaccine.
8. His furniture design was original. Because of
its _____, it won an award.
9. The tailor will measure you for the suit. We will
keep a record of your _____ for future use.
10. Drinking water must be pure. Chemicals are
added to maintain its _____.
1. pattern of plural form of nouns and the
pronunciation of “-s” (p. 50)
2. Number forms of individual nouns
Individual nouns are all countable nouns
and therefore have singular and plural forms.
The singular form of an individual noun can
follow such determiners as a, an, and one. e.g.
a desk, one man. The plural form of an
individual noun can be regular or irregular. The
regular plural form is formed by adding “–s” or
“–es” to the end of the noun like days, houses,
stories, etc., while the irregular plural is not
formed in such a way but by other means
like tooth—teeth, mouse—mice, ox—oxen,
etc..
3. Number forms of collective nouns
Some collective nouns are countable,
some are not. Countable collective nouns
behave just like individual nouns. An
uncountable collective noun has no plural
form. If we want to “count” them, we will
have to use a kind of individual noun
related semantically to the collective
nouns. e.g.
collective nouns
poetry
machinery
clothing
furniture
cutlery
equipment
correspondence
luggage
police
clergy
individual nouns
poem
machine
garment, coat, etc.
table, wardrobe, etc.
knife
tool
letter
trunk, bag, etc.
policeman
clergyman
4. Number forms of material nouns
Material nouns are generally uncountable and
have no plural forms. But there are such cases
that a material noun can be used either
uncountable or countable. When used to mean
the material itself, they are uncountable, but
when used in other senses (e.g. two coffees in
the sense of “two cups of coffee” ),they are
countable, behaving just like individual nouns.
There are also material nouns that take plural
endings, e.g. sands/waters in the sense of
“large expanse of sand or water” and
foods/fruits in the sense of “a variety of food or
fruit”. These
nouns. Some nouns can be viewed either as
material nouns or as individual nouns, therefore
the formers are uncountable and the laters are
countable. It depends on the meanings of these
nouns. e.g. “lamb” in the sense of “the flesh of a
young sheep eaten as meat” is uncountable,
while is countable in the sense of “a young
sheep”. rubber(橡胶)—rubbers（胶鞋）；stone
（石料）--stones（石头）；egg（蛋渍，蛋白）
--eggs（蛋） ；onion（洋葱味）--onions（洋葱
头）
5. Number forms of abstract nouns
Abstract nouns are mostly uncountable.
They cannot take such determiners as a, an,
one or plural forms. But there are a few abstract
nouns that are countable like individual nouns
(like a victory , two victories, a conference, two
conferences ). There are also abstract nouns
that have plural endings but are not countable.
e.g. He is in financial difficulties.
BUT NOT: ※He is in several financial difficulties.
Some abstract nouns have both singular
and plural forms, but there are some
differences between the two forms. e.g.
a. The teachers met once a year to exchange experiece.(经验)
b. Please tell us about your experiences in Africa.(经历)
c. My life in China was an unforgettable experience (经历)
some abstract nouns are uncountable when
used to indicate abstract idea but countable
when used to indicate concrete idea. e.g.
uncountable
countable
relation
关系
亲戚
youth 青春, 青年(collective)
男青年
worry
忧愁烦恼
烦恼事
distraction 心绪烦乱,心不在焉
使人心绪烦乱的事,令人分心的事
business
商业,交易
商店,商行
Some abstract uncountable nouns have
semantically related individual nouns as their
countable equivalents
Abstract Nouns
Individual Nouns
laughter
laugh
work
job
correspondence
letter, note, etc.
photography
photo
permission
permit
music
song
fun
joy
homework
exercise
6. Plural forms of proper nouns
Proper nouns are unique in reference and
therefore have no plural forms, unless the
proper nouns have a plural suffix. e.g. the
United States, the Philippines, the Netherlands.
sometimes the proper nouns may be
nominalized and therefore may take plural
forms. e.g.
a. Have you invited the Browns? (Brown 一家)
b. There are two Miss Smiths/ Misses Smith in
the class. (指两个同姓Smith的女士)
Ex.2: Rewrite the following sentences, putting as
many words as possible in the plural form with
other necessary alterations:
1. We heard a strange sound in the distance
2. The cheese could not be sold, as a mouse had
left a toothmark on it.
3. You should take more care of your health.
4. He is the manager of this business.
5. We do not do much business with him.
6. He has done me a personal kindness.
7. He felt sympathy for her suffering.
8. We have a very high opinion of the old
professor.
Ex. 3
Correct errors, if any, in the following sentences.
1. The scholars met once a year to exchange
experiences.
2. Foreign ships are not allowed to fish in our
territorial water
3. I went to the doctor for an advice about my
health.
4. In the afternoon I did some baby-sittings, for it
is a fun looking after babies.
5. Poultries are dear in the city.
6. In the garden she took a lot of photography.
partitives, also called unit nouns, are
commonly used to denote a part of a whole or
the quantity of an undifferentiated mass. Both
countable and uncountable nouns can enter
partitive constructions. With plural countable
nouns, partitive constructions can denote the
idea of “a group”, “a pack”, etc.. With
uncountable nouns, such constructions can
achieve countability. Partitives fall in the
following categories:
1) General partitives
with uncountable nouns the expression of
quantity can be achieved by means of certain
general partitives, particularly piece, bit, and
item, followed by an of- phrase.
2) Partitives related to the shape of things
there are partitives that are semantically
related to the shape of things and whose power
of collocation is, therefore, quite limited.
e.g. a cake of soap
a bar of chocolate
a drop of water
a slice of meat
3) Partitives related to volume
this kind of partitives can freely collocate with
related uncountable nouns.
e.g. a bottle of ink
a cup of tea
a bowl of rice
a handful of clay
a pail of water
two spoonfuls of water
4) Partitives related to the state of action
(including fit, peal, flash, display, etc.)
e.g. a fit of anger/ coughing/ laughter/ fever
a peal of applause/ laughter/ thunder
a flash of hope/ light/ lighting
a display of courage/ force/ power/ skill/
fireworks
5)Partitives denoting pairs, groups, flocks, etc.
(including pair, group, flock, herd, litter, swarm,
bench, troupe, pack, shoal, school, etc.)
e.g. a pair of shoes
a flock of birds
a herd of elephants a litter of kittens.
a swarm of bees
a school of whales
a bench of judges
a gang of hooligans
a shoal of fish
a group of people
a troupe of actors
a pack of lies
Exe 4
Insert an appropriate unit noun:
1. a _____ of grass
2. a _____ of jewelry
3. a _____ of singers
4. a _____ of lightning
5. a _____ of sugar
6. a _____ of criminals
7. a _____ of sand
8. a _____ of lettuce
9. a _____ of employees
10. a _____ of paintings
11. a _____ of ships
12. a _____ of houses
13. a _____ of firewood
14. a _____ of grapes
15. a _____ of players
16. a _____ of gum
17. a _____ of corn
18. a _____ of chocolate
19. a _____ of elephants
20. a _____ of hounds
21. a _____ of chickens
22. a _____ of people
23. a _____ of actors
24. a _____ of judges
25. a _____ of trees
26. a _____ of poems
27. a _____ of rooms
28. a _____ of aircraft
29. a _____ of musicians
30. a _____ of books
Genitive Noun
CASE is a grammatical term. It denotes the
changes in the form of a noun or a pronoun
showing its relationship both grammatically and
semantically with other words in a sentence. In
present-day English, nouns have not as
complicated a case system as that of Latin or of
modern German and Russian, although there
exists a relic of the former case system---the
genitive case . As there is not marked
distinction between the subjective and the
objective case of English nouns, whether a
noun functions as subject or object in a
sentence all depends on the word order, being
not determined by any case form.
Ⅰ. Formation and meaning of genitive nouns
1) Rules of formation of genitive nouns
a. The genitive is formed in writing by
adding ’s to singular nouns and to those plural
nouns that do not end in –s. e.g. my mother’s
arrival, women’s clothes
b. Plural nouns ending in –s take an
apostrophe as genitive marker. e.g. the girls’
dormitory, the teachers’ college
c. In compound nouns and noun phrases, the
genitive ending is added to the end of the
compound noun or to the end of the noun
phrase. e.g. my mother-in-law’s death,
an hour and a half’s talk, somebody else’s
opinion.
d. in coordinate nouns, the genitive ending is
added to each of the coordinate elements when
denoting respective possession, and to the last
coordinate element only when denoting
possession in common. e.g. my brother’s
clothes and my sister’s stocking, Mary and
Bob’s book
e. In the construction of “noun phrase +appositive”,
the genitive ending is added to the end of the
appositive. It can also be added to both the end
of the noun phrase and the appositive. e.g.
his schoolmate, Johnson’s, his schoolmate’s,
Johnson’s,
f. In personal names ending in sibilant /z/, the
genitive ending can either be ’s or an
apostrophe only (e.g. Dickens’/ Dickens’s,
Jones’/ Jones’s) , but it can only be ’s when
personal names end in other sibilant sounds.
(e.g. Marx’s, Ross’s)
The genitive is particular common with
personal names and with nouns denoting
animate objects or objects viewed as animate.
Geographical names, names of celestial bodies,
and nouns denoting time, location, distance,
measure, value or worth, etc. can also take
genitive endings.
2) Meanings of genitive nouns
The genitive is chiefly used to denote
possession and therefore is traditionally called
“possessive case”. But genitive meanings are
by no means restricted to possession. They can
be summed up as follows:
a. possessive genitive
e.g. Mr. Brown’s suitcase has been taken
downstairs.
b. subjective genitive
e.g. The prime Minister’s arrival is reported
in the morning paper.
c. objective genitive
e.g. the enemy’s defeat brought the war to
an end.
d. genitive of origin
e.g. Mary’s letter (=letter from Mary)
the girl’s story (=story told by the girl)
e. descriptive genitive
e.g. men’s shoes (=shoes for men)
f. genitive of measure
e.g. an hour’s work
a pound’s weight
one dollar’s worth of meat
3) Genitive and of-phrase
In many cases, possessive genitive,
subjective genitive, objective genitive and
genitive of origin can be replaced by an ofphrase. e.g. the trunk of an elephant=an
elephant’ trunk, the arrival of the prime
Minister= the prime Minister’s arrival
But in other cases, however, there is no
free choice. For instance, a descriptive genitive
cannot be replaced by an of-phrase e.g.
children’s pictorial (儿童画报)cannot be
“pictorial of children”， men’s clothing(男式服装)
cannot be “clothing of men”，a doctor’s degree
cannot be “a degree of doctor”.
And also, in certain set expressions such as
“at one’s wit’s end” , “to one’s heart’s content”,
“a wolf in sheep’s clothing”, the genitive is also
the only choice. But in the case of nouns that
are not normally used in the genitive, an ofphrase is practically the only possibility. e.g.
the suggestion of those present at the meeting,
the opinion of the chairman appointed a month
ago, etc.
Note: of-phrase can be used to denote apposition
and it cannot be replaced by a genitive noun.
Exe 5
Put into the ’s genitive, if possible:
1. the father of James
2. the clothes of the boys
3. the glass of someone else
4. the name of my sister-in-law
5. the poems of Byron and Shelley
6. the work of a (whole) day
7. in the time of a week or two
8. in one of the finest shops in London
9. at (the shop of) Brown, the bookseller
10. the arrival of the train
Ex.1
1. description
2. arrangement
3. attendance
4. exaggeration
5. argument
6. generosity
7. persistence
8. originality
9. measurement
10. purity
Ex. 2
1. strange sounds
2. some mice toothmarks
3. /
4. these businesses
5. /
6. several personal kindnesses
7. sufferings
8. professors
Ex. 3
1. experience
2.waters
3. for advice
4. for it is fun
5. poultry
6. photos
Exe. 4
1. blade
4. flash
7. grain
10.collection
13.bundle
16. piece
20. pack
22. crowd/group
25. grove
28. squadron
2. piece
5. lump
8. head
11. fleet
14. bunch
18. bar
21. flock
23. troupe
26. collection
29. band
3. choir
6. gang
9. staff
12. cluster
15. team
19. herd
24. bench
27. suite
30. library
Exe 5
1. James(‘s) father
2. the boys’ clothes
3. someone else’s glass
4. My sister-in-law’s name
5. Byron’s and Shelley’s poems
6. a day’s work
7. in a week or two’s time
8. in one of London’s finest shops
9. at Brown’s, the bookseller’s
10. the train’s arrival