inglese - nouns

inglese - nouns

There are four kinds of nouns in English

common nouns     dog table man
proper nouns         Tom France
abstract nouns          charity beauty fear
collective nouns    swarm team crow flock Group

a noun can function as

The subject of a verb  Tom arrived
complement of the verb be become seem : Tom is an actor
The object of a verb : I saw Tom
the object of a preposition I spoke Tom

A noun can also be in the possessive case

Tom's works

Gender

Masculine   men boys  and male animals (pronoun he/ they )
feminine  women girls and female animals ( pronoun she /they)
neuter  : inanimate things animals whose sex we don't know  and somtimes babies whose sex we don't know

Exceptions

ship are considered feminine and sometimes cars and other vehicles when regarded with affection or respect . Countries when referred to by name are also considered feminine


Most noun have the same form for masculine and feminine :

parent painter driver singer cousin child artist cook judge rider

some have different forms

Brother and sister  uncle and aunt nephew and niece

some form feminine from the masculine by adding ness  note that words ending in or or er often drop o or e

actor  actress  conductor conductress manager manageress

note also 

salesman saleswoman spokeman spokewoman

recently  there has been an attempt to de-sex these words by using person instead of men

salesperson

Plurals

The plural of a noun is usually  made by adding s to the singular

dog dogs  day days

exception

Nouns ending in o ore ss sh ch or x form their plural by adding es

tomatoes  kisses boxes

But words of foreign origin is abbreviated words ending in o add s

piano pianos   dynamo  dynamos

Nouns ending in y following a consonant form their plural by dropping the y in adding ies

baby babies lady ladies

Nouns ending in y following a consonant form their plural adding s only

donkey donkeys  boy boys

Tweve nouns ending in f or fe drop the f ore fe and add ves.
 These nouns are wife life knife wolf self calf  shelf leaf loaf thief sheaf half

wife wives  wolf wolves

Other words  ending in f ore fe add s in the plural in the ordinary way

handkerchief  handkerchiefs safe safes

A few nouns form their plural  by a vowel change

man     men
woman women
louse lice
foot feet
mouse mice
goose geese 
tooth theeth
ox oxen

the plural of child is children

Name of certain creatures do not change in the plural

the word fish is normally unchanged fishes exist but is uncommon.
Some types of fish do not normally change in the plural salmon trout squid pike mackerel cod turbot plaice  but if used in a plural sense they would teke a plural verb. Others however do change.

We talk of herrings sardines lobster crabs and all other shellfish whales Dolphins  sharks eels.

sheep and deer  don't  change  one sheep two sheep

spormen who shoot duck pheasant partridge snipe ptarmigan teal wood cock grouse  etc. use the same form for singular and plural. But other people  normally add s to the plural form of names of birds in common use

The word game  used by sporsmen to mean an animal/animals  hented is Always in the singular and  takes a singular verb

A few other words don't change

Aircraft craft
quid (slang for £1)
counsel (barristers working in court)

certain words are Always singular

advice
knowledge
baggage
furniture
information
news
luggage
rubbish

Certain words are Always plural  : police clothes

garments consisting in two parts  Pyjamas trousers breeches pants
tools or instruments cosisting of two parts  binoculars glasses spectacles pliers shears scissors  scales
premieses and quarters (used to mean accomodation)

All above words takes a plural verb.

There are also a number of words  ending in ics

mathematics
physics
plitics
hysterics
ethics
athletics

whichi have  a plural form and normally take a plural verb

Athletics are his main interest

But names of sciences can be considered singular in such sentences as

Mathematisc is an exacti science
Ethics is one of the subjects of course

Some measuremets and numerals do no change either 

Words whicih retain their original Greek or latin forms make their plurals according to the rules of
Greek or latin

erratum errata
radius radii
crisis crises
memorandum memoranda
datum data
phenomenon phenomena
terminus termini
basis bases
oasis oases
axis axes 
thesis theses

But there is a tendency particularly with farly common Latin or Greek words to make the plural according to the rule of English

dogma dogmas
gymnasium gymnasiums
formula formulas

Sometimes  there are two plural forms with different meanings

index indexes  list of contents of books
indices  a Mathematical term

appendix appendixes  a medical term
appendices  used both as a medical term and also   for additions to a book

Genius geniuses extraordinarly intelligent persons
genii supernatural beings

compound nouns

normally the last word is made plural

armchair   armchairs
bookcase bookcases

where man woman is prefixed both  parts are made plural

men students women students

compound nouns formed with prepositions or adverbs make only the first word plural

sister-in-law  sisters-in-law  looker-on  lookers-on

when  the compound noun ha an adjective as the last word  the fisto word is usually made plural

court martial courts martial

words ending in ful usually make their plural in the ordinary way

handful handfuls

Initials can be made plural

VIPs (Very Important Persons)
OAPs Old Age Pensioners)

The possesive case form

's is used with singular nouns and plural nouns not ending in s

a man's job
a children's voice

A simple apostrophe ' is used with plural nouns ending in s

a girls' school

Classical nams ending in s usulli add only apostrophe

Pythagoras' Theorem
Archimedes' Law

with compounds the last word takes 's

My Brother-in-law's guitar

Use of the possesive case and of + noun used for possession

The possessive case is chiefly used of people contries or animals as show above  but can used also

Of ship and boats  the ship's bell

of planes trains car and other vehicles though here the of constucion is safer

in time expressions

a week's Holiday

in expressions of money + Worth

£ 1's Worth of stamps

with for + noun + sake

for heaven's sake

in a few expression

a stone's throw  journey's end  the water's edge

we can say either a winter's day   but we cannot make spring or autumn possessive except when they are personified  Autumn's return

of+ noun is used for possesion

when the possessor noun is followd by a phrase or clause 

the boy ran about obeyng the directions of a man  with a whistle

with inanimate possesions except those listed above

the walls of the town

However it is often possible to replace noun 1 of noun 2 by noun 2 noun 1 in order

the town walls

the first become a sort of adjective