Singular and Plural Nouns

A noun names a person, place, thing, or idea.

Usually, the first page of a grammar book tells you about nouns. Nouns give names of concrete or abstract things in our lives. As babies learn "mom," "dad," or "milk" as their first word, nouns should be the first topic when you study a foreign language. 

For the plural form of most nouns, add s.

  bottle – bottles

  cup – cups

  pencil – pencils

  desk – desks

  sticker – stickers

  window – windows

For nouns that end in ch, x, s, or s sounds, add es.

  box – boxes

  watch – watches

  moss – mosses

  bus – buses

For nouns ending in f or fe, change f to v and add es.

  wolf – wolves

  wife – wives

  leaf – leaves

  life – lives

Some nouns have different plural forms.

  child – children

  woman – women

  man – men

  mouse – mice

  goose – geese

Nouns ending in vowels like y or o do not have definite rules.

  baby – babies

  toy – toys

  kidney – kidneys

  potato – potatoes

  memo – memos

  stereo – stereos

A few nouns have the same singular and plural forms.

  sheep – sheep

  deer – deer

  series – series

  species – species

Count Nouns vs. Non-Count Nouns

Count nouns can be counted as one or more.  pen, computer, bottle, spoon, desk, cup, television, chair, shoe, finger, flower, camera, stick, balloon, book, table, comb, etc.

Non-count nouns

Cannot be counted. They usually express a group or a type.

  water, wood, ice, air, oxygen, English, Spanish, traffic, furniture, milk, wine, sugar, rice, meat, flour, soccer, sunshine, etc.

Generally cannot be pluralized.

Possessive Nouns

Possessive nouns are used to indicate ownership.

Possessive nouns usually are formed by adding an apostrophe (') and s.

  John's book

  Kerry's car

  Grandma's mirror

When a noun is plural and ends in s, just add an apostrophe (').

  The kids' toys

  My parents' house

  The teachers' lounge

If two people own one thing, add the apostrophe and s to the second person only.

  John and Mary's new house

  David and Sue's wedding

  Tom and Doug's car

If two people own separate things, add the apostrophe and s for each person.

  Susan's and Beth's books

  Jean's and Dan's pants

  Ben's and Jim's offices

Pronouns

A pronoun takes the place of a noun. 

Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns refer to a person:

  I go to school.

  You are a student.

  They are Koreans.

  He works here.

  We gave her food.

The word ‘it' refers to an object:

  I drank it.

  It is big.

  They cut it into halves.

 

Memorize the personal pronouns:

Singular  Singular  Plural  Plural

  

	Singular			Plural
	Subject	Object	Reflexive	Subject	Object	Reflexive
First	I	me	myself	we	us	ourselves
Second	you	you	yourself	you	you	yourselves
Third Male	he	him	himself	they	them	themselves
Third Female	she	her	herself	they	them	themselves
Third Neutral	it	it	itself	they	them	themselves

'Be' Verbs

A verb shows action or a state of being.

"Be" verbs indicate a state of being.

Verbs must match subjects.

  I am a doctor.

  He is sleepy.

  We are here.

Negative sentences need ‘not' after the verb.

  I am not a doctor.

  He is not sleepy.

  We are not there.

The verb comes first in interrogative sentences.

  Am I a doctor?

  Is he sleepy?

  Are we there?

"Are not" (is not) can be shortened to "aren't" (isn't).

  He isn't sleepy.

  We aren't there.

Remember the variations of "be" verbs:

I am	I am not	Am I?
You are	You are not (aren't)	Are you?
He is	He is not (isn't)	Is he?
She is	She is not (isn't)	Is she?
It was	It was not (wasn't)	Was it?
We are	We are not (aren't)	Are we?
You are	You are not (aren't)	Are you?
They are	They are not (aren't)	Are they?

 Action Verbs

Action verbs express action and are the most common verbs.

Action verbs need s at the end with third-person, singular subjects.

  He eats bread.

  She walks to the station.

  It floats on the sea.

Negative sentences need do not, does not, or did not.

  I do not eat bread.

  He does not eat bread.

  You did not walk to the station.

  It does not float on the sea.

Interrogative sentences begin with do, does, or did.

  Do you eat bread?

  Does he eat bread?

  Does she walk to the station?

  Did they finish it?

Do not can be shortened to don't, does not to doesn't, and did not to didn't.

  I don't eat bread.

  She doesn't walk to the station.

  It doesn't float on the sea.

  They didn't finish it.

Remember the variations of action verbs:

Affirmative Sentence	Negative Sentence	Interrogative Sentence
I sing a song.	I do not (don't) sing a song.	Do I sing a song?
You sing a song.	You do not (don't) sing a song.	Do you sing a song?
He (she) sings a song	He (she) does not (doesn't) sing  a song	Does he (she) sing a song?
We sing a song.	We do not (don't) sing a song.	Do we sing a song?
They sang a song.	They did not (didn't) sing a song	Did they sing a song?

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