📄️ Introduction
Nouns are words like house, team, idea, arrival, confusion, Canada. Together (usually) with other words such as determiners or adjectives, they form noun phrases, which act as subjects, objects and complements in sentences.
📄️ Spelling of plurals
The plural of most nouns is made by just adding \-s to the singular. But there are some special cases.
📄️ Irregular and special plurals
Irregular plurals in -ves
📄️ Pronunciation of plurals
Nouns ending in /s/, /z/ and other sibilants
📄️ Countable and uncountable nouns: basic information
The difference
📄️ Countable and uncountable nouns: advanced points
20 square metres of wall
📄️ Piece- and group-words: a blade of grass; a bunch of flowers
Uncountable nouns: pieces
📄️ Noun + complement: What can follow a noun?
Many nouns, especially abstract nouns, can be followed by ‘complements’ – other words and expressions that ‘complete’ their meaning. These complements can be prepositional phrases, infinitive expressions or clauses (with or without prepositions).
📄️ Possessives: noun + ’s (forms)
Forms like John’s, parents’, children’s are generally called ‘possessive’, although they express other ideas as well as possession.
📄️ Nouns in combination: *my father’s house*
Possessive ’s and other determiners
📄️ Nouns in combination: *milk chocolate*
milk chocolate; chocolate milk
📄️ Classifying expressions: noun + noun or preposition structure?
Classifying expressions: a sheepdog
📄️ Classifying expressions with ’s: a child’s toy; cow’s milk
Noun + ’s + noun: children’s clothes; a bird’s nest
📄️ Singular expressions with plural verbs
Groups of people: The team is/are …
📄️ Plural expressions with singular verbs
Amounts and quantities: that five pounds
📄️ Mixed singular and plural: other structures
In some complex structures, the same verb seems to belong with two different expressions, one singular and the other plural. And some noun phrases mix singular and plural elements.
📄️ Distributive plural: *Tell them to bring raincoats.*
People doing the same thing
📄️ Turning verbs into nouns: *a cough*, *a taste*
Using nouns for actions