Noun

Noun is a word used to label an object both concrete and abstract

1. Regular and irregular plural nouns .

• Most of the plural noun is formed by adding –s. Eg : books, cars 
• Adding –es to nouns that end in –sh, -ch, -s, -ss, -z, and –x. Eg : brush – brushes (sh), bench – benches (ch), bus – buses (s), ass – asses (ss), box – boxes. 
• Adding –ies to the noun that end in consonant + -y. Eg : lady – ladies, army – armies, copy – copies, etc. 
• The irregular plural forms that do not add the –s in the end. Eg : man – men, mouse – mice, ox – oxen, etc. 
• Adding –es to some noun that end in –o to form the plural. Eg : buffalo – buffaloes, mango – mangoes, hero – heroes. 
• Some nouns that end in –o only add –s to form the plural. Eg : piano – pianos, bamboo – bamboos, radio – radios. 
• Adding either –s or –es in some nouns that end in –o. Eg : tornado – tornadoes/tornados. 
• Adding –ves to some nouns that end i –f or –fe. Eg : knife – knives, leaf – leaves, elf – elves. 
• Some nouns that end in –f simply add –s to form the plural. Eg : proof – proofs, scarf – scarfs. 
• Some nouns have the same singular and plural form. Eg : deer – deer, sheep – sheep, dozen – dozen, fruit – fruit. 
• Some noun that English has borrowed from other languages have foreign plurals. Eg : criterion – criteria, cactus – cacti/cactuses, formula – formulae/formulas, appendix – appendices/appendixes, analysis – analyses, bacterium – bacteria. 

2. Possessive Nouns 

    The function of possessive nouns is to show the possession.  

• Add an apostrophe (‘) and –s to a singular noun. Eg : singular noun – the girl, possessive – the girl’s.

• If the singular noun ends in –s, there are two possible form: 

          a. Add an apostrophe and –s : Bagus’s book   

          b. Add only an apostrophe : Bagus’ book

• Only add an apostrophe to a plural noun that ends in –s. Eg : plural noun – the girls, possessive – the girls’.
• In plural nouns that do not end in –s, add an apostrophe and –s. Eg : the mice’s cheese is on the table

3. Using Noun as Modifiers

• The noun is used as a modifier in its singular form. Eg : the fried rice has mushrooms in it – it is Mushroom fried rice.
• When a noun used as a modifier is combined with a number expression, the noun is singular and a hyphen (-) is used. Eg : Yuni’s friend is twenty years old – She is a twenty-year-old friend 
• Do not put any –s in the word year and any other words in the middle of the hyphen.

4. Count and Non-count Nouns 

• Count noun is the noun that we can count. Eg : apple – I take an apple on the table 
• Non-count nouns is the noun that we can not count. Many noun-count nouns refers to a “whole” that is made up of different parts. 

• Furniture represents a whole group of things that it made up of similar but separate items. Eg : I tidy up my furniture 
• Sand and water represent whole masses made up of individual particles or elements. Eg : there was sand in the water 
• Abstractions non-count nouns. Beauty is an abstract concept, an abstract “whole.” It has no physical form; we can not touch it. We can not count it. 
• A phenomenon of nature, such us aurora, is frequently used as a noncount noun. Eg : Aurora Borealis is one of the fabulous phenomenon.
• Many noun can be used as either noncount noun or count nouns, but the meaning is different. 

• Noncount noun : Yama has yellow hair 
• Count noun : Daiki has a hair in his comb 

5. Some Common Non-count Nouns 

• Whole groups made up of similar items : clothing, postage, scenery, jewerly, hardware, etc. 
• Fluids : water, coffee, tea, milk, blood, etc. 
• Solids : butter, cheese, meat, ice, iron, etc. 
• Gases : air, smoke, pollution, oxygen, smog, etc. 
• Particles : rice, chalk, corn, dirt, sand, salt, sugar, etc. 
• Abstractions : music, luck, justice, peace, sleep, violence, etc. 
• Languages : English, Arabic, Spanish, etc. 
• Fields of study : history, literature, psychology, chemistry, etc. 
• Recreation : baseball, tennis, chess, bridge, ect. 
• Activities : swimming, studying, driving, climbing, etc. 

6. Basic article usage 

• Using A or ᴓ : generic nouns. Generic nouns is use to make generalizations. The generic noun represents a whole class of things but not specific, real, concrete. 
• The speakers is talking about any ball, all balls, balls in general. For example:

• Ø  Singular count noun : A tomato is red 
• Ø  Plural count noun : ᴓ Tomatoes are red 

• The speakers is talking about any fruit, fruit in general. Eg : Noncount noun : ᴓ Fruit is good for you.
• Using A or some : indefinite nouns. Indefinite nouns are actual things, but they are not specifically identified. 
• The speakers is simply saying that s/he ate one tomato. Eg : Singular count noun : I ate tomato 
• Some is often used with indefinite plural count noun and indefinite noncount noun. For example:
• Ø  Plural count noun : I ate some tomatoes.
• Ø  Noncount noun : I ate some fruit. 

• Using The : definite nouns 
• Use “the” for the specific one that we already know. For example:

•  Ø  Singular count noun : Thanks for the tomato 
• Ø  Plural count noun : Thanks for the tomatoes 
• Ø  Noncount noun : Thanks for the fruit

7. General Guidelines for Article Usage

• Do not use the with a plural count noun when you are making a generalization. Eg : 
• Correct : Tomatoes are my favorite fruit.
• Incorrect : The tomatoes are my favorite fruit. 

• Expression of quantity

Expression of quantity	Used with count nouns	Used with noncount nouns
One Each Every	One tomato Each tomato Every tomato	ᴓ ᴓ ᴓ
Two, three, etc. Both A couple of A few Several Many A number of	Three tomatoes Both tomatoes A couple of tomatoes A few of tomatoes Several tomatoes Many tomatoes A number of tomatoes	ᴓ ᴓ ᴓ ᴓ ᴓ ᴓ ᴓ
A little Much A great deal of	ᴓ ᴓ ᴓ	A little sugar Much sugar A great deal of sugar
No Some/any A lot of/lots of Plenty of Most All	No tomatoes Some/any tomatoes A lot of/lots of tomatoes Plenty of tomatoes Most tomatoes All tomatoes	No sugar Some/any sugar A lot of/lots of sugar Plenty of sugar Most sugar All sugar

            ᴓ = not used

9. Using A few and few; A little and little 

• A few and a little give a positive idea, indicate that something exists, is present. Used with plural count noun. Eg : 
• A few : I have been there only one month, but I have already made a few friends. (I have made some friends).
• A little : I am very pleased. I’ve been able to get a little money this week. 

• Few and little without (a) give a negative idea. Used with noncount noun. Eg : 
• Few : I have few apples 
• Little :  She has little money 

10. Using of in expression of quantity

• Expression of quantity that always contain of are : a lot of, lots of, a number of, great deal of, a majority of, plenty of. Eg : 
• A lot of pens are blue 
• A lot of my pens are blue 
• Many of my pens are blue 

• Expression of quantity that sometimes contain of and sometimes not.

All (of)	Many (of)	One (of)	Both (of)	Some (of)
Most (of)	Much (of)	Two (of)	Several (of)	Any (of)
Almost all (of)	A few (of)	Three (of)	-	-
-	A little (of)	Etc.	-	-

Of is not used with the expressions of these quantity if the noun it modifies is nonspecific. Eg : Many apples are green. 

11. All (of) and both (of)

• When a noun is specific, using of after all and using of after both. Eg :  
• All of the cats in my house are here 
• I see both of those cats 

• Singular expressions of quantity : one, each, every 
• One, each, and every are followed immediately by singular count nouns. Eg : 
• One cat is sitting 
• Each cat is running 
• Every cat is playing

• ·   One of, each of, and every one of are followed by specific plural count nouns. Eg : 

     -           One of the cats is sitting

-          Each (one) of the cats is running

-          Every one of the cats is playing