Transilvania University of Brașov

Faculty of Economic Sciences and Business Administration

Fall 2021, 1st year
Seminar 5: The noun

General features

1.Classification
♦ word-formation
– simple: pencil, dog, meal
– derived: childhood, driver, unhappiness
– compound: postcard, dining-room, editor-in-chief
♦ content
– countable (count): apple, lesson, table
[+s, +a(n), many/few]Give me an apple. They eat many apples.
– uncountable (mass): noise, milk, wisdom
[-s, -a(n), much/little] There is much noise in here.
– proper: John, Italy, July, Tuesday, Christmas, Newsweek
collective: army, audience, class, club, committee, company, crew,
crowd, family, jury, party, press, public, gang, herd, pack, poultry,
swarm, shoal, mankind
2. Number
a) Variable nouns (both singular and plural)
♦Plural
1) -s added to the singular: books, toys, radios, photos, sopranos
2) -es added to the singular nouns ending in: -s, -z, -sh, -ch, -x, -o
buses, fezzes, brushes, watches, boxes, potatoes
3) …consonant + y > …consonant + ie + s
city/cities, fly/flies
4) …-f(e) > …-ve + s
knife/knives, calf/calves, elf/elves, loaf/loaves, life/lives
but: belief/beliefs, chief/chiefs, proof/proofs, roof/roofs, safe/safes
5) compound nouns
washing-machines, forget-me-nots, grown-ups, merry-go-rounds
lookers-on, mothers-in-law, passers-by
women drivers, men singers
6) foreign plurals
stimulus – stimuli, larva – larvae, stratum – strata, analysis – analyses,
criterion – criteria, corpus – corpora, genus – genera, tempo – tempi
but: cactus – cacti/cactuses, formula – formulae/formulas, medium –
media/mediums, appendix – appendices[books]/appendixes[anatomy]
7) irregular plurals
man – men, woman – women
foot – feet, tooth – teeth, goose – geese
louse – lice, mouse – mice

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 child – children, ox – oxen, brother – brethren[religious]
8) zero plurals: deer, sheep, fish, fruit
Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Swiss
means, series, species
b) Invariable nouns (either singular or plural)
♦Singular
1) concrete mass nouns: bread, meat, luggage, furniture, money
2) abstract mass nouns: music, progress, information, knowledge, advice
3) nouns ending in -s: news, measles, linguistics, cards
4) abstract nouns derived from adjectives: the beautiful, the good, the
evil, the sublime
5) proper nouns: Athens, Brussels, Naples, Wales, the Thames
♦Plural
1) summation plurals: trousers, pyjamas, glasses, compasses, scales, scissors
2) ‘pluralia tantum’ nouns: savings, customs, wages, outskirts, colours, goods
3) unmarked plurals: cattle, clergy, people, police, youth, infantry, gentry
4) personal nouns derived from adjectives: the rich, the poor, the
injured, the sick, the rescued
5) proper nouns: the Alps, the Highlands, the Netherlands, the United States

3. Gender

♦masculine (he/who): man, brother, uncle

♦feminine (she/who): woman, sister, aunt
♦neuter (it/which): book, house, snow
♦common/dual (he/she/who): cousin, friend, patient
Gender contrasts
♦different words: husband – wife, boy – girl, bull – cow, cock – hen
♦compounds: male student – female student, he-bear – she-bear, Tom-cat –
Tabby-cat, bull-elephant – cow-elephant, schoolboy – schoolgirl, landlord –
Landladyfeatures

I. Translate the words in brackets and choose the correct underlined words.

1. (Aceste informații) is/are not correct and this proves that your (cunoștințe) on the matter is/are not
enough.
2. In autumn people usually clean/cleans the dry (frunze) from their (acoperișuri) so
they don't block the eaves.
3. She bought (două pâini) although she had decided she was too fat to eat (pâine).
4. The (mobila) in her rooms is/are very old but although we gave her some (sfaturi) on how to redecorate
her house she didn't accept it/them and said we spoke (prostii).
5. (Matematica) is/are her favourite subject but (gimnastica aerobică) is/are her
passion.
6. (Statisticile) prove/proves that while the Russian (popor) is/are complaining about its/their living
standard, the (oamenii) of Moscow is/are satisfied with life in its/their city.
7. She was very untidy: her (pijama) was/were lying on the floor, the red and the blue (eșarfe) was/were
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 hanging from the (rafturi) while her black (pantalonul) was/were thrown on the back of a chair.
8. He hated all (vehiculele spațiale). Both his (soție) and (copil) had been killed in a (serie) of stupid
accidents due to insufficient (cercetări) in the field.
9. He had found a very interesting (specie) of plants while struggling with the (țânțarii
și muștele) in the Virgin Forest.
10. (Statistica) is/are concerned with information that can be expressed in numbers. It/They is/are a
branch of mathematics.

II. Choose the correct word from the ones underlined.

1. The acoustics of the famous Albert Hall in London was/were so bad that they had
to rebuild the interior.
2. A/– means of travelling around in the galaxy was/were devised by Asimov in
The Foundation Trilogy.
3. The sad always finds/find something to sorrow about.
4. In the years he spent in the west of Africa he got acquainted with the local
fruit/fruits and found it/them delicious.
5. Billiards often replaces/replace other types of entertainment in the English
countryside.
6. His politics was/were the main reason why his family and friends rejected him.
7. James' progress over the last few months keeps/keep amazing his teachers.
8. The elderly often forgets/forget that they were once young.

III. Rewrite the sentences using the correct possessive form of the words in brackets:

1. (roof/shed) was blown off by the storm last Wednesday.

2. She was happy to get (protection/police) and never told Mark what had happened.
3. He was satisfied with (work/that day).
4. Although (question/Anna) surprised both her parents, they didn't show their feelings.
5. (legs/chair) were not very well glued, so Jimmy fell when he sat down.
6. (beams/moon) were lighting the valley and this made their walk much more romantic.
7. (two hands/my watch) broke when I fell from the (wall/garden).
8. Fortunately (half/her face) was covered by the large (brim/her hat) so she didn't give herself away.
9. She rubbed (floor/kitchen) clean and then continued with the (windows/sitting room).
10. Marcia was very satisfied with her (holiday/two months) in the French Alps.

IV. Change the masculine nouns into feminine nouns in the sentences below. Make all the other
necessary changes.

1. My father's brother was a tall, thin man in his forties.

2. The only problem with my landlord was that he couldn't stand the tom cat I had brought with me in a
basket and was not willing to give in.
3. About six in the evening, the lads used to gather in the market place in front of the pub.
4. The policeman summoned the heir to hand in the will.
5. Every Sunday my husband and I went to my brother-in-law's place and had lunch with my father-in-
law.
6. My nephew was delighted with the present he got from his grandfather.
7. My brother could never forgive himself for running over the stag that night.
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