Collins Cobuild English Grammar (8 page)

country

crowd

cup

daughter

day

desk

doctor

dog

door

dream

dress

driver

ear

edge

effect

egg

election

engine

eye

face

factory

farm

father

field

film

finger

foot

friend

game

garden

gate

girl

group

gun

hall

hand

handle

hat

head

heart

hill

horse

hospital

hotel

hour

house

husband

idea

island

issue

job

journey

judge

key

king

kitchen

lady

lake

library

line

list

machine

magazine

man

meal

meeting

member

message

method

minute

mistake

model

month

motor

mouth

nation

neck

newspaper

office

page

park

party

path

picture

plan

plane

plant

problem

product

programme

project

ring

river

road

room

scheme

school

ship

shirt

shock

shop

sister

smile

son

spot

star

station

store

stream

street

student

table

task

teacher

tent

thought

tour

town

valley

village

walk

wall

week

window

woman

yard

year

Note that many of these nouns have some meanings in which they are uncountable nouns, but they are countable nouns in their commonest meanings.

singular and plural forms

1.19
    For most countable nouns the plural form has
-s
at the end, which distinguishes it from the singular form.

…bed…
beds
.
…car…
cars
.

Some countable nouns have other differences between the singular and plural forms.

…bus…
buses
.
…lady…
ladies
.
…calf…
calves
.
…man…
men
.
…mouse…
mice
.

For full information about the plural forms of countable nouns, see the Reference Section.

same form for singular and plural

1.20
    Some countable nouns have the same form for both singular and plural.

…a
sheep
.
…nine
sheep
.

Many of these nouns refer to animals or fish; others are more varied in meaning:

bison

deer

elk

greenfly

grouse

moose

reindeer

sheep

~

cod

fish

goldfish

halibut

mullet

salmon

shellfish

trout

whitebait

~

aircraft

hovercraft

spacecraft

~

crossroads

dice

fruit

gallows

grapefruit

insignia

mews

offspring

series

species

~

bourgeois

chassis

corps

patois

précis

rendezvous

singular form with plural meaning

1.21
    The names of many animals and birds have two forms, one singular and one plural. However, when you are referring to them in the context of hunting or when you are saying that there are large numbers of them, it is quite common to use the form without
-s
, even though you are referring to several animals or birds.

We went up north to hunt
deer
.

Note that the plural form of the verb is used when several animals or birds are the subject of the sentence, even if you use the form without
-s
.

Zebra are
a more difficult prey.

Similarly, when you are referring to a large number of trees or plants growing together, you can use the singular form of their name. When you are referring to a small number or to individual trees or plants, you usually use the form with
-s
.

…the rows of
willow
and
cypress
which lined the creek.
…the
poplars
and
willows
along the Peshawar Road.

BE CREATIVE

1.22
    Although some names of animals, birds, trees, and plants are commonly used in the singular form with plural meaning, in fact all such names can be used in this way.

Things not usually counted: uncountable nouns

1.23
    Some nouns refer to general things such as qualities, substances, processes, and topics rather than to individual items or events. These nouns have only one form, are not used with numbers, and are not usually used with the determiners
the
,
a
, or
an
.