NOUNS

Course: Bahasa Inggris Matematika

By Radhiatul Husna
 NOUNS
 Irregular Plural Nouns
 Possessive Nouns

 Using Nouns as Modifiers

 Count Nouns (Countable Nouns)

 Non-Count Nouns (Uncountable Nouns)

 Nouns with Count and Non-Count Meanings

 Count and Non-Count Nouns with Similar

Meanings
 Non-Count Nouns that are Count Nouns in Other
Languages
 Singular and Plural Expressions of Non-Count
Nouns
 IRREGULAR PLURAL NOUNS
 woman – women, ox – oxen
 echo – echoes, hero - heroes

 radio – radios, auto - autos

 calf – calves, knife – knives

 belief – beliefs, chief – chiefs

 deer – deer, species- species

 criterion – criteria, cactus – cacti / cactuses,

formula – formulas/formulae, index – indices,
crisis – crises, datum – data, medium – media
 POSSESSIVE NOUNS
 To show possession, add an apostrophe (’) and –s to a
singular noun.
 If a singular noun ends with –s, we can add

either an apostrophe and –s : Thomas’s mother

or only an apostrophe : Thomas’ mother.
 Add only an apostrophe to a plural noun that ends with
–s: the ladies’ books.
 add an apostrophe and –s to a plural noun that doesn’t
end with –s: the men’s books.
 POSSESSIVE NOUNS
 Singular noun: Possessive form :
 the boy  the boy’s
 Ana  Ana’s
 My friend  My friend’s
 Laras  Laras’s / Laras’
 Plural Noun: Possessive form :
 the boys  the boys’
 My friends  My friends’
 The women  The women’s
 Our children  Our children’s
 USING NOUNS AS MODIFIERS
o When a noun is used as a modifier, it is in its
singular form.
o When a noun used as a modifier is combined with
a number expression, the noun is singular and a
hyphen (-) is used.
Examples :
 Our exam lasted for two hours. We took a two-
hour exam.
 The soup has vegetables in it. It is vegetable soup.
 COUNT NOUNS
 Count nouns have both singular and plural
forms.
 Plural numbers can precede count nouns.
 Categories:
• Names of persons, their relationships and their
occupations:
one wife – two wives, one student – five students.
• Names of animals, plants:
one bee – three bees, one rose – two roses.
• Names of things with a definite, individual shape:
one room – four rooms, one car – three cars.
 COUNT NOUNS
 Categories:
• Units of measurement:
one inch – six inches, one pound – ten pounds.
• Units of classification in society:
one family – two families, one language – four
languages.
• Containers of non-count solids, liquids, pastes and
gases:
one jar – two jars, one tube – three tubes.
• A limited number of abstract concepts:
one idea – five ideas, one plan – six plans.
 COUNT NOUNS
 Determiners:
a. used before singular count nouns
• a/an: begins with a consonant sound (e.g. a university) and a
vowel sound (e.g. an honor) respectively used when we are
talking about something in general. “a/an” is also known as
the indefinite article.
b. used before singular or plural count nouns
• the: used before count nouns that has been mentioned or when
we are talking about something in particular. “the” is known
as the definite article, e.g. the sun.
• no: means not any, e.g. no friends.
c. used before plural count nouns
• one of the: means one of a group;
e.g. One of the best reasons to eat vegetables is to add fiber to
your diet.
• some of the: means several of a group;
e.g. Some of the students don’t take that course.
 COUNT NOUNS
c. used before plural count nouns
• few: means not a lot;
e.g. Few reference books may be checked out.
• a few: means some;
e.g. We made a few mistakes.
• Only a few:
e.g. Only a few crops can be grown on arid land.
• many :
e.g. He always has many problems with his teeth.
• a large(small) number of:
e.g. A small number of families own most of the land here.
• almost all (of the)/ most (of the): means all except a few;
e.g. Most teachers here care about their students’ progress.
 NON-COUNT NOUNS
 Non-count nouns have only one form.
 They are used in agreement with singular verbs.
 The word the doesn’t precede them.
 Categories:
• Food: bread, meat, butter, beef, fish, macaroni, etc.
• Materials: wood, aluminum, lumber, glue, iron, etc.
• Fields of study: chemistry, psychology, literature, etc.
• Liquids: oil, blood, coffee, gasoline, tea, milk, etc.
• Gases: oxygen, helium, nitrogen, air, exhaust,
pollution, smoke, smog, steam, etc.
 NON-COUNT NOUNS
 Categories:
• Natural events: electricity, gravity, sunshine, heat,
moonlight, thunder, rain, snow, etc.
• Particles or Grains: rice, corn, dirt, sand, sugar, dust,
wheat, hair, flour, salt, etc.
• Groups of similar items: clothing, furniture, luggage,
money, equipment, etc.
• Languages: Spanish, Arabic, Dutch, etc.
• Abstractions: kindness, appearance, ability,
enjoyment, fun, help, honesty, patience, etc.
• Activities: learning, shopping, working, homework,
music, soccer, chess, housework, etc.
 NON-COUNT NOUNS
 Determiners:
• the: used before a non count noun with a qualifying
phrase or an –ing noun followed by a qualifying
phrase, e.g.
 The science of genetic engineering is not very old.
 The reading of technical materials requires knowledge of
technical terms.
• no: means not any;
e.g. There is no news to worry.
• some of the: means several of a group;
e.g. You should save some of the money.
 NON-COUNT NOUNS
 Determiners:
• little: means not a lot;
e.g. She speaks little French.
• a little: means some;
e.g. We have a little time to finish our homework.
• Only a little:
e.g. We have only a little work to do on Friday.
• much :
e.g. I think that there is too much violence on TV.
• a large(small) amount of:
e.g. A large amount of rain is expected tomorrow.
• almost all (of the)/ most (of the): means all except a little;
e.g. Almost all of the fuel that is used today is a chemical
form of solar energy.
 NOUNS WITH COUNT AND NON-COUNT
MEANINGS
 Some nouns may be used as count or non-count
nouns depending on their meanings such as
materials and abstract concepts as non-count
nouns can be used as count nouns to express
specific meanings.
 Examples :
• Non-Count Noun:
 agreement (general meaning: all agreements)
 cloth (general meaning: construction material)
• Count Noun:
 an agreement, agreements (specific meaning: an occasion or
a document)
 a cloth, cloths (specific meaning: a piece of cloth)
 COUNT AND NON-COUNT NOUNS WITH
SIMILAR MEANINGS
Count Noun: Non-Count Noun:

 a climate – climates  weather

 a laugh – laughs  laughter

 a job – jobs  work

 a machine – machines  machinery

 a person – persons  people

 a man – men  mankind ; man

 a traffic jam – traffic jams  traffic

 a sunbeam – sunbeams  sunlight; sunshine

 NON-COUNT NOUNS THAT ARE COUNT
NOUNS IN OTHER LANGUAGES
 advice  leisure
 anger  luck

 courage  money

 damage  music

 equipment  news

 fun  patience

 homework  permission

 ignorance  poetry

 information  poverty

 knowledge  progress
 SINGULAR AND PLURAL EXPRESSIONS OF
NON-COUNT NOUNS
 a piece of advice  two pieces of advice
 a slice of bread  three slices of bread

 an ear of corn  ten ears of corn

 a bar of soap  six bars of soap

 a bolt of lightning  two bolts of lightning

 a clap of thunder  three claps of thunder

 a gust of wind  two gusts of wind

 EXERCISE 1
Complete the sentences with the possessive
form of the nouns in parentheses.
1. It would cost me a ____ salary to buy that
notebook. (month)
2. Do you know my _____ wife? (brother)
3. We have met your _____ husbands. (sisters)
4. That store only sells _____ clothes. (women)
5. Those are my _____ offices. (bosses)
 EXERCISE 2
Use the italicized noun or noun phrase in the
first sentence as a modifier in the second
sentence.
1. That handbook is for students. It is _________.
2. The professor asked us to write a paper of five
pages. She asked us to write _________.
3. I have a sister who is ten years old and a
brother who is seven years old. I have ________.
4. We will get three credits for that course. It is
________.
5. She is a psychologist for children. She is ______.
 EXERCISE 3
Choose the correct answer of the following questions!
1. A desert receives less than twenty-five…..of rainfall every year.
(A) centimeter (C) centimeters
(B) a centimeter (D) of centimeters
2. …..at 212 degrees F. and freezes at 32 degrees F.
(A) Waters boils (C) Water boils
(B) The water boils (D) Waters boil
3. It is generally believed that an M.B.A. degree is good preparation for a
career in …..
(A) a business (C) businesses
(B) business (D) one business
4. Fire-resistant materials are used to retard …..of modern aircraft in case of
accidents.
(A) a damage to the passenger cabin
(B) that damages to the passenger cabin
(C) damage to the passenger cabin
(D) passenger cabin’s damage
 EXERCISE 3
5. Unemployment compensation is money to support an unemployed
person while he or she is looking for …..
(A) job (C) works
(B) a job (D) a work
6. Hybrids have one more ..... per plant than other varieties.
(A) corns (C) corn ears
(B) ear of corn (D) corn’s ears
7. All of the people at the AAME conference are …..
(A) mathematic teachers
(B) mathematics teachers
(C) mathematics teacher
(D) mathematics’ teachers
8. As a safety measure, the detonator for a nuclear device may be
made of ….., each of which is controlled by a different employee.
(A) two equipments (C) two pieces of equipment
(B) two pieces of equipments (D) two equipment pieces
 EXERCISE 3
Identify the error of the underline words in the following
sentences!
9. (A) In 1950 it was (B) naively predicated that (C) eight or
ten computer would be sufficient (D) to handle all of the
scientific and business needs in the United states.
10. (A) A space (B) is the last frontier for (C) man (D) to conquer.
11. (A) The religion attempts (B) to clarify (C) mankind’s
relationship with a (D) superhuman power.
12. (A) A few tiles on Skylab (B) were the only (C) equipments
that failed (D) to perform well in outer space.
13. It is believed that (A) a people could (B) live on (C) Mars
with little life support because the atmosphere is similar to
(D) that of earth.
14. (A) A progress (B) has been made toward (C) finding (D) a
cure for AIDS.
15. Because of extensive (A) research in the field of genetic (B)
engineers, scientists can now create plants that (C)
farmers can grow in (D) harsh climates.