Week 3: Nouns

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Week 3 Nouns Articles
2
Countable Nouns

• Singular nouns with plural forms
• acoustics aeronautics athletics
• civics comics dynamics
• economics esthetics ethics
• hydraulics linguistics magnetics
• mathematics means news
• optics phonetics physics
• politics statistics United States
• whereabouts

3

• The following nouns are always plural
• annals ashes billiards
• clothes dregs leavings
• goods obsequies pants
• pliers pincers remains
• scissors shears thanks
• trousers tweezers wages

4

• Colletive nouns
• family crew crowd
• board committee party
• enemy audience reader
• This group of nouns can both be singular and
  plural, depending on the situations.
• This class has only 20 students.
• The class are all gone out to play.
• Other nouns have singular forms but plural
  contents, so the verbs to be used must be plural.
• people, cattle, police, etc.
• Chinese are a hard-working people.
• The cattle are in the shed.
• Fish are cold-blooded.
• Why Iraqs police are a menace?

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Exercise 1 find the errors

• I have many good news to tell you.
• I saw a flock of sheeps in the meadow.
• The tailor cut the cloth with a scissors.
• I received many mails yesterday.
• This cattle is from Australia, not from Holland.
• He has plenty of knowledges.
• Her family is all waiting for her.
• Politics are much more difficult than physics.

6
Uncountable or Noncount Nouns

• Food Drink
• beef, bread, cheese, milk, water, rice, ice cream
• Nonfood
• air, coal, plastic, wood, dirt, petroleum, soap,
  steel
• Abstract
• advice, anger, beauty, fun, information,
  knowledge, truth
• Other
• research, clothing, furniture, weather, work,
  equipment
• Language
• English, Mandarin, French

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• Noncount nouns are not plural
• We need some informations about rainforests.
• He asked me for some advices.
• Wood and steel are used in construction.
• Noncount nouns always go with singular verbs
• The CNN news is always very informative.
• This ink is not suitable for my pen.
• The rice from Thailand tastes very good.

8

• Noncount nouns do not usually need an article (a,
  an), because those articles imply specific
  individuals
• Furniture makes our houses more comfortable.
• We had some delicious beef for dinner.
• Knowledge is power.
• Time is money.
• Geology is an interesting field of study.

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• But noncount nouns do take the referring to the
  group or concept as a whole
• The air in this room is cool.
• The pork in this restaurant is very good.
• The dirt on the wall is very messy
• The knowledge we have gained will be useful to us.

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• Some adjectives for noncount nouns
• analysis ? a statistical analysis
• paper ? a scientific paper
• calculation ? a computer calculation
• a little rain
• less violence
• more coffee
• enough money
• any homework

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• More examples
• a bottle of water
• a cup of coffee
• a carton of milk
• a loaf of bread
• a piece of advice
• a cubic meter of wood
• a tube of toothpaste
• an item of information
• an article/piece of furniture

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Exercise 2

• Some deformation (is/are) observed in this
  mountain belt.
• A box of eggs (is/are) on the table.
• Fifty years (is/are) not a long time.
• These windows are made of (glass/glasses).
• (Many/Much) clothing is needed in cold weather.
• I ate six (loaves/slices) of bread for breakfast
  this morning.
• In the number 198,700,504,000, there are six
  (0s/0s)

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Pronoun who, which, that

• Who, which, and that take verbs that agree with
  their antecedents
• Dr. Chen is the scientist who is studying vacuum
  drying of wood.
• Dr. Chen, who is studying vacuum drying of wood,
  is a scientist at Virginia Tech.
• Pick a specimen that is clear and straight.
• These specimens, which are clear and straight,
  will be satisfactory for our tests.
• We are reading a book that was written many years
  ago.
• We are reading this book, which was written many
  years ago.

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• Use which with a nonrestrictive clause.
• These apples, which were picked yesterday, are
  not yet ripe.
• This university, which is near Pingtung city, has
  a very large campus.
• Use that with a restrictive clause.
• The apples that were picked yesterday are not
  ripe.
• The university that is near Pingtung City has a
  very large campus.

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Exercise 3

• I like the baby (who/which) is in the cradle.
• I like the cat and then man (which/that) are
  coming this way.
• Mary is the most diligent student (who/that) I
  have ever seen.
• I like my sister, (who/which) lives in Taipei.
• I like my sister, (who/which) is an absolutely
  true fact.
• My sister, together with Bob and John, (is/are)
  gone.
• The boy, like his father, (sit/sits) still.

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Use of articles a, an, the

• a is used before a consonant sound
• a teacher
• a student
• a happy person (h is pronounced)
• a useful car (u is pronounced)
• an is used before a vowel sound
• an egg
• an airplane
• an hour (h is NOT pronounced)
• an uncle

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• When to use a/an?
• We will make our field trip on a sunny day next
  week.
• (we do not say which day)
• She wants to study at a university in America.
• (she does not say which university)
• When to use the?
• He is not the boy who cheated in an exam
  yesterday.
• (boy is identified)
• I am going to the train station.
• (train station is identified by implication)

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• Do not use a or an with noncount nouns
• We went to the library to look for information.
• Cleaning the house takes a lot of time.
• Do not add articles before abstract nouns
• We cannot live without love.
• I am losing my patience.
• Do not add articles before material nouns
• Drinking water is important.
• Father brings bread and butter home every day.

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• In general, proper nouns do not require articles
• Mary is from Canada.
• Mt. Everest is in Europe.
• Spring is the best season.
• Taiwan is an island.
• June is often very hot in Taipei.
• Queen Elizabeth visited Australia recently.
• Park Street is the main street in this city.
• This road leas to CKS Airport.

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• Do not use articles with names of
• subjects
• Mrs. Lin teaches us history.
• He hates geometry.
• meals
• Did you have lunch?
• Missing breakfast is bad for your health.
• languages
• English is easy to learn.
• Can you speak French?
• sports
• Do you play tennis?
• I really love soccer.

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• Use the with names of
• oceans, seas, gulfs, rivers, deserts
• the Pacific Ocean
• the Mediterranean Sea
• the Yellow River
• the Gobi Desert
• united countries
• the United States of America
• the United Kingdom
• the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
• empires, dynasties, ages
• the British Empire
• the Chin Dynasty
• the Dark Ages

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Exercise 4.1 add or delete the articles

• The dogs always chase the cats.
• Being honest is virtue.
• We Chinese eat the rice everyday.
• Heineken is good beer.
• I practice the baseball every week.
• Sam does not like to go to the school.
• Can you swim across English Channel?
• Renaissance is a very important era for mankind.
• The President Lincoln is a great person.
• I like the walking in the woods.

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Exercise 4.2 add articles as necessary

• When we speak of glass, ordinarily we mean
  transparent, shiny substance that breaks rather
  easily. We may think of glass in our windows and
  glass used in our laboratories as being same
  material. Actually they are not. There are many
  kinds of glass. One company has developed more
  than 65,000 kinds of glass.

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• Bon Courage!