CHANGE OF GENDER
There are four kinds of genders: a) Masculine Gender (male sex): man, men, boy, ox, hero, lion, prince, father b) Feminine Gender (female sex): woman, girl, cow, heroine, lioness, sister c) Common Gender (either a male or a female sex): teacher, doctor, parent, child, friend d) Neuter Gender (nonliving things, animals
SOME SPECIFIC NOUNS & THEIR SINGULAR/PLURAL
1. Beauty The noun BEAUTY when referring to ‘combination of qualities that give pleasure to the senses’ (especially the eye and the ear) or referring to the ‘moral sense or intellectual’, is an uncountable noun and hence has no plural form, and is always singular. But when BEAUTY referring to
CONFUSING WORDS & THEIR SINGULAR/PLURAL
1. Nouns having two plural forms with different meanings appendix – appendixes or appendices (for ‘medical terms’) appendix – appendices (for addition/s to a book) brother – brothers (for ‘sons of the same parent’) brother – brethren (for ‘members of a society or a community’) cloth – cloths (for ‘kinds
Singular/Plural with COLLECTIVE NOUNS
We can use either a singular verb or a plural verb with a Collective Noun, means it’s optional. However, if it’s clear from the context that the collective noun is referring to a single group or unit we use a singular verb, and if the collective noun is referring to
Nouns that have same singular and plural forms
There are certain nouns that can be used in both singular and plural form. You can’t make plurals of these nouns by adding ‘s’ or ‘ies’. When they are used in singular sense they take singular verb, when they are used in plural sense they take plural verbs. Some of
Singular/Plural with UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
Singular/Plural with UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS Some of the uncountable nouns are: 1. advice 9. dust 17. grass 25. machinery 2. baggage 10. drapery 18. hair 26. mischief 3. breakage 11. electricity 19. information 27. percentage 4. bread 12. equipment 20. iron 28. poetry 5. chalk 13. evidence 21. imagery 29. postage
Singular/Plural of nouns ending in ‘ics’
A number of words ending in ‘ics’ which are plural in form, normally take a singular verb; e.g. 1. acoustics 3. classics 5. ethics 7. linguistics 9. physics 2. athletics 4. electronics 6. genetics 8. mathematics 10. politics 11. statistics ACOUSTICS = the branch of physics concerned with the properties of sound. CLASSICS = a subject at school or university which involves the
Nouns that are always plural and take plural verbs
1. Certain Collective Nouns, though singular in form, are always used as plurals. They cannot be made plural ever by adding ‘s’ or ‘ies’; as 1. cattle 4. electorate 7. gentry 10. peasantry 13. vermin 2. cavalry 5. excreta 8. insignia 11. police 3. clergy 6. folk 9. people 12.
How COMPOUND NOUNS form their plural
1. Normally the last word is made plural; e.g. 1. boy-friend boy-friends 6. foot-man foot-men 2. break-in break-ins 7. Chief minister Chief ministers 3. travel agent travel agents 8. Major-General Major-Generals 4. step-son step-sons 9. maid-servant maid-servants 5. step-daughter step-daughters BREAK-IN = an illegal forced entry of a building or vehicle, typically to steal something. FOOT-MAN = is a male
HOW WORDS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES FORM THEIR PLURAL
1. Words ending in IN ‘is’ Words ending in ‘is’ form their plurals by changing ‘is’ into ‘es’. 1. analysis analyses 6. ellipsis ellipses 2. axis axes 7. hypothesis hypotheses 3. basis bases 8. hypnosis hypnoses 4. crisis crises 9. metamorphosis metamorphoses 5. diagnosis diagnoses 10. narcosis narcoses 11. oasis oases 12. parenthesis parentheses 13. synthesis syntheses 14. synopsis synopses 15. thesis theses HYPOTHESIS = an