English_books / drozdova_t_yu_berestova_a_i_english_grammar_reference_and_pr

1.Collective nouns are usually singular and are used with singularverbs, when they denote a thing as a whole. But sometimes a plural verb is used, when it denotes a number of people or elements:

□The Russian team was olavino well.

□The hockey team are coming tonight.

2.Some collective nouns have singular and plural:

□My family is small.

□The two families were very friendly.

3.Nouns of material are uncountable and are generally used inthe singular. They are used in the plural to denote different sorts of a given material:

□wine - wines

□fruit - fruits

□glass - glasses

□ice - ices

4.Abstract nouns are usually uncountable though some of them mav be countable (idea, hour). But they may change their meaning and become class nouns. Inthis case they are used with the article and may be plural.

□beauty - a beauty - beauties

□sight - a sight - sights

II

Denote things that	Denote things we can’t count: they have no plural.
can be counted	We can’t use a/an before them.
□ a book - 5 books	We use the/some/anv/this/his.etc. before them.
□ a boy - many boys	□ the music, some bread, his blood,
	much excitement
	□ This ring is made ofsilver.

1.Many nouns can be used as countable and uncountable nouns. Usually there is a difference in meaning:

Ll Paper	_ ______ __ bought a paper, (countable = a newspaper)
	—= m _----	. | bought some paper, (uncountable = material)
,-j ^ .	___________She has beautiful hair, (uncountable)

-------- There is a hair in my soup, (countable = one single hair)

2.Some nouns are usually uncountable in English but often countable in other languages. Here are the most important of these:

accommodation	behaviour	information	scenery
advice	bread	news	traffic
baggage	chaos	permission	travel
luggage	furniture	progress	trouble
	money		weather
			work

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□I’m looking for accommodation.

□Tom gave me some good advice.

□Where did you buy your furniture?

□I’m looking for work.

□The news is very depressing today.

EXERCISES_____________________

Ex. 1. (A)Write the countable and uncountable nouns into two different columns:

Wall, pen, air, chalk, picture, water, match, tea, time, hour, bread, river, friend, copper, cigarette, tobacco, cheese, teacher, glass (стакан), glass (стекло), paper (бумага), paper (газета), music, coffee, armchair, gold, ship, milk, shop, idea, ice, furniture, butter, happi­ ness, wood, tree, word, ink, money, coin, university, hero, assistance, assistant, darkness, meat, machine, instrument.

Ex. 2. (A)Underline the noun in each sentence and write ‘C’ or V to showwhetherthe noun is countable or uncountable.

I

1.I bought an excellent iron. C.

2.She has wonderful hair.__

3.How many photos did he take?__

4.Add a little more salt.__

5.Did you buy a paper this morning?__

6.Hope keeps me going.__

7.It is made of iron.____

8.We’ve got plenty of coal.__

9.There is a hair in my soup.__

II

1.Trade with China has increased. U

2.Do you like ice cream?__

3.I eat two eggs every day.__

4.Too much cake isn’t good for you.__

5.I need a cloth to wipe the table.__

6.Would you like an ice?__

7.I need two clean glasses.__

8.Don’t throw stones.__

9.Be careful! There is broken glass on the road.__

10.Can I have a cake, Mum?__

Ex. 3. (B) State whether the nouns in italic type are collective nouns or nouns of multitude.

1. It is a new company. 2. The company are rehearsing a new production. 3. Then one by one the worn out crew were helped on board. 4. The crew of the ship consists of twenty seamen including the captain and his mate. 5. No one had seen him since and the police were searching for him. 6. The band were changed, and in the gallery already. 7. And Stilleveld, in company with the many other places like it, had also been the birthplace of a new people. The people who were neither white nor black.

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Ex. 4. (В, С) Choose betweenasingularorapluralverbtouse it in thefollowingsentences.

1. The play is witty and the cast (be) wonderful. 2. The cast (be) all amateurs. 3. All the family (to be) gathered to see the dog. 4. Monty’s family (to be) of about the same social status as my own. 5. Do you know what the family (to get) into their heads about this business? 6. Everybody says the Swiss police (to be) great at finding people. 7. The public (not to think) so. 8. The public (to request) not to leave litter in these woods. 9. When he came the baseball team (to practise) on the school field. 10. The team (to have) baths at the moment and then (to come) back here for tea. 11. The team (to play) tomorrow morning. 12. The clergy (to be) generally dressed in black. 13. The Government (to discuss) the matter for a long time but they have shown no signs of reaching agreement. 14. The Government (to decide) to pass the bill. 15. In the meantime the young couple (to be) to live in the old house. 16. That day the committee (to be) to meet at her friend’s house. 17.1had to find out whether the committee (to be) competent enough to consider the project. 18. The board (to be) extraordinarily kind to you. 19. The board (to be) going to consider your application at the next sitting. 20. You’ve bought yourself a nice car. Your money (to be) well spent. 21. His advice (to be) always useful for me.

Ex. 5. (C) Translate the sentences from Russian into English.

1. Полиция - не дураки. Этот человек не поверил ни одному моему слову. 2. Команда обычно прекращает погрузку (loading) в 12.00, и все собираются на палубе. 3. Ты знаешь, каковы новости? 4. В письме важная информация. 5. Вся компания сидит в кафе. Они собираются здесь обедать. 6. У комитета сложилось мнение, что этот вопрос нужно решить немедленно. 7. Когдадиректор пришел, весь штат уже собрался. 8. Штат очень небольшой, я не знаю, как он справляется.

3. THE CATEGORY OF NUMBER

English countable nouns have two numbers: the singular and theplural.

THE RULES FOR FORMING THE PLURAL OF THE ENGLISH NOUNS

RULES	EXAMPLES	NOTES
1. The general rule for forming	tables, books,	-s is pronounced:
the plural of English nouns	ties, plans	[z] after voiced
is bv addina the endina -s	And also:	consonants and vowels:
to the sinaular	baths, paths, smooths,	flowers, beds, boys
	doths, months.	[s] after voiceless
		consonants:
		caps, books, hats
		[iz] after sibilants:
		noses, horses, bridges,
		houses

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2. Ifthe noun ends in	buses, glasses, boxes,	But: pianos, photos,
-s, -ss, -x, -z, -sh, -ch, -tch, -o	brushes, benches,	cuckoos, videos,
the plural is formed by adding	matches, cargoes,	zoos
-es [Zz], [zj after -o	potatoes
3. There are seven nouns which	man - men
form the plural by changing	woman - women
the root vowel	['woman] - ['wimin]
	foot - feet
	tooth - teeth
	goose - geese
	mouse - mice
	louse - lice
4. There are two nouns which	ox - oxen
form the plural in -en	child - children
5. Insome nouns the plural form	deer, sheep, swine, fish,	But: Pack the books
does not differ from the sinaular	trout, dozen, score,	in dozens;scores of
	aircraft, salmon	people.
6. Somewords borrowed from Latin	In the technical languages	Infiction and
orGreek keeptheir Latinor Greek	of science:	colloquial English
plural forms	phenomenon - phenomena	some of these
	datum - data	nouns have
	crisis - crises	acquired English
	stimulus - stimuli	plural forms:
	formula - formulae	memorandums,
	index - indices	formulas, indexes,
	antenna - antennae	terminuses.

7.Incompound nouns the plural is formed in different ways:

a) adding -s to the head-word	a) editor-in-chief
	brothers-in-law
b) the final element takes	lookers-on
	b) lady-birds.
the plural form	hotel-keepers
	housewives
c) if the compound begins with	postmen
	c) men-servants
the words man/woman both	women-doctors
words are plural
d) if there is no noun-stem in	d) forget-me-nots
the compound -s is added	merry-go-rounds
to the last element

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	SPELLING RULES
RULES	EXAMPLES	NOTES
1. Ifthe noun ends in -y preceded	fly - flies	Inproper names
by a consonant, -y is changed	armv-armies	there is no change:
into - /'- before -es	lady - ladies	Mary - Marys
2. If the final -y is preceded by	day - days,
a vowel there is no vowel change	boy - boys
	play - plays,
	toytoys
	key - keys

3.The nouns ending in -f, -fe change it into -v (both in spelling and pronunciation)

wife - wyes knife - knives life - lives

leaf - leaves thief - thieves half - halves

scarf < scarfi ~ ^ scarves

wharf ^-wharves

There are, however, manvpeculiarities

1. Nouns consisting of two or more parts are used only inthe plural (as in Russian). They are:

trousers	□ Your trousers are too long.
spectacles	□ Where are my spectacles?
scissors	□ These scissors are sharp,
scales
tongs

2. Remember the nouns which are used in the plural in English whereas they are singular in

Russian:	□ His wages are high.
wages
contents	□ The contents have not been changed.

3. There are nouns which are used in the singular in Russian, but they are plural in English.

clothes	□ His clothes were wet as he had been caught in therain,
arms	□ The stairs are steep,
stairs
riches	□ The goods have arrived from France.
goods
potatoes	□ Potatoes are very cheap in autumn.
onions	□ Spanish onions are sweet.
carrots	□ Carrots are very healthy.
oats
But: a potato (one)
an onion

acarrot

4.The noun vacation is used only inthe singular in English (it is plural in Russian).

□Our summer vacation lasts 2 months.

But: We have two vacations a year.

5.In English the nouns gate, sledge, watch, clock are used both in the singular and in the plural (in Russian they are only plural):

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□The gate is open.

□All the gates were closed.

□My watch (clock) is slow.

□He has two watches (clocks).

EXERCISES___________________

Ex. 1. (A)Write the plurals of these nouns inthe columns below to show their pronunciation.

Shop, glass, friend, bottle, cinema, clock, guitar, hotel, island, lake, light, month, office, park, piece, smile, space, tape, village, box, match, beach, address.

[s]		[z]		[iz]
1.	______ shoo_______	7 ._______ friend______		13.______ glasses
2.	_________________	8.	_________________	14.____________
3.	_________________	9.	_________________	15.____________
4.	_________________	10.	_________________	16.____________
5.	_________________	11.	_________________	17.____________
6.	_________________	12.	_________________	18.____________

Ex. 2. (A, B) Give the plural of the following nouns.

A

Toe, city, hero, piano, calf, cliff, proof, chief, stitch, bath, belief, life, shelf, berry, valley, roof, pen, window, wall, week, clock, ship, library, watch, dress, country, glass, day, party, play, bus, leaf, life, colony, fox, half, mass, eye, language, place, key, thief, ray, bush, mouth, journey;

В

foot, boot, ox, fox, man, woman, month, mouse, child, ship, goose, deer, cheese, sheep;

С

crisis, phenomenon, datum, nucleus, basis, apparatus, criterion, series, analysis, formula;

D

room-mate, fellow-worker, court-martial, man-of-war, boy-messenger, onlooker, passer-by, sister-in-law, postman, son-in-law, fisherman, schoolgirl, text-book, pocket-knife, statesman, editor-in-chief.

Ex. 3. (B) Change the number of the noun in italic type where possible and make all other necessary changes.

I

1. Put the box on the shell. 2. 1was presented with a dozen handkerchiefs. 3. The boy must havetwo teeth pulled out. 4. The hunter got a prize for killing the woll that had caused much damage to the village flock. 5. The child was bitterly crying over the broken toy. 6. He showed me a photo of his country house. 7. The scout brought some valuable information. 8.1bought a pair of nylon gloves. 9.1saw a mouse in the kitchen. 10. The ox drove a cart of hay. 11. A very strange phenomenon was observed by astronomers yesterday. 12. Herhair was soft and curly.

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II

1. Boy drove the sheep to the village. 2.1have hurt my foot. 3. This is a lady-bird. 4. Where is the knife? 5. This factory has a good laboratory. 6. The last leaf fell from the tree. 7. This story is very long. 8. The speech was very interesting. 9. He left the key on the table. 10. Where is the brush? 11.1 like his new play. 12. The roof of the house was covered with snow. 13. The wife of the sailor stood on the shore. 14. My aunt has a goose.

III

1. The mice live behind the stove. 2. The keys to the boxes were lost. 3. The wolves have been shot. 4. The fish were caught. 5. We have good postmen in our area. 6. The cargoes will be discharged tomorrow.

Ex. 4. (B) Supply the missing words.

1. The stairs____ worn by thousands of visitors. 2. Where______ the scissors? -

_______ are in the first drawer on the left. 3.The scales____________broken. 4. How much did you pay for_____ trousers? - ______were very expensive! 5. If your clothes

_____ dirty, please put them in the laundry basket. 6. His old grandfather's watch_______

made of gold. 7. All their belongings_____ been destroyed in a fire. 8. My earnings (not)

_____ high, but at least they______ regular. 9. These shorts______ fit me at all!

Ex. 5. (B) Use the appropriate form of the verb.

1. “There____money in my pocket,” I said to the porter (is, are). 2 .1know my hair____

beautiful, everybody says so (is, are). 3. These white swine_______ not live (does, do). 4. ... this watch____ a special favourite with Mr Pickwick, having been carried about...

for a greater number of years than we feel called upon to state, at present (was, were). 5. The deer____ ravaging the man’s fields (was, were). 6. Money____ so scarce that it could fairly be said not to exist at all (was, were). 7. I was here before the gates____

opened, but I was afraid to come straight to you (was, were). 8. The papers____dull, the news____local and stale, and the war news____ all old (was, were). 9. At Capracotta, he had told me, there____ trout in the stream below the town (was, were). 10. Her hair___

loose and half-falling, and she wore a nurse’s dress (was, were). 11. The nurse’s wages

____good (was, were).

Ex. 6. (В, C) Translate into English.

A

1. Эта лестница ведет к морю. 2. Он дал мне хороший совет 3. Все сведения были очень важные. 4. Мы получили такие же сведения. 5. Эти деньги не мои. 6. У меня было мало денег. Я не мог позволить себе покупать такие дорогие вещи. 7. Его познания в математике поразили нас. 8. Ваших знаний недостаточно, чтобы сдать экзамен. 9. Какая интересная работа! 10. Какие вы нам принесли новости? 11. Эти новости уже всем известны.

В

1. Я купил эти часы вЛондоне. Они очень хорошие. 2. Ваши часы спешат. 3. Я не мог войти в сад, так как ворота были закрыты. 4. Сани стоят у ворот. 5. Экспорт этого товара значительно увеличился.

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с

1. Какие из этих овец будут посланы на выставку? 2. Этот груз прибыл на прошлой неделе. 3. Его одежда совсем новая. 4. Там было очень мало людей. 5. Картофель очень хороший в этом году. 6. Морковь очень дешевая осенью. 7. Фрукты в нашем саду уже созрели. 8. Его заработная плата очень высокая. 9. Содержание его письма было совсем неожиданным. 10. Франция славится своими винами.

D

1.В аквариуме пять рыбок. Одна рыбка золотая. 2. Эти новости очень интересные.

3.Кому принадлежат деньги? - Я не знаю, кому они принадлежат. 4. Фермеры довольны. Они вырастили много свиней и овец. 5. Ваши деньги на столе. Возьмите их. 6. Наши зимние каникулы кончаются 6-го февраля. 7. Вы получили эти сведения несколько дней тому назад. 8. Ваши советы мне очень помогли. 9. Витрина привлекала внимание всех прохожих.

4. THE CATEGORY OF CASE

English nouns denoting living beings (and some lifeless things) havetwo cases: the common case and the genitive (or possessive) case.

THE GENITIVE

1.We show possession in English with the genitive form of a noun. This means we normally use’s or s’ for people and some living creatures. We put the possessive before the noun it refers to:

□Frank’s car. (Not “the car of Frank/the car of Frank’s”).

2.The simplest rule to remember is: Add’s to anv personal noun unless it is in the form of a plural ending in -s. in which case just add an apostrophe (’). This means:

□add's to singular nouns and names not ending in -s:

a boy’s tie; Tom’s hat.

□add’s to singular nouns ending in -s: an actress’s career; a waitress’s job.

□add’s to irregular plural nouns:

children’s games; the men’s club; sheep’s wool.

□add an apostrophe (’) after the -s of regular plurals: the girls’ uniforms.

□add’s to names ending in -s:

Charles’s address; Doris’s panty; St.James’s Park.

Famous names ending in -s just add (’): Yeats’ poetry (pronounced [s] or [iz]). □ add’s to the last element of the word group:

My friend Peter's watch; myfather-in-law's house.

APOSTROPHE S {'S/S'), COMPOUND NOUN, OR 'OF'?

1.When we want to show possession with things, we can use ‘of’ : the leg of the table. However, we often prefer to use a compound noun instead of ‘of’ : the table leg.

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2. We must use 'of when we can’t form a compound noun: the book of the film (Not ‘the film’s book’); the top of the box (Not ‘the box’s top’). You can only learn these from experience. Ifyou are in doubt, use ‘of’.

THE USE OF 5 AND 5 WITH NON-LIVING THINGS: "AN HOUR'S JOURNEY'

We use's and s’ with some non-living things:

□fixed phrases: the earth's surface, journey’s end, the ship’s company;

□time phrases (singular): an hour’sjourney, a day’s work, a month’s salary;

□time phrases (plural): two hours’journey, two days’ work, two months’ salary.

It’s also used with nouns expressing space and weight, with the names of countries, cities and ships and with the nouns world, country, city, ship:

□the river’s edge

□Moscow’s theatres

□world’s best museums

□our country’s best opera house

□the ship's crew

We can use's when the first noun is an organisation:

□the government’s decision

□the company’s success

The Genitive is used in some set expressions:

□for Heaven’s sake/ for God’s sake

□at one’s wit’s end

□a hair’s breadth

□at a stone’s throw

OMISSION OF THE NOUN AFTER 5

We generally omit the noun after’s when referring to work-olaces. shops, and houses: the doctor's rather than the doctor’s surgery, mymother’s rather than mymother’s house.

EXERCISES_______________________________________________________

Ex. 1. (A, B) Use's or s' only where possible with these nouns.

1.the clothes of the boys the bovs' clothes

2.a journey of two days_________________________

3.the walls of the room ________________________

4.the days of the week_________________________

5.the birthday of my daughter Helen___________________________

6.the pages of the book___________________________________

7.work of seven years_____________________________________

8.the surface of the Earth___________________________________

9.the orders of the Commander-in-Chief________________________

Ex. 2. (A, B) What could we use in placeof the words in brackets?

1.Your father has gone to(the shop owned by the butcher) the butcher’s.

2.I’ll meet you at (the shop owned by the chemist)_________________

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3.I’maoinq to SDend the niaht at (the house owned bv mv aunt)

4.We alwavs buvthinas at ithe department store owned bv Emma Hart)

Ex. 3. (B) Rewrite these sentences using’s, s’, orjust an apostrophe/",).

1.The books for children. These are children’s books.

2.This baa belonas to mv friend.

3.He described the career of the actress.

4.This is the sianature of Mr Brown.

5.The mistakes which students make.

6.This is a club for women.

7.It’s a school for qirls.

8.The room is for the auests.

9.This umbrella belonas to James.

10.I liked the dinner we had vesterdav at the cafe belonaina to Mike.

Ex. 4. (B) Only where possible, use’s or(’) to show possession in these sentences.

1.The book of this author. The author’s book.

2.I can’t see the bottom of the box.

3.The crew of the ship was small.

4.It’s the fault of no one.

5.Do vou like the ooetrv of Eliot?

6.That’s the lea of the table.

7.Where’s the kev of the car?

8.The sound of carriaae was heard.

Ex. 5. (A, B) Supply a phrase with’s or a compound noun in place of the phrases initalics.

1.He is the son of Mr Riqht. Mr Riqht’s son.

2.Where’s the surqerv of the doctor?

3.The kevboard of the piano was damaaed.

4.She is the secretary of our director.

5.Itwas in the reian of Queen Elizabeth.

6.It’s the responsibility of no one.

7.Polish the knob of the front door.

8.The iourney of Scott is historic.

9.I sooke to the manaaer of the company.

10.The cover of the book is torn.

11.The aate of the factory was shut.

12.I’ve lost the book of mv mother.

13.The phone in the office is out of order.

14.The critic of the film was wrona.

15.Who’s the mother of the twins?

16.That’s the sister ofmv husband.

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