Subtitles section Play video Print subtitles Hello, everybody. Welcome to this English course. In today's video, I'm going to tell you about nouns. Because in English, nouns are very important. They are the basic element of a sentence. So if you want to speak English, you need to know about the different kinds of nouns. And I'm going to try and teach you as well as I can. Let's get started! Ok, so let's start with concrete nouns. Now in English, concrete nouns are people places or things, including animals. That you can see, that you can smell, or taste, or hear, or touch. So you can basically use your five senses. Let me give you a few examples. If we talk about people, you could say, a man or a teacher, or me, Fanny. Or Mr. Smith. If we talk about places, you could say, a house, a school. You could name a city like London. Very nice city. Or a beach. And if you talk about things, you could say a shoe, you could say a marker, you could talk about a dog or food like a pizza. These are concrete nouns....ok. Now let's move on to abstract nouns. So abstract nouns, unlike concrete nouns, are ideas, concepts, emotions. And you can't see an idea. You can't smell a concept. You can't taste an emotion. Or hear it. Or touch it. So they are nouns. They are things that exist, but you cannot see them, or taste them. You can't use your five sense. To give you a few examples, we could talk about love, or time, or religion, rules. These are all words that represent ideas, concepts... okay They're abstract nouns in English. Now, let's get into more detail about nouns. Let's now see the difference between common nouns and proper nouns which are very important in English. So common nouns and proper nouns refer to people, places, things, ideas. Let's see a few examples. We could talk about people for example. A woman. That's a common noun. But if we talk about a specific woman, for example, me, Fanny. That becomes a proper noun with a capital 'F'. because, and you should know this, proper nouns are always capitalized. You could talk about places. A city. That's a common noun. But then you can name a specific city. Let's take a great city, London, of course. With a capital 'L'. Remember proper nouns - always capitalized. We can talk about things for example. An animal. Let's take a dog. A dog. That's a common noun. But if we take a specific dog, like Snoopy - capital 'S', that's the proper noun. If we talk about things again, but for example, a car, that's a common noun. But if we name the brand, the specific brand of the car like Volvo, that's a proper noun. And it takes a capital 'V'. And finally, and we can say, a team - common noun. But if we name a specific team, for example, the best football team, Manchester United, then that's a proper noun and it's capitalized. Now mind you, 'team', is a special word because it's called a collective noun in English because it refers to a group of people. So collective nouns can be used as singular nouns or plural nouns. But we will talk about this again later. So now that we know a lot about nouns in English, Let's practice finding nouns in a sentence. Okay, first, In my class at Oxford University, I have many friends. My best friend is Jan. I have a lot of love for her. Jan has a cute dog. Its name is Juju. What are the nouns in these sentences? If we take the first sentence, In my class at Oxford University, I have many friends. We have, class, and friends. These are common nouns. We also have a proper noun, Oxford University. We know it's a proper noun because it's capitalized. The second sentence is, My best friend is Jen. Now in this sentence, the noun is, friend - common noun. And there's also the word, Jen, is also a noun but a proper noun. As you can see it's capitalized. Then, I have a lot of love for her. What noun can you see? Of course, 'love'. Remember the abstract noun we talked about a few minutes ago. And finally, Jan has a cute dog. Its name is Juju. What nouns can we find? We can see, 'Jen', again - proper noun. 'Dog' - common noun. But also, 'name', and 'Juju'. 'Name's' a common noun. 'Juju' is the proper noun. It's capitalized. As you probably know, I haven't mentioned, 'I', or 'her', or 'its'. They are also nouns, but they are pronouns and they're considered a different category in English. We will talk about them in another video . Great job guys! Thank you for watching my video. I hope you now have a better understanding of nouns in English. Please keep practicing. Practice makes perfect. I'm sure you will very soon be able to recognize nouns in a sentence. Please make sure to watch my next video as I keep on talking about nouns. See you. Thank you for watching my video guys. If you've liked this video, please click like, subscribe to our channel, show us your support, put your comments below and share this video. Thank you. Hello guys! And welcome to this English course on nouns. In today's video, we're going to talk about singular and plural nouns. When you speak English, it's very important to know the difference between a singular noun and a plural noun. Ok? So I will explain to you the different rules. And we will practice together. Let's get started. Ok guys, the first you need to know is that a singular noun means one. So, for example, I can say, 'cat'. 'a cat' 'one cat' 'school' 'a school' 'one school' 'team' Now don't forget, 'team' is a collective noun. It's a group of people, but still, it's a singular noun. We talk about 'a team', or 'one team. 'lady' 'monkey' 'tomato' 'a tomato' 'one tomato' Or 'piano'. Now, if we talk about plural nouns, it means more than one. So for example, two, three, four, or many. If we take our words again, 'a cat' becomes 'cats'. 'two cats' 'three cats' 'many cats' 'school'' becomes 'schools'. 'team' becomes 'teams'. Ok, so you just add an 's'. Now 'lady' becomes 'ladies. 'monkey' becomes 'monkeys'. But, two different rules. As you can see, 'lady' is consonant + 'y'. Now when you have consonant + 'y', in an English word, the plural will be 'ies'. 'lady' 'ladies' But when you have vowel + 'y' like 'monkey', it just becomes 'monkeys'. You simply add an 's'. Ok, 'monkey' becomes 'monkeys'. 'tomato' becomes 'tomatoes'. 'piano' 'pianos' Again, two different rules. Now 'tomato' becomes 'tomatoes'. You add 'es'. And with most words ending in 'o', so consonant + 'o', you will add 'es'. But sometimes, you will only add 's'. Like 'piano', 'pianos'. There is no particular rule for this. You just need to know the words that only end with an 's'. Ok, let's move on to some pronunciation now. So, when it comes to pronunciation, we have three different sounds. The first sound is /s/. The second sound is /z/. And the third sounds is /Iz/. So let's review some words together and be really careful, what sound do you hear? 'cats' 'cats' What can you hear? /s/ Can you repeat after me. 'cats' 'cats' The second word is 'schools'. 'schools' What sound can you hear? Of course, /z/. Repeat after me. 'schools' 'schools' The third words is 'teams'. What sound can you hear? Again, /z/. Repeat after me. 'teams' 'teams' Then we have 'ladies'. 'ladies' /z/ Repeat after me. 'ladies' 'ladies' Then 'monkeys'. /z/ again. Repeat after me. 'monkeys'. 'monkeys' Then we have 'tomatoes'. Again, it's the /z/ sound. 'tomatoes' 'tomatoes' And finally, 'pianos'. /z/ 'pianos' 'pianos' Let's move on to other rules now. Ok guys, let's now talk about nouns that end in 's', 'sh', 'x', 'ch', or 'z'. Now to make the plural form of these nouns, you will add 'es'. And the sound will be /Iz/. Let's review some words together. 'bus' becomes 'buses'. 'bush' 'bushes' 'fox' 'foxes' 'beach' 'beaches' 'quiz' 'quizzes' Can you repeat after me? 'buses' 'buses' 'bushes' 'bushes' 'foxes' 'foxes' 'beaches' 'beaches' 'quizzes' 'quizzes' Let's move on. Ok, guys. Moving on to nouns that end in 'f' or 'fe'. For example, 'roof' becomes 'roofs'. 'safe' 'safes' So you simply add an 's'. Then we have 'leaf' that becomes 'leaves'. Wait a minute. What happened? Well, ya, sometimes in English, a word ending in 'f' becomes a word ending in 'ves' in plural. That's not a rule. But some words end in 'ves', you just have to learn them I'm afraid. Another word, 'wife'. And again, 'ves'. 'wives' 'shelf' 'shelves' Again, this 'ves' ending. Now let's focus on pronunciation. 'roofs' So it's an /s/ sound. 'roofs' 'roofs' Good job. 'safes' 'safes' Have you heard the /s/ sound? 'safes' Then we have 'leaves'. And this time it's a /z/ sound. Repeat after me. 'leaves' 'leaves' Great. Moving on. 'wives' 'wives' And finally, 'shelves' 'shelves' Great job guys. Let's move on to practice now. Well students, let's now practice together. I'm going to give you a singular noun, and I want you to try and find the plural form of this singular noun. Ok? Let's give it a try. The first word is 'baby'. 'baby' Don't forget, it ends with consonant + 'y'. Do you remember the rule? It's 'babies' with 'ies'. Very nice. 'baby' 'babies' The second word is 'toy'. Hmmm, vowel + 'y'. So this time, 'toys'. You simply add an 's'. Then we have 'wish'. Wish is a word that ends in 'sh'. Remember the rule. 'wishes' You add 'es'. 'taxi' becomes 'taxis'. You simply add an 's'. 'choice' 'choices' Simply add an 's' as well. Then we have the word 'wolf'. Aha! It's a word ending in 'f'. Is it a word with 'ves'? It is. 'wolves' And finally, 'photo' Now remember the words ending in 'o'? You can add 'es' or simply 's'. Well with photo, you simply add an 's'. 'photos' Now if we focus on pronunciation now. Repeat the words after me. 'babies' The sound is /z/ 'babies' 'toys' 'toys' 'wishes' Remember this /Iz/ sound? Repeat after me. 'wishes' 'taxis' 'taxis' 'choices' 'choices' 'wolves' 'wolves' And finally, 'photos' 'photos' Excellent job guys. Now let's move on to some example sentences. I have some example sentences for you guys. Using singular and plural nouns. I would like you to repeat the sentences after me. And be really careful to sue proper pronunciation. Let's get started. First, 'I want a dog.' 'I like dogs.' Repeat after me, guys. 'I want a dog.' 'I like dogs.' The second sentence. 'I don't want a fox.' 'I don't like foxes.' After me, guys. 'I don't want a fox.' 'I don't like foxes.' Great, moving on the to the third sentence. 'I bought a watch.' 'I have many watches.' Repeat after me. 'I bought a watch.' 'I have many watches.' Good job. Sentence four now. 'I have a new stereo.' 'Now, I have two stereos.' After me. 'I have a new stereo.' 'Now, I have two stereos.' Excellent! And finally, 'There's a knife.' 'There are six knives in the kitchen.' Repeat after me. 'There's a knife.' 'There are six knives in the kitchen.' Amazing job guys. Very nice. I hoped this has helped. I hope you now understand better, singular and plural nouns in English. Now, I haven't talked about all the pronunciation rules, But I hope you have a good sense now of how pronounce plural forms. Make sure you watch my next video if you want to know more about nouns in English. Thank you very much for watching guys. Thank you for watching my video, guys! If you've liked this video, please show me your support. Click 'like'. Subscribe to the channel. Put your comments below and share the video. See you. Hello, guys. Welcome to this English course on nouns. In today's video, I'm going to tell you about irregular plural nouns. Now there are crazy ways of making plural forms in English. And there are a lot of irregular forms. I want you to know about them, so let's get started. Again, guys, there are so many irregular plural forms in English. And I'm afraid there are no particular rules. You just need to learn the words. But I'm going to try and tell you about the most common ones. Ok? Let's review some words together. Ok, so, for example. We have a singular noun which is 'woman'. It's plural form is 'women'. 'woman' 'women' Then we have 'man'. The singular noun, 'a man', it becomes 'men'. 'a child' becomes 'children' 'a tooth' 'teeth' 'a foot' becomes 'feet' 'a person' becomes 'people'. 'a mouse' becomes 'mice' Ok, let's move on to pronunciation now. Well students, let's work on pronunciation a bit. Please repeat after me. 'woman' 'woman' 'women' 'women' Good. 'man' 'man' 'men' 'men' 'child' 'child' 'children' 'children' Very good guys. Moving on. 'tooth' 'tooth' 'teeth' 'teeth' 'foot' 'foot' 'feet' 'feet' 'person' 'person' 'people' 'people' Very good guys. And the last one. 'mouse' 'mouse' 'mice' 'mice' Excellent, guys. Let's now move on to other irregular plural forms. Now there are words that have the exact same singular and plural forms. They are not common, but you need to know a few. Let's take a look together. As you can see, 'sheep' is the singular form. But the plural form is not 'sheeps'. It is 'sheep'. Same goes for 'deer' 'deer'. 'moose' 'moose' 'fish' 'fish' 'aircraft' 'aircraft' Ok, so you will say, “I see one sheep.” But also, “I see two sheep.” The exact same word. Ok, let's go back for pronunciation. I want you to repeat after me. 'sheep' 'sheep' 'deer' 'deer' 'moose' 'moose' 'fish' 'fish' 'aircraft' 'aircraft' Good job guys. Let's move to other irregular forms. Some nouns are never singular. We always use their plural forms. I have a few common ones for you guys. Let's have a look. 'jeans' 'pants' 'glasses' 'sunglasses' 'clothes' 'scissors' 'pajamas' So you will say, “I have some jeans.” Or, “I have scissors.” But you cannot say, “I have a jean.” It is incorrect in English. Let's work a bit on pronunciation. Repeat after me, please. 'jeans' 'jeans' 'pants' 'pants' 'glasses' 'glasses' 'sunglasses' 'sunglasses' 'clothes' 'clothes' 'scissors' 'scissors' And finally, 'pajamas' 'pajamas' Good guys. Let's now look at other irregular plural forms. Now, just a few words about nouns in English that have Latin and Greek origins. Their plural forms are very weird. It's a bit complicated, so we're not going to into too much detail. Don't worry too much about them. But just a few words that I think you should know. First, we have words ending in 'a'. Their plural form will end in 'ae'. For example, 'antenna' becomes 'antennae' 'alumna' 'alumnae' Words ending in 'us', us, will end in 'i'. 'octopus' 'octopi' 'cactus' 'cacti' Words ending in 'is', will end in 'es'. 'is' becomes 'es'. For example, 'analysis' 'analyses' 'diagnosis' 'diagnoses' And finally, words ending in 'on', end in 'a'. 'criterion' 'criteria' 'phenomenon' 'phenomena' These plural forms are very difficult, guys. Even native speakers make a lot of mistakes, so don't worry too much about them. I just wanted to give you a little taste of Latin and Greek plurals. Let's move on to example sentences now. Ok, guys. I have a few example sentences for you. It's a great opportunity to practice saying irregular plural forms in English. Be very careful to use proper pronunciation as well. Let's start. First, 'my sister has one child' 'my brother has two children'. Repeat after me. 'my sister has one child' 'my brother has two children'. Next. 'I'm a quiet person, so I don't talk to many people.' Please repeat after me. 'I'm a quiet person, so I don't talk to many people.' Good guys. Next sentence. 'Did you catch one fish or two fish at the lake?' Repeat after me, please. 'Did you catch one fish or two fish at the lake?' Very good. Next sentence. 'I have one pair of glasses and two pairs of sunglasses.' Repeat after me. 'I have one pair of glasses and two pairs of sunglasses.' Excellent, guys. And finally, 'He has one cactus in his front yard, but many cacti in his back yard.' Repeat after me. 'He has one cactus in his front yard, but many cacti in his back yard.' Ok, students. I hope you repeated after me. And you practiced your pronunciation. I hope you now have a better understanding of irregular plural forms in English. There are many of them. Not many rules to follow. A lot of words to memorize. But, I'm sure with a little bit of practice, you can do it. Thank you for watching my video. Make sure you watch the other videos as well. Thank you. Thank you guys for watching my video. If you've liked this video, please, show me your support. Click 'like, subscribe to our channel, put your comments below, and share the video. Thank you very much. See you. Hello guys, welcome back to this English course on nouns. In today's video, I'm going to tell you about compound nouns. They are very common in English and there are thousands of them. You need to know about them. Let's get started. A compound noun is made up of two different words. So you take two words, you put them together, to create a new noun. They're usually quite easy to understand. For example, 'full moon'. 'Full' is obviously the adjective describing the moon. Let's take a look at other examples, and how to create compound nouns. Sometimes, compound nouns are a single noun. Like, 'toothpaste'. Sometimes, they're two or more words hyphenated. Such as 'mother-in-law'. And sometimes, they're two separate words, like 'ice cream'. Now, you have to be careful. Sometimes, you have a simple adjective plus a noun like 'a green house'. But you also have a compound noun which is a different meaning. 'A greenhouse'. Now, 'a green house', is a house which is green. But the compound noun, 'a greenhouse', is a place where you grow plants. Completely different meaning. Ok, so you have to be careful. Stresses can help. Usually the stress is on the first syllable in compound nouns. Ok, I hope you get it guys. Let's take a closer look now at compound nouns. Ok, let's now take a look at the parts of speech that make up a compound noun. We can have a noun and another noun. Like, 'bedroom'. We can also have a noun and a verb. Like, 'haircut'. A noun and a preposition. Like, 'passer-by'. A verb and a noun. Like, 'washing machine'. A verb and a preposition. Like, 'drawback'. A preposition and a noun. Like, 'underground'. An adjective and a ver. Like, 'dry-cleaning'. An adjective and a noun. Like, 'software'. Or a preposition and a verb. Like, 'input'. As you can see guys, there are so many ways to create compound nouns with different words. Now let's get back to our example for pronunciation. Please repeat after me. Bedroom Bedroom Haircut Haircut Passer-by Passer-by Washing machine Washing machine Drawback Drawback Underground Underground Dry-cleaning Dry-cleaning Software Software Input Input Good job guys. Now let's now move on to plural compound nouns. So when we want to make compound nouns plural, there are rules to follow. If you have a single word, you simply add an 's'. But if you have separate words, whether hyphenated or not, you will make the most significant word plural. Let's take a look at examples. 'Newspaper' will simply be 'newspapers'. So I have man newspapers. Swimming pool. Now, what's the most significant word? Well, it is 'pool'. So we will say, 'there are two swimming pools'. You cannot say, 'there are two swimmings pools.' No 's' at swimming. Brother-in-law What's the most significant word? Well of course, it is 'brother'. So you will say, “I have two brothers-in-law”. And finally, 'woman doctor'. Now, what's the most significant word? Actually, both words are significant. So we will both make them plural. Remember, the plural form of 'woman' is 'women'. So we will say, “Four women doctors work at the hospital”. Let's work on pronunciation. Can you repeat after me, please. I have man newspapers. I have man newspapers. There are two swimming pools. There are two swimming pools. I have two brothers-in-law. I have two brothers-in-law. And finally, Four women doctors work at the hospital. Four women doctors work at the hospital. Good job guys. Now let's move on to practice. To practice, I have a few sentences. And I want you to tell me if we are using compound nouns or not. Let's take a look. I want to drink some cold water. Is 'cold water' a compound noun? What do you think? It isn't. 'Cold' is a simply adjective describing the water. She has a new boy friend. Is boy friend a compound noun? Well, it isn't in this case. He's your friend and he's a boy. But the compound noun, 'boyfriend', in one word, exists and has a different meaning. Then, your boyfriend is more than a friend. He's the boy you're having a relationship with. Other example. The blue bird was singing in the tree. Is 'blue bird' a compound noun? Not in this case. It's a simple bird and it's blue. But, the compound noun, 'bluebird', in one word, exists. It's a specific bird. Let's meet at the bus stop. Is 'bus stop' a compound noun? What do you think? It is. I have two alarms clock. What about 'alarms clock'? Well, it is a compound noun, but there is a big mistake. Can you see it? Of course, the plural form. The plural form is not 'alarms clock'. But, 'alarm clocks'. Because the most significant word is 'clock'. Ok guys, let's move on. Thank you for watching. I hope you better understand compound nouns and how to create them. There are so many compound nouns in the English language, but they are usually very easy to understand. And if you're not sure, look it up in a dictionary. The dictionary will tell you if it's a compound noun or not. Thank you for watching guys. And see you in the next videos. Thank you for watching my video guys. If you've liked it, please show me your support. Click, 'like', subscribe to our channel, put your comments below, and share the video. See you. Hello, guys. Welcome back to this English course on nouns. In this video, I'm going to tell you about countable and uncountable nouns. It's very important to know the difference between countable and uncountable nouns in English. And students often get confused. So please listen to me very carefully. Let's get started. Countable nouns are nouns that you can count. Uncountable nouns are nouns that you can't count. They're usually a type or a group. And they're always singular. Let's look at a few examples. Countable nouns – you can say, “a dog.” You can say, “one dog,” “two dogs,” “three dogs,” and so on. “Man.” You can say, “a man.” “Two men.” “Idea.” You can say, “one idea,” “two ideas,” and so on. “Computer.” Again, you can say, “one computer, two computers.” And, “house.” Well, you can say, “one house, two houses, three houses,” and so on. These are countable nouns. You can count them. But if we look at uncountable nouns. When you say, “water.” You can't say, “One water, two waters.” It doesn't make any sense. You cannot count water. Same goes for air. You can't say, “one air, two airs.” It's just 'air'. It's uncountable. 'traffic' 'English' 'Equipment' These are all uncountable nouns. You cannot count them And they're always singular. Okay, guys. Now, let's take a closer look at rules with countable nouns and uncountable nouns. So how do we know if a word is countable or uncountable? Well there are a few tricks that can help. Let's look at these words. Some groups of words are very often uncountable. And this can help you. For example, liquids. Water, juice, milk, beer. All those words are uncountable. Powders. Sugar, flour, salt, rice. Uncountable words as well. Materials. Such as wood, plastic, metal, or paper. Food as well. Like fruit, meat, cheese, and bread. And finally, abstract ideas. Like time, information, love, and beauty. Another trick is that most of the time, you can measure uncountable nouns. Let's look at examples. For example, if we take liquids. I have two liters of milk. Now, you cannot count milk. But you can measure milk. And you can count liters. So you can say, “I have two liters of milk.” You can say, “I have a glass of water.” Or “I have glasses of water.” “Cups of coffee.” “Bottles of water.” So you can measure this uncountable noun. Same goes with powders. “I have one kilogram of sugar.” “Two kilograms of sugar.” With materials and foods, we often use the word, 'piece'. For example, “I ate two pieces of cake.” Or bread. Or pizza. Or meat. Or cheese. “I need pieces of paper.” Wood. Plastic. Metal. Or “I have some water.” 'Some' is an article that always works with uncountable nouns. Ok guys, I hope you understand. Let's move on. Some words can be both countable and uncountable nouns. Now not all of them. But some of them. Let's take a look. “I would like to eat some cake.” “I would like two pieces of cake.” So in these two sentences, 'cake' is obviously and uncountable noun. But if I say, “I would like to eat two cakes.” Suddenly, it becomes a countable noun. Why? Because in the first two sentences, we are talking about pieces of one cake. In the last sentence, we are considering the whole cake. So it becomes countable. Another example. “I would like to eat some chicken.” “I would like to eat a piece of chicken.” Both sentences, uncountable noun, 'chicken'. But the last sentence, “I see two chickens.” Hmm, 'chicken', in this case, is a countable noun. Why? Because in the first two sentences, 'chicken' is food. But in the last sentence, 'chicken' is an animal. So the animal is a countable noun. 'Chicken' as food is uncountable. Hope you get it. Let's move on to example sentences now. Let's now review a few example sentences, so you can practice using countable and uncountable nouns. Please repeat after me. And be careful to use proper pronunciation. Let's get started. First sentence guys. “I put one hundred candles on six cakes.” Please repeat after me. “I put one hundred candles on six cakes.” “I put one hundred candles on six cakes.” Good job. Second example. “I ate two pieces of cake.” Please repeat after me. “I ate two pieces of cake.” “I ate two pieces of cake.” Next sentence. “I saw some trash on all the streets.” Please repeat after me. “I saw some trash on all the streets.” “I saw some trash on all the streets.” Very good. Next one. “I need to buy some milk and some butter from the market.” Please repeat after me. “I need to buy some milk and some butter from the market.” “I need to buy some milk and some butter from the market.” And finally. “Traffic and pollution are problems in many cities.” Repeat after me. “Traffic and pollution are problems in many cities.” “Traffic and pollution are problems in many cities.” Good job guys. I hope you repeated after me and worked on your pronunciation. Thank you for watching this video. I hope you now have a better understanding of countable and uncountable nouns. I know it's hard, but don't worry, keep practicing. Practice makes perfect. Thank you for watching my video and please watch the rest of the videos. Thank you guys for watching my video. If you liked it, please show me your support by clicking 'like', by subscribing to the channel, by putting your comments below and sharing this video. Thank you very much and see you.
B1 noun plural compound uncountable repeat singular Learn Nouns | Basic English Grammar Course | 5 Lessons 6 0 Summer posted on 2020/06/08 More Share Save Report Video vocabulary