Nouns that do not change by case. Pluralizing nouns in English

Nouns change according to number. In modern Russian there are two numbers: singular and plural. If we are talking about one subject, the singular number is used, if there are two or more subjects, the plural number is used: table - tables, window - windows, book - books, horse - horses, night - nights, notebook - notebooks, tree - trees, feather - feathers etc.

Singular nouns usually have different endings (table, window, book), and in the plural, most nouns end in – s, – and And – a, – ya(for neuter gender and some nouns masculine). Gender differences in the plural are obscured. Yes, nouns clouds, shores, cities, snow, fields, seas, edges, trees, friends, ears of corn, twigs, dresses refer to either the masculine or neuter gender, but in the plural they have the same endings. And nouns desks, hands, lands, tables, posters, shelves, doctors, knives, guests, nails, days, nights, shadows are either masculine or feminine. This feature emphasizes the reasonable structure of language, its economy, since the main task of the number is to indicate the number of objects (one object or many of them), and what kind they are - for us in at the moment immaterial.

There is a second feature here: not all nouns can change by number. Real nouns (milk, butter, cereals, tea, honey, cottage cheese, sour cream; silk, velvet, satin, wool, chintz; copper, manganese, tin, gold, silver, oil etc.), collective (humanity, youth, students; brushwood, rags, litter, foliage etc.), abstract (tenderness, beauty, whiteness; youth, girlhood; patience, development, pressure, heritage etc.), own (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Karpatyg etc.) do not change in numbers.

This is explained by the fact that the listed groups of words, especially real and collective nouns, already in the singular form denote a plurality. After all, cereals consist of grains, brushwood - of twigs, litter - of specks, fluff - of fluff, youth - of young people, etc. Consequently, in essence, in content, they denote a multitude, and therefore do not need the plural .

One can, of course, object: don’t they say cereals, sausages? Isn't that plural? Yes, that's the form plural(its indicator is the end – s), but it does not indicate the quantity of a given product, but its different varieties. If they say: “In the store large selection croup", they want to emphasize that there is different types cereals (semolina, pearl barley, barley, millet, etc.); “Masters of the dairy plant produce more than 200 different cheeses” - an indication of the number of varieties of cheese.

There are words in the Russian language that are used only in the plural (ending in – s, – i), but they can designate one object or many objects. Yes, in a sentence Shirts and trousers hung in the closet It is obvious that there are several shirts, but the number of trousers is unclear (either one or several), so for complete clarity it is necessary to indicate the number (one or two, three, four, etc.). Here are similar words: jeans, stretchers, scales, watches, pitchforks, gates, elections, negotiations, cream, firewood, vacations, money, wallpaper, whitewash, curls etc. They have one more interesting feature- they lose the gender indicator, i.e. if nouns are always used in the plural form, then they will never have a gender indicator.

Let's open our minds

There are nouns on the board. The task is to quickly and accurately write these words in two columns: in one - nouns used only in the plural, in the other - other words, but in the singular form.

trousers, shoes, questions, questions, doors, chores, rakes, scythes, pitchforks, scales, weights, crops, shoots, wilds, debates, disputes, meetings, farewells, chess, games, pliers, tongs, worries, swings, carousels, cutlets, dumplings, subsoil, treasures, cream

Nouns that have only a plural form are often used in works of literature. Name these works.

a) ...The hounds shout: “Wow, guys, thief!”

And instantly gates for constipation...

My cunning man set off

IN negotiation

b) The glasses have no effect...

c) He asked for cabbage soup with meat and sat down, leaning his hands on the table.

G) Curls black

They lie in brackets;

What I'm working on -

Everything works for me!

a) I. A. Krylov. "Wolf in the kennel."

b) I. A. Krylov. "The monkey and the glasses."

c) I. S. Turgenev. "Mumu."

d) A.V. Koltsov. "Mower".

The presenter (teacher) reads out the definitions, the circle participants write down nouns used only in the plural.

2) Wide entrance or passage, locked by gates.

3) A frame onto which the embroidery fabric is stretched.

4) Birthday celebration.

5) Shackles, chains.

6) Tool for cutting fabric, paper.

7) Earthly depths.

8) Food products in hermetically sealed jars.

9) Discussion of any issue at a meeting.

10) Break of classes in educational institutions.

11) Diligent and active doing something, caring.

12) A structure on which people swing for fun.

13) Military equipment of a warrior in the old days (shield, armor, helmet).

14) Fungi that cause fermentation.

4) name day

6) scissors

8) canned food

10) holidays

11) hassle

12) swing

13) armor

14) yeast

Homework assignment. Find the nouns in the sentence and determine their grammatical meanings.

The glok kuzdra shteko has sprouted the bokr and is curling the bokrenka.


Large groups of nouns have the form of only one number: 1) only singular (nouns singularia tantum); 2) only plural (nouns pluralia tantum).
Only used in singular form
  1. many collective nouns: foliage, peasantry, game, midges, poor people, linen, etc.; 2) many abstract nouns: running, cutting, blindness, blueness, glory, melancholy, singing, grief, goodness, etc.; 3) many material nouns: cabbage, honey, tea, millet, rye, iron, milk, lamb, brushwood, etc.; 4) many proper names: Russia, Bashkiria, Asia, Ural, Baikal, Saratov, etc.
Only in the plural form are large layers of nouns belonging to the same lexicogrammatical categories used: 1) collective: supplies, money, offal, bowels, etc.; 2) abstract: elections, negotiations, beatings, blind man's buff, vacations, name days, chores, everyday life, etc.;
  1. material: cream, bran, ink, canned food, cabbage soup, pasta, slop, etc.; 4) proper names: Cheboksary, Sokolniki, Andes, Zhiguli, Gemini, Pisces, etc.
They do not have singular forms concrete nouns, denoting: a) objects consisting of two homogeneous parts (sleigh, gates, firewood, scissors, etc.) and b) objects consisting of several homogeneous or heterogeneous parts (harps, rakes, pitchforks, watches, etc. .). These nouns can be counted. They are combined with collective numerals: two sleighs, three hours, two pitchforks. Compare: one sleigh, one watch, one pitchfork, which in the plural form designate one object. But: all the watches were sold, we received seven pieces of scissors.
Nouns that are not inflected by number can form forms of the opposite number. However, this is always associated with changing them lexical meanings. Thus, abstract nouns form a plural form when used in specific meanings. Compare: depth and sea depths (deep places), noise and heart murmurs. They differ in the meaning of the unit form. and many more number of real nouns. Wed - the brain of a monkey and the brains were served for the second; kilogram butter and lubricating oils. Plural forms denote either types of substances (oil, steel), or a continuous mass of substance (brains, fats), or the space occupied by a substance (sand). For this, see also § 52, 53. In all such cases, the category of number is not purely grammatical, but lexico-grammatical: the forms of number here serve to distinguish lexical meanings.
Nouns that are not inflected by number are sometimes considered to be words outside the category of number. Proponents of this approach do not take into account that all nouns that have a singular form. numbers (regardless of whether they change by number or not) in the language constitute one series of forms, and all nouns that have plural forms. numbers, - another. The entire second row of forms is opposed to the entire first row of forms. In other words, all singular forms are opposed to all plural forms. This is why the nouns sin-gularia tantum and pluralia tantum are distinguished.

We can say that a noun is one of the main parts of speech in the Russian language. Let us remember that this is an independent part of speech that answers the questions: who? What? It follows that a noun denotes animate and inanimate objects. How does a noun change, according to what characteristics?

Morphological characteristics

The noun has morphological characteristics. The word “morphology” (from the Greek “morphe” - form) means a system of forms of word change in a language. These features, in addition to animation, also include common noun (proper, common noun), declension, gender, number, and case. In Russian, the noun changes according to numbers and cases.

Let us immediately note that according to gender (as many people think) the noun does not change. It simply refers to one of the genders - feminine, masculine or neuter. You can determine your gender using pronouns:

  • male - he, mine;
  • female - she, mine;
  • the middle one is mine.

Number of nouns

As a rule, nouns are used in both singular and plural. It depends on how many words are being spoken. For example: ship - ships, road - roads, river - rivers.

But there are words whose form implies only a singular number. These are collective names, qualities, signs, actions, proper names: detvora, sineva, Volga, etc.

Words used only in the plural are composite objects (trousers), periods of time (weekdays), actions (troubles), games (tag), geographical names(Andes).

Change by case

This change is called declination. The six cases of the Russian language correspond to certain questions:

  • Nominative case: who? What? (ocean, oceans).
  • Genitive: whom? what? (ocean, oceans).
  • Dative: to whom? what? (ocean, oceans)
  • Accusative: whom? What? (ocean, oceans)
  • Creative: by whom? how? (ocean, oceans)
  • Prepositional: about whom? about what? (about the ocean, about the oceans).

When determining the case of a noun, pose a question from the word to which it refers.

So, remember: nouns change according to number and case.

Plural in English is formed by a certain rule. When learning a language, beginners often have difficulties, since this rule has its own characteristics and exceptions.

In this article you will learn:

  • rules for forming the plural of nouns
  • words of exception to the rule
  • words that do not change according to numbers

The rule for forming the plural of nouns in English


In English, plurals are formed by adding the ending -s to a word:

cat - cat s
cat - cats

cup - cup s
cup - cups

book - book s
book - books

phone - phone s
telephone - telephones

pen - pen s
pen - pens

It would seem that everything is extremely simple. However, as in many English rules, there are some exceptions here.

In some cases, instead of -s we need to add an ending -es. Let's look at which ones:

1. If the word ends in -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, -z

kiss-kiss es
kiss - kisses

church - church es
church - churches

bus - bus es
bus - buses

dish - dish es
dish - dishes

tax - tax es
tax - taxes

2. If the word ends with -O

potato - potato es
potato - potatoes

zero - zero es
zero - zeros

hero - hero es
hero - heroes

But there are exception words, to which, despite the fact that they end in O, we add the ending -s. You just need to remember these words:

photo - photo s
photography - photographs

video-video s
video - several videos

piano - piano s
piano - several pianos

kilo - kilo s
kilogram - kilograms

3. If the word ends with -y, then we change y on i and add the ending -es

secretary - secretary ies
secretary - secretaries

factory - factor ies
factory - factories

theory - theory es
theory - theories

reply-reply es
answer - answers

However, if the word ends with -y and we pronounce the ending like [th], then we do not change it in any way, but simply add -s:

boy - boy s
boy - boys

toy-toy s
toy - toys

way - way s
way - ways

4. If the word ends with -fe, That f change to v and add -es

knife - kni ves
knife - knives

wife-wi ves
wife - wives

life-li ves
life - life

We looked at the basic rules that allow us to make two or more from one item. But in the English language there are exception words that do not follow these rules.

Plural elimination words in English


There are words in the English language whose plural forms are not formed according to the rules. Such words can be divided into two groups:

1. Words that change their form regardless of the rules

The formation of the plural form of these words does not lend itself to any logic; it just needs to be remembered.

man-men
man - men

person - people
man - people

woman - women
woman - women

mouse - mice
mouse - mice

foot - feet
leg - legs

child - children
child - children

tooth - teeth
tooth - teeth

2. Words that don't change at all

There is no need to add an ending to these words or change them, regardless of whether we are talking about one subject or several.

fish - fish
fish - fish

fruit - fruit
fruit - fruit

deer - deer
deer - deer

sheep - sheep
sheep - sheep

aircraft - aircraft
airplane - airplanes

means - means
way - ways

trout - trout
trout - trout

Words that do not vary by number in English

Just like in the Russian language, in English there are words whose number cannot be changed at all (glasses, trousers, dishes, honey, etc.). Such words can only be singular or plural.

1. Words that are used only in the singular

We cannot put such words in the plural, even if there are several objects. Remember, we also have such words in Russian: video, piano, flamingo, etc. Agree, we cannot say: “There were three pianos in the classroom.” We say: “There were three pianos in the classroom,” although we mean several objects.

advice - advice
furniture - furniture
information - information
money - money
friendship - friendship
love - love
news - news

2. Words that are used only in the plural

We cannot put such words in the singular. For example, we say: “Give me a pair of scissors,” although we mean one object. We cannot say, “Give me a scissor.”

scissors - scissors
trousers - trousers
glasses—glasses
goods - goods, goods
clothes - clothes
stairs - stairs
arms - weapon

So, we looked at how to correctly change words when we talk about two or more subjects. Now let's practice doing this.

Do a workout exercise

Put the following words into plural form:

Tomato, box, sheep, dictionary, flower, day, video, child, plate, fruit, class, key, foot, window, country, brush, photo, fish, woman, party.

Leave your answers in the comments below the article.

Russian language is one of the most complex languages. To know it perfectly, you need to carefully study the rules and lexical norms. The most difficult language in terms of grammar is Russian.

The first part of speech studied at school is the noun. Many people have had difficulty learning the noun, since this part of speech has many different exceptions to the rules. They are a collection of words that do not fit into the rules. Everyone needs to memorize all the exceptions.

The problem is the incorrect pronunciation and inflection of words. To solve this problem, you need to turn to dictionaries, encyclopedias and any other sources of information about the noun. Having mastered a language perfectly, people can increase their level of erudition. The information presented will help you learn all the subtleties and tricks. It will be useful to everyone: children, schoolchildren, adults, teachers, students. The easiest way to demonstrate the change in nouns by number is with examples that can help when studying the material.

Terminology

A noun is a part of speech that denotes an object. Answers to the following questions: Who? What? The meaning of an object can have different meanings. For example, the name of objects: chair, armchair, the name of substances (vinegar, milk), the names of animals, people and other meanings. There are over a million meanings for objects, so it is impossible to list all the examples.

The use of nouns can be singular or plural. For example, the singular is apartment, then the plural is apartments. You can also change nouns by case.

Features of the number

A grammatical number is a sign for designating one or many objects. The singular number implies only one object: a person, a wardrobe, a sofa. Plural means more than one thing. For example, cabinets, tables, people.

Singular examples

Changing a noun by numbers is the simplest topic for study. Examples will be used simple words to achieve the required level of understanding. For example, a magpie is a bird (one), a chair is an object (one), a rabbit is an animal (one). It is worth remembering that a noun can have several meanings of one word, so some words in the singular can indicate plurality. Example: fishing - denotes a number of activities, but one subject. Teachers explain the topic in elementary school: changes in nouns by numbers (grade 2). It is in the second grade that one has to become familiar with this section of nouns.

  • You need to ask the right question to define a noun. Questions: who? What?
  • You can define a singular number using the endings: -a; -And; -I.

Exceptions related to the singular

Russian is a grammatically difficult language. It contains a number of exceptions. Learning to change a noun by numbers in grade 4 involves repeating the program. All words related to exceptions must be memorized. These include:

  • Chemicals, consumer products: iron, steel, sugar, water, gasoline. The plural form is possible when denoting certain types of substances. For example, essential oils, lightly salted waters.
  • It is important to understand that many exceptions depend on the definition of the subject matter. The brain is the main human organ and cannot be used in the plural. Brains are food from animal organs (does not have a singular number).
  • Subjects that are collective in nature: students, humanity, foliage.
  • Nouns representing abstraction. Examples: anger, kindness, laziness, coldness, warmth. The plural can be used when talking about the characteristics of abstraction: reachable heights, stone depths.
  • Proper names. For example, the Karamazov brothers, the Rurik family.

Plural examples

Plural nouns refer to more than one thing. This could be a group or category. For example: tables, sofas, factories, rings. Any word that talks about two or more things is plural.

Plurals

Plurals are formed in various ways:

  • With the help of endings - tables, moles.
  • Replacements - children, people, gentlemen.

Setting the accent

Some words seem difficult to pronounce in the plural, so it makes sense to talk about the correct placement of stress. For example:

  • Table - tables (emphasis on Y).
  • Luggage - luggage (I).
  • Jester - jesters (Y).
  • Language - languages ​​(I).
  • Order - orders (A).

There are also words that do not require stress changes. It only falls on one letter. A similar option is possible with a zero ending or when placing a noun in the genitive case. For example:

  • Drop - drops.
  • Soil - soils.
  • Minus - minuses.

To consolidate the material covered, you are asked to complete a short task. The player needs to arrange the nouns in two columns with singular and plural numbers.

List of words that need to be inserted into the table:

Boy, animals, balls, toy, balls, shield, chairs, magnet, cups, row.

If difficulties arise, the answers are provided below. It looks like this:

And now it is proposed to complicate the task - for each word you need to find the missing number. Within 10 minutes you must complete the task and check the list below.

  • Boy - boys.
  • Toy - toys.
  • Shield - shields.
  • Magnet - magnets.
  • Row - rows.
  • Animal - animals.
  • Ball - balls.
  • Ball - balls.
  • Chair - chairs.
  • Cup - cups.

Features of zero ending

Zero ending is an ending that has no sounds or letters. possible in several cases:

  • If a noun has such an ending in nominative case in the singular, the ending appears in the plural. House - houses, steppe - steppes.
  • If initial form words has a non-zero ending, then the genitive case in the plural has a zero ending. Place - no places. Pear - no pears.
  • If the nouns are masculine and are based on a hard consonant, then both numbers will have a zero ending. One gypsy - several gypsies. One soldier - several soldiers.

Exceptions to the rules

The plural has a number of exceptions. As a rule, the topic is often covered in textbooks and is called this: changing the name of nouns by numbers (grade 3). Practice shows that children learn the material well, since there are not many exceptions. These nouns can only be used in the plural. These include categories such as:

Memo

In conclusion, below is an original reminder with which anyone can learn the exceptions among the changes in nouns by number. The table "Changing nouns by numbers" with examples looks like this:

Conclusion

In conclusion, it must be said that nouns are able to change their form due to changes in numbers. There are also words that are used in only one number. For example, coffee is only a singular number. Canned food - only plural.

After reading the above material and doing the suggested exercises, any student will be able to repeat the basic rules associated with the category of number in nouns.

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