In the English language nouns are divided into countables and uncountables according to whether they can be counted or not.
| Countables | Uncountables |
|---|---|
| student | bread |
| dog | butter |
| flower | happiness |
| table | love |
The Plural of Nouns
As a rule the indefinite article a/an precedes only countables in the singular.
Examples
Father give me an apple.
A girl wants to see you.
Some and any can be used before countables nouns.
Examples
I want to buy some books.
Have you seen any girls here?
Give me some money, please.
Number are used only before countables.
Examples
There are two tables in this office.
David have five guitars.
Countables may be preceded by: many, few, a few, a large number of, small number of, etc.. On other hand the uncountables may be preceded by: much, little, a little, a piece of, an item of, etc.
Examples
There is a large number of books in my house.
Elli has two pieces of cake.
There are many girls and boys playing on the street.
The plural of nouns is formed by adding -s or -es to the noun in the singular. Most nouns form their plural by adding -s.
Examples
star – stars
cup – cups
street – streets
name – names
The following nouns have irregular plural:
man /man/ – men /men/
woman /ˈwʊmən/ – women /ˈwimin/
child /tʃʌɪld/ – children /tʃʌɪldrn/
foot /fut/ – feet /fi:t/
tooth /tuːθ/ – teeth /tiːθ/
Nouns denoting the names of things, tools and instruments consisting of two equal parts or similar halves are always used only in the plural:
scissors , spectacles, trousers, shorts, compasses, pincers, scales.
Nouns indicating nationality and ending in -ss and –se have the same form in the singular and plural:
a Chinese – five Chinese, an Italian – ten Italians, a German – two Germans, etc.
