Volver a Practica Gramatical
Práctica Gramatical del Inglés
Resumen del 2do Parcial
Units 3; 4; 5; 2 (Part 2)
Unit 3 - The Noun Phrase
The noun phrase is a syntactic unit that can range from very simple to very complex.
It is made up of:
- Obligatory elements: head (noun or noun equivalent, pronouns); determinative (ex:
articles).
- Optional elements: modifiers (pre and post-modifiers).
Nouns
- Purpose of identification.
- Notional definition: put names to people, things, concepts and ideas.
Classification of Nouns
Countable Nouns
● They refer to individual people or things.
● Both singular and plural forms.
● Generally preceded by “a/an'', a determiner or a possessive when singular.
Cases in which the singular is not used with a determiner:
1) After kind, sort or type + of
“There are three kinds of people”
2) After noun groups indicating size or distance + of
“She had two feet of intestine removed”
3) After change + in / of
“Her change in mood was very much expected”
“They wanted a change of leader”
4) After role / job + of / as
“The job of retailer is not appealing to everyone”
“In his role as judge, he tried to keep order”
5) After choice + of
“I hate that choice of colour!”
6) When referring to a unique job
“She has been president forever”
7) In pairs and lists
“Therapist and patient work together”
“A city for Muslim, Jew and Christian alike”
Uncountable Nouns
- They have no plural form.
- Usually used without a determiner.
- Sometimes they are preceded by a determiner (some, any, all, her) or a
possessive. They could also take the definite article the or demonstratives this/that.
Mass nouns
- They cannot be easily counted or divided.
Mass nouns
Category
Nouns
Example
Liquids
water, wine, tea, coffee
I’d like some coffee, please.
Food
flour, butter, bread
I need a little butter to make
a brownie.
Natural elements
rain, snow, heat
There has been very little
rain lately.
Material
wood, paper, gold
They used a lot of paper for
those books.
Games / sports
tennis, baseball, football
I enjoy playing football.
Diseases
mumps, measles, arthritis,
flu
He suffers from arthritis.
Subjects of study
physics, medicine, history
Betty studies medicine.
Languages
French, German, Spanish
Spanish is my first
language.
Miscellaneous items
luggage, money, vocabulary,
equipment, furniture, blood,
advice, news, information
You are not allowed to carry
luggage.
Abstract nouns
- General concepts, feelings and ideas.
Abstract nouns
Nouns
Sentence examples
happiness, anger, freedom, love, beauty,
friendship, comfort, peace, warmth,
strength, intelligence, faith.
There will be happiness after you, but there
was happiness because of you.
Would it be enough if I could never give you
peace?
Nouns with dual class membership
- They combine the behaviour of countable and uncountable nouns.
1) Some nouns are uncountable when we talk about the abstract concept, but they are
countable when we talk about one specific instance.
Uncountable
Light
Truth
Hair
Education
Crime
Sound
Beauty
Iron
Understanding
Strength
Countable
A light
A truth
A hair
An education
A crime
A sound
A beauty
An iron
An understanding
Strengths
2) Some uncountable nouns referring to material become countable when we refer to a
specific thing that has a particular meaning.
Wood: material / forest
Paper: material / newspaper
Rock: material / a particular rock
Iron: material / “plancha”
3) Substances, drinks and food are uncountable when thought of as a mass, but
countable when they refer to a unit.
Wine → an excellent wine
Cheese → a strong cheese
Fruit → a very sweet fruit
Melon → a water melon
4) Some mass nouns cannot be used to refer to a single item, so a different word must
be used:
Clothing → a garment
Laughter → a laugh
Luggage → a case, a bag
Poetry → a poem
Money → a coin, a note
Work → a job
5) Nouns for animals are countable, nouns for meat are mass nouns
A cow → beef
A pig → pork
A deer → venison
A sheep → mutton
Formation of Nouns
Simple Nouns
- Typical noun endings
Nouns derived from verbs
Attend → attendance
Depart → departure
Bake → bakery
Beg → beggar
Type → typist
Nouns derived from adjectives
Ideal → idealism
Dead → death
Brave → bravery
Personal nouns derived from another noun
Vegetable → vegetarian
Address → addressee
Terror → terrorist
Abstract nouns derived from concrete nouns
Brother → brotherhood
Censor → censorship
Slave → slavery
Compound Nouns
- Made up of two or more words. They form a single noun. They can be written as:
- A single word: playboy; bedroom; rainfall; drawback; shopkeeper; blackberry.
- Separate words: flower pot; washing machine; blood bank; lemon pie; printer
cartridge.
- A word with a hyphen: dining-table; take-off; passer-by; fire-fighter; grown-up;
hanger-on; well-being.
Complex compound nouns
- These are compound nouns with more than two words.
Back-seat driver
Top-class model
One-way traffic
Old age pension
Happy-go-lucky
Self-confessed liar
Five-star hotel
Soft-boiled eggs
Red-blood cell
Love-hate relationship
Pick-up-truck
Ice-cream cone
Mother-in-law
No-fault insurance
Grammatical Gender
English nouns have natural gender, which is the sex distinction that determines gender
distinction.
1. Maculine gender: referring to male beings.
2. Feminine gender: referring to female beings.
3. Neuter gender: referring to inanimate beings.
4. Common or dual grammatical gender: referring to either male or female beings.
- Feminine formed adding “-ess” to the masculine
Host → hostess
Actor → actress
God → goddess
Manager → manageress
- Feminine formed adding “-rix” to the masculine
Aviator → aviatrix
Administrator → administratrix
Legislator → legislatrix
Executor → executrix
- In two cases, the masculine derives from de feminine
Widow → widower
Bride → bridegroom
- In some cases, gender is distincted by different words
King → queen
Ram → ewe
Son → daughter
Nephew → niece
Wizard → witch
Lad → lass
Bull → cow
Gander → goose
Cock → hen
Stallion → mare
Usher → usherette
Boy → girl
- In words of common gender, the distinction may be shown by a compound in which
one element denotes the sex
Manservant → maidservant
Boyfriend → girlfriend
Landlord → landlady
Partitive Constructions
Countable and uncountable nouns can enter partitive constructions, which denote part of a
whole. They express both quality partition (ex: kind, sort or type + of construction) and
quantity partition.
➔ Useful to refer to specific pieces of mass nouns
A piece; pieces; a bit; bits + of
➔ They also allow to make uncountable nouns countable
Two bottles of water; two scoops of ice cream; six pounds of coffee…
1) Specific partitives:
A bar / a slab of chocolate
A cube of ice
A lump of sugar
A sheet of paper
A slice of meat
A tube of toothpaste
A block of wood
A roll of film
A slice of ham
A bit / a blade of grass
A page of a book
A section of a newspaper
A stroke of good luck
A piece of evidence
A piece of jewellery
A verse of a poem
A gust of wind
A pool of water
A handful of occasions
A pile of laundry / books
A stick of dynamite
A rasher of bacon /jam
A cake of soap
A cloud / a speck of dust
A flash / bolt of lighting
An item of news
A roll / a piece / a sheet of paper
A cleap / a peal / a crash / a roll of
thunder
A piece / a lump of coal
A piece / a stick of chalk
A branch of tree
An item of clothing
A word of information
A suite of furniture
A piece of music
A piece of stereo equipment
A flake of snow
A shower of rain
A roomful of antiques / furniture
A ball of string
A heap of earth
A piece / a bit of news
2) Containers used as partitives
A bag of flour
A cup of coffee
A jar of jam / honey
A glass of water
A box of cereal
A carton of eggs
A bottle of milk
A can of beer
A flask of tea
A pot of yoghurt
A carton of milk / orange juice
A can of tuna fish
3) Small quantities
A blade of glass
A crust of bread
A dash of soda
A pinch / a teaspoon of salt
A pat of butter
A grain of rice
A lock of hair
A drop of water / blood
A bit of chal
4) Measures
A kilo of sugar
A gallon of petrol
A pint of milk
A cup of rice
A sack of potatoes / coal
A metre / a length of cloth
A pound of coffee
A litre of oil
A tablespoon of sugar
5) “A game of”
A game of bridge / chess / tennis / football
6) “Abstract concepts”
A period of calm
A branch of knowledge
A piece of research
An atom / a grain of truth
A bit / a piece / a word of advice
A fit of anger / passion
A segment of society
An act of courage
7) Measure words used to talk about the shape or appearance of the food item
An ear of corn
A clove / a head of garlic
A head of lettuce
Proper Nouns
Proper nouns are not used with determiners and they do not vary in number.
- Personal names
- Names of animals (pets)
- geographical names
- Public buildings and institutions
- Holidays; festivals
- Months and days of the week
- Names of people in fiction
- Titles of magazines, newspapers, books and movies
- Languages
- Beliefs and their followers
- Business companies and other organisations
Collective Nouns
They refer to groups of single entities. They vary in number and definiteness.
- Specific collective nouns → committee, crew, family, etc.
- Generic collective nouns → the aristocracy, the clergy, the public, etc.
- Unique collective nouns → the Vatican, the United Nations, the Olympic games,
the BBC, etc.
Of-collectives
A set of characteristics
A herd of cows
A pack of lies
A series of accidents
A swarm of bees
A group of people
A bunch of roses
A crowd of fans
A flock of sheep
A troupe of actors
A pile of books
A horde of tourists / savages
A pack of cards
A party of cyclists
A gang of art thieves
A board of directors
A family of mice
A team of researchers
A pride of lions
A troop of monkeys
A pack of wolves
A litter of kittens
A school of dolphins
A chain of events
A set of dishes
A list of names
A range of numbers
A bunch of keys
A stack of chairs
A clutch of eggs
A row of houses
A pile of newspapers
A suite of rooms
A nest of tables
A cluster / a clump of trees
A fleet of ships / boats / ambulances
A heap of stones
A flight of steps
Formation of the Plural
➔ Most nouns add “-s” to the base
Chair → chairs
➔ Nouns ending in -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, -z add “-es”
Wish → wishes
◆ Nouns ending in -ch pronounced /k/ add “-s”
Stomach → stomachs
➔ Nouns ending in vowel + y take “-s”
Monkey → monkeys
➔ Consonant + y drop the “-y” and take “-ies”
Cherry → cherries
◆ Plural of proper nouns add “-s”
Kennedy → Kennedys
➔ Nouns ending in o take:
◆ “-es”
Echo → echoes
◆ “-es” or “-s”
Buffaloes / buffalos
Mosquitoes / mosquitos
Volcanoes / volcanos
Zeroes / zeros
Tornadoes / tornados
Haloes / halos
Mangoes / mangos
◆ Nouns referring to music terms of Italian origin only take “-s”
Kilo → kilos
Memo → memos
Photo → photos
Piano → pianos
Concerto → concertos / concerti
Soprano → sopranos
Virtuoso → virtuosos / virtuosi
Libretto → librettos / libretti
Tempo → tempos
➔ Nouns ending in f, ff or ffe add “-s”
Giraffe → giraffes
◆ Some nouns ending in f change it into “-ves”
Knife → knives
Leaf → leaves
◆ Some nouns take both endings
Scarf → scarfs / scarves
Hoof → hoofs / hooves
Dwarf → dwarfs / dwarves
➔ Irregular nouns: change the middle vowel(s)
Man → men
Child → children
Louse → lice
➔ Zero plurals: nouns which do not change into the plural
Series; species; sheep; spacecraft
➔ Nouns that look singular but are plural
Cattle; people; police; clergy
➔ Pluralia tantum: nouns that refer to things that have two corresponding parts joined
together.
Belongings; pants; glasses; clothes; oats; stairs; goods; earnings; ashes; annals;
condolences; surroundings; binoculars; scissors; congratulations; archives; trousers;
pyjamas; looks.
Foreign plurals
Latin origin:
- Alumna → alumnae
- Alumnus → alumni
- Axis → axes
- Bacillus → bacilli
- Bacterium → bacteria
- Erratum → errata
- Larva → larvae
- Medium → media
- Stratum → strata
- Datum → data
- Vertebra → vertebrae
- Corpus → corpora
- Nucleus → nuclei
- Radius → radii
Greek origin:
- Analysis → analyses
- Basis → bases
- Crisis → crises
- Criterion → criteria
- Hypothesis → hypotheses
- Oasis → oases
- Parenthesis → parentheses
- Phenomenon → phenomena
- Synopsis → synopses
- Thesis → these
When a word is borrowed into English it is changed in line with the morphology of the
language into which it has been borrowed.
appendix
appendixes
appendices
aquarium
aquaria
aquariums
cactus
cacti
cactuses
fungus
fungi
funguses
syllabus
syllabi
syllabuses
curriculum
curricula
curriculums
focus
foci
focuses
formula
formulae
formulas
maximum
maxima
maximums
memorandum
memoranda
memorandums
minimum
minima
minimums
retina
retinae
retinas
symposium
symposia
symposiums
Nouns from French that end in -eau in the singular and -eaux in the plural, usually have “-s”
endings:
- Bureau → bureaus
- Plateau → plateaus
- Tableau → tableaus
Plural of proper nouns
When proper nouns are re-classified as common nouns, they may take the articles and form
the plural:
- They considered themselves Shakespeares
Plural of compound nouns
1. Compounds written as one word follow the regular rules
railways; bookcases; toothbrushes; classrooms.
1.1.When the compound is written in two words, you add “-s” to the second word
book clubs; mobile phones; shopping centres.
1.2.If the last element is a mass noun, the compound has no plural form
homework; moonlight.
2. If the first element is a verb, the plural goes at the end
grown ups; pullovers; push-ups; forget-me-nots.
3. Compounds consisting of countable noun + preposition / prepositional phrase take the
plural on the first element
sisters-in-law; lookers-on; passers-by.
4. In compounds whose first element is “man” or “woman”, both elements are plural
manservant → menservants
woman doctor → women doctors
5. Compounds ending in “-ful” may take the plural in both the first and second element.
mouthful → mouthfuls / mouthsful
spoonful → spoonfuls / spoonsful
The Genitive Case
The Genitive Case marks a noun as modifying another noun, as if one noun possesses
another noun:
1. Inflected genitive: pre-modifying genitive. Add “-’s” to singular nouns (plural nouns
ending in s we only add apostrophe). With proper nouns and monosyllabic words the
‘s cannot be added in the same syllable.
Archimedes’ law
The boys’ house
The women’s society
2. Periphrastic genitive: post-modifying genitive. Of construction.
The law of Archimedes
The house of boys
The society of women
3. The group genitive / group possessive / phrasal possessive: when two or more
nouns possess the same object, we add “-’s” to the last noun.
Caroline and Susan’s sister
4. Coordinated genitive: when two or more nouns possess an object of the same kind,
we add “-’s” to each.
John’s and Arthur’s shoes
5. Compounds and names consisting of several words take the “-’s” in the last word.
My brother-in-law’s car
Different uses and meaning of the Genitive Case
1. With personal nouns and personal indefinite pronouns to indicate possession.
John’s house
2. As an adjective to qualify or describe a noun. “Connected with”.
A master’s degree
3. In expressions of time, distance, weight, value, volume or capacity and other
measurements.
Time: a week’s holiday
Weight: a pound’s weight of sugar
Value: ten dollars’ worth of steak
Distance: a five miles’ drive
Volume: a twenty litres’ tank
4. With dignified (unique) objects.
The moon’s light
5. With geographical or institutional names.
Oxford University’s story
6. Independent genitive: the genitive is used elliptically, without a headword, when
referring to business, buildings, etc.
She was taken to St. Mary’s (hospital)
7. In some expressions of time.
Yesterday’s newspaper
8. Collective nouns only take the inflected genitive.
The committee's decision
9. Set expressions consisting of apostrophe form + noun.
To have sth at one finger’s ends
To be a stone’s throw away
To be at death’s door
To keep someone at arm’s length
For goodness’ sake
At one’s wits’ ends
In my mind’s eye
In / out of harm’s way
For old times’ sake
10. To describe something unusual about a person we can use the of form
Stephanie has the hands of an artist
11. Double Genitive / Double Possessive / Oblique Genitive / Postgenitive: indicated
by the preposition of + possessive form of a noun or pronoun. The first element has
indefinite reference, and the second must have a definite reference.
He is a friend of John’s.
11.1.It helps to make a difference between sentences such as:
A portrait of Rembrandt (a portrait showing him)
A portrait of Rembrandt's (one painted by him or belonging to him)
11.2.To emphasise the person who possesses
It was one of my father’s favourite expressions
11.3.To show contempt, arrogance or a desire to ridicule
That silly old hat of Mary’s
11.4.When we want to say someone possesses more than one of something
Robin was reading a novel of Sue’s.
12. Periphrastic genitive: with inanimate beings.
The leg of a chair
The bank of the river
The top of the hill
13. The apostrophe is not used with a noun postmodified by a phrase or a relative
clause.
The camera of the man by the car was very expensive
Subject and Verb Concord
1. Grammatical concord: a verb matches its subject in number.
a. Singular subjects take singular verbs
b. Plural subjects take plural verbs
2. The number of the subject is not changed by a phrase following or modifying the
head of the subject.
The performance was very funny
=
The performance of the first three clowns was very funny
3. Compound indefinite pronouns (everybody, everything, anybody, anything,
nothing) as subjects take singular verbs when they work as head of the subject.
4. “Either”, “neither”, “none” as the head of the subject can use both singular or
plural verbs.
Neither is / are to blame
None of us is / are speaking
5. Several - few - both - many take the plural.
Both mistakes were silly
6. “Some”, “any”, “all”, “enough”, “most” can be singular or plural depending on the
meaning of the sentence.
Some of the money was missing
Some of the coins were missing
7. Collective nouns: plural if the speaker is thinking of each member of the group,
singular if the group is thought of as a whole
The crowd were fighting for their lives
The crowd was an orderly one
a. A / an / this / that + collective noun = singular verb
An orchestra needs a good conductor
b. Each / every / either / neither + collective noun = singular verb
Every family has an interesting story to tell
8. The title of a book or film, the name of an organisation or country take a singular
verb
9. Abstract and mass nouns are only used in the singular with a singular verb.
10. Some nouns in the singular form are only used with a plural verb: people - police -
cattle - clergy.
11. Nouns ending in -ics
a. Some nouns in plural are only used with the verb in singular: news -
aeronautics - billiards.
b. Names of sciences and diseases take singular verbs: mathematics -
phonetics - physics - politics - economics - measles - mumps - arthritis - etc.
i. However, some of this nouns have other meanings and are used with
plural verbs:
1. Economics = “economic or financial aspects”
2. Politics = “somebody’s political beliefs”
3. Gymnastics = “mental gymnastics”
4. Ethics = “morals” or “moral principles that guide behaviour”
12. Rule of proximity: applied to correlatives “either.. or”, “neither… nor”, “not only… but
also”. The verb agrees with the head noun after “or”, “nor” or “but also”.
Either Mary or I am going to do it
Neither she nor you are ill
13. Singular subject head + modifiers “along with”, “accompanied by”, “together
with”, “including”, “in addition to”, “as well as”, the verb remains singular.
A cat, together with three dogs, was found in the garage. (the modifier does
not form part of the subject)
14. Two subjects connected by “both… and” take the plural
Both Sara and David were thought to be dead
15. When the verb refers to the same object, it remains singular
The author and lecturer is arriving tonight
16. “A number of” and “the number of” have different rules of agreement
a. “A number of” is a determiner, and takes the plural
b. “The number of” is a noun phrase, and takes the singular
17. “Of phrase” + percentage or fraction = agreement with the closest noun to the
verb.
Twenty percent of the students are working hard
Fifty percent of the book is about the war
a. If the noun is not followed by an of phrase, and the context does not help, the
singular verb is ought to be used
Twenty percent is working hard
b. If the fraction or percentage is used with or in place of a collective noun, the
verb may be singular or plural
Two thirds of the population lives / live in the fertile south
18. Plural unit words of distance, time and money are followed by singular verb
Two weeks goes fast when you are on holidays
a. Words for numbers that are singular are always used with the plural
There are many species, but only about a dozen are dangerous
19. When the subject of a sentence is a clause, the verb goes in the singular
What we need is a good night of sleep
20. Infinitive and gerund heads of the subject use singular verbs.
To succeed in all my exams is my main objective
But
To succeed in my exams and become a translator are my main objectives
21. Compound nouns joined by “and” are followed by a singular verb.
Fish and chips is a typical food in England
22. “One” cases
a. “One of” and “not one of” + plural noun + singular verb
Not one of his friends has offered me a ride
b. “One or two” + plural verb
One or two of the books are damaged
c. “One or more”
i. + plural verb (it agrees with the part closest to it)
If one or more of the student fail, the teacher will be mad
ii. + singular verb IF a singular noun comes between one and or
If one student or more fails, the teacher will be mad
d. “One in…” + singular / plural
One in three women works / work full time
23. The + nouns of nationality (those who speak the language) + plural verb
The English are known for their wry sense of humour
24. The + adjectives (to refer to a groups of people) + plural verb
The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer
25. Proper nouns standing for geographical names ending in -s + singular verb
The United States has its headquarters in New York city
26. “Every” and “each” + singular nouns + singular verb
Every man, every woman and child needs love
27. “The majority of” and “the minority of”
a. “The majority of” + plural noun + plural verb
The majority of the students are from Spain
i. Without a following of-phrase, “majority” is used with a plural verb if it
refers to a previously mentioned plural noun.
There are 100 candidates, and the majority were under thirty
ii. “Majority” as a collective noun follows the rule of collective nouns
A vociferous majority has / have the power to change the law
b. “The minority of” when used with or in place of a plural noun, the verb is
plural
A minority of those questioned were in favour of capital punishment
i. It can also be used as a collective noun

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