UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE CHIMBORAZO

FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS DE LA EDUCACIÓN HUMANAS Y TECNOLOGÍAS

CARRERA DE IDIOMAS – INGLES

GRAMMAR V

COMMON MISTAKES WITH PLURALS

Names:

Darío Amancha

Patricio Castillo

Elvis Guaranga

COMMON MISTAKES WITH PLURALS

There are two types of common noun. These are countable nouns and

uncountable nouns. It's really important to know if a noun is countable or

uncountable, because it changes how we use it in a sentence.

Countable nouns are things which can be counted like 'table', 'apple' or 'boy'.

They usually change their form when we make a plural (they often add an 's'),

and can be used with either a singular or a plural verb: one book falls, two

books fall.

On the other hand, uncountable nouns are usually things which can't easily be

counted, like 'love', 'rice' or 'water'. Uncountable nouns do not make a plural

or change their form, and they are always used with a singular verb.

However, sometimes there's not much logic to whether a noun is countable or

uncountable.

For example, 'work' is uncountable but 'job' is countable. 'Trip' is countable,

but 'travel' is uncountable. 'Word' is countable, but 'vocabulary' is uncountable.

Sometimes, a noun is even different in US English and UK English, like

'Lego' or 'accommodation' (both uncountable in the UK but countable in the

US).

Here are some kinds of nouns that are often uncountable:

Abstract nouns (nouns that talk about ideas): love, happiness, peace,

democracy.

Subjects from school or university: Math, French, history.

Materials: metal, wood, plastic.

Liquids: water, coffee, milk.

Gases: air, oxygen, carbon dioxide.

Things that are made up of lots of small pieces: sand, rice, salt.

Here's a list of some uncountable nouns that we often use

UNCOUNTABLE PLURALS

Sometimes in English, we use uncountable nouns in plural forms. This is most

commonly done with liquids and substances. It usually takes on the meaning

of "cups of", "bottles of" or "types of".

Examples:

We'll have two coffees. CUPS OF COFFEE

I bought three waters. BOTTLES OF WATER

The company produces two leathers. TYPES OF LEATHER

advice Could you give me some advice?

dust The old table was covered with dust.

electricity Electricity runs through this wire.

equipment Could you give me a list of the equipment we need for the trip?

evidence What evidence is there against John?

fog I could hardly see because of the thick fog.

fun We had a lot of fun at the party.

furniture I really need to buy some new furniture for my new flat.

happiness How can we increase our happiness?

help The teacher would like some help with moving the chairs.

homework How much homework do you get?

information Could you give me some information about things to do in

London?

knowledge He has such a lot of knowledge about history.

luck I need a bit of luck!

luggage Please put leave your entire luggage at the hotel and we'll pick it

up later.

money How much money do you have in your purse?

news The news is good! John has passed the exam!

pasta I love pasta!

progress We haven't made much progress on our project.

research Julie is doing research in neuroscience.

snow There's been a lot of snow this year.

spaghetti Could we have spaghetti with meatballs?

spinach She likes spinach with garlic.

traffic Was there a lot of traffic in central London?

vocabulary Vocabulary is very important in language learning.

work Do you have any work to do this weekend?

WORDS THAT CAN BE BOTH COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE

There are certain words which have multiple meanings. It is possible for one

meaning to be countable and the other to be uncountable. Take for example

the word "light":

Many, many words can be used in both an uncountable way and a countable

way. This is especially true of uncountable food and drink, such as 'coffee' or

'yogurt'. When we're talking in general about coffee or yogurt, the words are

uncountable. But, we can use them in a countable way when we mean 'one cup

of' or 'one pot of':

Uncountable: Coffee is my favorite drink.

Countable: Could you buy two coffees and two teas, please?

Uncountable: My children eat a lot of yogurt.

Countable: I bought a pack of six yogurts.

Other words that act like this include: water, juice, salad, curry and cake.

Another way that we use uncountable nouns in a countable way is when we

use the word to mean 'a kind of' or 'a type of':

Uncountable: She loves cheese.

Countable: That shop sells lots of cheeses (=different kinds of cheese).

Other words that can be used in this way include jam, wood, plastic, bread,

metal, fabric. There are a few words that change their meaning depending on

if they used in a countable way or an uncountable way. For example:

HairCountable = one hair

Urg! There's a hair in my food!

Uncountable = all the hair on a

person's head

She has very beautiful hair.

PaperCountable = a newspaper

I bought all the papers this morning.

Uncountable = paper in general

Could you give me some paper to

write on?

Light

Countable = a single lamp or light

bulb

The Christmas tree was covered in

lights.

Uncountable = light in general

The room was full of light.

Experienc

e

Countable = one event

I travelled to Thailand and it was a

really great experience.

Uncountable = when you've done

something for a long time

She has a lot of experience with

children.

NOUNS WHICH ARE ALWAYS PLURAL

Some nouns are always used in a plural form and with a plural verb. You can't

count them in the normal way. Sometimes you can use phrases like 'one pair

of' or 'three pairs of' if you'd like to count them. Nouns like these are often

clothes, or tools that have two parts. Here's a list of words that are always

plural:

Trousers My trousers are too long.

Tights I need to wear tights with this dress.

Shorts He bought some blue shorts.

Scissors There are three pairs of scissors in

the drawer.

Tweezers Could you pass me those tweezers?

Binoculars She gave me some binoculars.

Glasses (for seeing

better)

I've lost my glasses!

Sunglasses My sunglasses are in my bag.

Clothes She put her clothes in the suitcase.

Belongings Whose belongings are these?

Congratulations Many congratulations!

UNCOUNT NOUNS THAT END IN –S

Some uncountable nouns end in -s so they look like plurals even though they

are singular nouns.

These nouns generally refer to:

Subjects of study: mathematics, physics, economics, etc.

Activities: gymnastics, athletics, etc. 

Games: cards, darts, billiards, etc.

Diseases: mumps, measles, rabies, etc.

Economics is a very difficult subject.

Billiards is easier than pool or snooker.

GROUP NOUNS

Some nouns, like army, refer to groups of people, animals or things, and we

can use them either as singular nouns or as plural nouns.

army audience Committee company crew enemy

family flock Gang government group herd

media public Regiment staff team  

We can use these group nouns either as singular nouns or as plural nouns:

My family is very dear to me.

I have a large family. They are very dear to me. (= The members of my

family)

The government is very unpopular.

Sometimes we think of the group as a single thing:

The audience always enjoys the show.

The group consists of two men and three women.

Sometimes we think of the group as several individuals;

The audience clapped their hands.

The largest group are the boys.

The names of many organizations and teams are also group nouns, but they

are usually plural in spoken English:

Barcelona are winning 2-0.

The United Oil Company are putting prices up by 12%.

 

TWO-PART NOUNS

A few plural nouns, like binoculars, refer to things that have two parts.

glasses jeans knickers pincers pants pliers

Pyjamas scissors Shorts spectacles tights trainers

Trousers tweezers

These binoculars were very expensive

Those trousers are too long.

To make it clear we are talking about one of these items, we use a pair of …

I need a new pair of spectacles.

I’ve bought a pair of blue jeans.

If we want to talk about more than one, we use pairs of … :

We’ve got three pairs of scissors, but they are all blunt.

I always carry two pairs of binoculars.

EXAMPLES:

Here are some mistakes students often make in the use of nouns.

Incorrect: She likes to feed the poors.

Correct: She likes to feed the poor.

Incorrect: He is working for the blinds.

Correct: He is working for the blind.

Expressions like the poor, the blind, the deaf etc., are always plural. We

don’t have to make their plural forms by adding –s to them.

Incorrect: I told these news to my father.

Correct: I told this news to my father.

News is a singular uncountable noun. Therefore it has to be used with a

singular determiner.

Incorrect: The teacher gave us many advices.

Correct: The teacher gave us some advice.

Advice is an uncountable noun. It does not have a plural form. The determiner

many is only used with plural countable nouns.

Incorrect: I have a five dollars note.

Correct: I have a five dollar note.

Incorrect: She has bought two dozens apples.

Correct: She has bought two dozen apples.

Incorrect: I saw many deers in the jungle.

Correct: I saw many deer in the jungle.

The nouns sheep and deer have identical singular and plural forms.

Incorrect: Bring me some bloating.

Correct: Bring me some bloating paper.

Incorrect: The boy is in the boarding.

Correct: The boy is in the boarding house.

Incorrect: Please put your sign here.

Correct: Please put your signature here.

Incorrect: She is my cousin sister.

Correct: She is my cousin.

Expressions like cousin sister and cousin brother are wrong.

EXCERSICES 

Each sentence given below contains one or more grammatical mistakes. Find

out the mistake and rewrite the sentence correctly.

1. I heard these news in the morning.

2. One of my friend wants to go to France.

3. Each of these children know the answer by-heart.

4. He is most intelligent boy in our class.

5. She is junior than me.

6. This fabric is superior than that fabric.

7. I went to the store to buy some stationeries.

8. Measles are infectious.

9. This poem is full of vivid imageries.

10. He didn’t want to listen to my advices.

Answers

1. I heard this news in the morning.

2. One of my friends wants to go to France.

3. Each of these children knows the answer by-heart. (The determiners each,

every, either and neither take a singular verb.)

4. He is the most intelligent boy in our class. (Superlative adjectives take the

article the.)

5. She is junior to me. (The adjectives junior and senior take the preposition

to, not than.)

6. This fabric is superior to that fabric. (The adjectives superior and inferior

take the preposition to, not than.)

7. I went to the store to buy some stationery. (Stationery does not have a plural

form.)

8. Measles is infectious. (The names of most illnesses, including those ending

in –s, are singular in English.)

9. This poem is full of vivid imagery. (Imagery is uncountable in English and

therefore it does not have a plural form.)

10. He didn’t want to listen to my advice. (Advice is an uncountable noun and

therefore it does not have a plural form. Advice cannot be used with the article

an. To show the singular aspect of the noun, use the phrase a piece of advice.

To show the plural aspect, use the phrase some advice.)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ENGLISH PRACTICE. (2015). Recuperado el 29 de 06 de 2015, de

http://www.englishpractice.com/common-mistakes/errors-nouns/

EnglishGrammar.org. (2015). Obtenido de

http://www.englishgrammar.org/common-mistakes-nouns-adjectives/

Council, B. (2015). Learnenglish. Recuperado el 29 de 06 de 2015, de

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/nouns/common-

problems-countuncount-nouns

dynamics, l. (s.f.). Englishpage. Recuperado el 29 de 06 de 2015, de

http://www.englishpage.com/minitutorials/countable-uncountable-nouns.htm

Seonaid. (s.f.). Perfec English Grammar. Recuperado el 29 de 06 de 2015, de

http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/nouns.html