book
bottle
box
boy
bridge
brother
bus
bush
camp
captain
car
card
case
castle
cat
chair
chapter
chest
child
cigarette
city
class
club
coat
college
computer
corner
country
crowd
cup
daughter
day
desk
doctor
dog
door
dream
dress
driver
ear
edge
effect
egg
election
engine
eye
face
factory
farm
father
field
film
finger
foot
friend
game
garden
gate
girl
group
gun
hall
hand
handle
hat
head
heart
hill
horse
hospital
hotel
hour
house
husband
idea
island
issue
job
journey
judge
key
king
kitchen
lady
lake
library
line
list
machine
magazine
man
meal
meeting
member
message
method
minute
mistake
model
month
motor
mouth
nation
neck
newspaper
office
page
park
party
path
picture
plan
plane
plant
problem
product
programme
project
ring
river
road
room
scheme
school
ship
shirt
shock
shop
sister
smile
son
spot
star
station
store
stream
street
student
table
task
teacher
tent
thought
tour
town
valley
village
walk
wall
week
window
woman
yard
year
Note that many of these nouns have some meanings in which they are uncountable nouns, but they are countable nouns in their commonest meanings.
singular and plural forms
1.19 For most countable nouns the plural form has -s at the end, which distinguishes it from the singular form.
…bed… beds.
…car… cars.
Some countable nouns have other differences between the singular and plural forms.
…bus…buses.
…lady… ladies.
…calf…calves.
…man…men.
…mouse…mice.
For full information about the plural forms of countable nouns, see the Reference Section.
same form for singular and plural
1.20 Some countable nouns have the same form for both singular and plural.
…a sheep.
…nine sheep.
Many of these nouns refer to animals or fish; others are more varied in meaning:
bison
deer
elk
greenfly
grouse
moose
reindeer
sheep
~
cod
fish
goldfish
halibut
mullet
salmon
shellfish
trout
whitebait
~
aircraft
hovercraft
spacecraft
~
crossroads
dice
fruit
gallows
grapefruit
insignia
mews
offspring
series
species
~
bourgeois
chassis
corps
patois
précis
rendezvous
singular form with plural meaning
1.21 The names of many animals and birds have two forms, one singular and one plural. However, when you are referring to them in the context of hunting or when you are saying that there are large numbers of them, it is quite common to use the form without -s, even though you are referring to several animals or birds.
We went up north to hunt deer.
Note that the plural form of the verb is used when several animals or birds are the subject of the sentence, even if you use the form without -s.
Zebra are a more difficult prey.
Similarly, when you are referring to a large number of trees or plants growing together, you can use the singular form of their name. When you are referring to a small number or to individual trees or plants, you usually use the form with -s.
…the rows of willow and cypress which lined the creek.
…the poplars and willows along the Peshawar Road.
1.22 Although some names of animals, birds, trees, and plants are commonly used in the singular form with plural meaning, in fact all such names can be used in this way.
Things not usually counted: uncountable nouns
1.23 Some nouns refer to general things such as qualities, substances, processes, and topics rather than to individual items or events. These nouns have only one form, are not used with numbers, and are not usually used with the determiners the, a, or an.
…a boy or girl with intelligence.
Make sure everyone has enough food and drink.
…new techniques in industry and agriculture.
I talked with people about religion, death, marriage, money, and happiness.
These nouns are called uncountable nouns.
noun–verb agreement
1.24 When you use an uncountable noun as the subject of a verb, you use a singular form of the verb.
Love makes you do strange things.
They believed that poverty was a threat to world peace.
Electricity is potentially dangerous.
list of uncountable nouns
1.25 Here is a list of some common uncountable nouns:
absence
access
age
agriculture
anger
atmosphere
beauty
behaviour
cancer
capacity
childhood
china
comfort
concern
confidence
courage
death
democracy
depression
design
duty
earth
education
electricity
energy
environment
equipment
evil
existence
experience
failure
faith
fashion
fear
finance
fire
flesh
food
freedom
fun
ground
growth
happiness
health
help
history
ice
independence
industry
insurance
intelligence
joy
justice
labour
loneliness
love
luck
magic
marriage
mercy
music
nature
paper
patience
peace
philosophy
pleasure
policy
poverty
power
pride
protection
purity
rain
reality
relief
religion
respect