Welcome to your Nouns, Articles & Adjectives lesson! In this topic we talk about:
• Nouns
• Articles
• Adjectives
• Irregular Plurals
• Important Information
• Placing the Adjective
• Talking about Jobs
Take the quizzes when you’re ready! If you’re having problems, use the comment box to contact our English Teachers.
Nouns
- Most nouns have an s in their plural form:
one dog → two dogs
- Nouns that end in s, x, ch or sh have es in their plural form:
one box → two boxes
(the es sound is pronounced [iz])
- Nouns that end in y have ies in their plural form, if the y is preceded by a consonant:
one lady → two ladies
Articles
The indefinite singular article is a.
- The article a becomes an before a word that begins with a vowel sound:
a boy, a girl, an orange
- The indefinite article disappears in the plural form:
a boy → boys
a girl → girls
The definite article, the, is used before all nouns, whatever the genre (masculin, feminine, neutral) and their quantity (singular or plural).
the girl → the girls
Adjectives
- In English, adjectives are invariable.
“This car is new → These cars are new”
“This motorbike is fast → These motorbikes are fast”
- Adjectives that talk about nationality begins with a capital letter:
“These girls are English.”
Irregular Plurals
Be careful of irregular plurals!
one man → two men
one woman → two women
one child → two children
one tooth → two teeth
one foot → two feet
one mouse → two mice
Important Information
- People is always followed by a plural verb:
“The people are in the street.”
- Hair is always followed by a singular verb:
“My hair is black”
Placing the Adjective
Qualitative adjectives are always placed before the noun in English:
a black hat, an American car
Talking about Jobs
We always use the indefinite article before jobs when they are singular:
“He is an actor”
“She is a doctor”