THE COMPONENTS OF COMMON NOUNS ( 1 )

1. GENDER

     is used to denote the sex of persons , creatures or things.

a. Masculine Gender denotes the male sex.

e.g.

boy , man , king . father , uncle , tiger , lion

b.  Feminine Gender denotes the female sex.

e.g.

girl , woman , queen , mother , aunt , tigress , lioness

c. Common Gender denotes either the male or female sex.

e.g.

cousin , student , doctor  

d. Neuter Gender denotes neither the male nor the female sex.

e.g.

chair , table , tree , car 

2. SINGULAR and PLURAL NOUNS

Numbers may be singular when it denotes one.

e.g.

a boy , a car , a tiger 

or plural when it denotes more than one.

e.g.

two boys , five cars , many tigers

Plural nouns are formed from singular nouns.

We normally add 's' to the singular noun to make it plural.

But there are rules and exceptions in English.

i. by adding 's'

e.g.

boy         -          boys

girl          -          girls

ii. by adding 'es'

 e.g.

box         -          boxes

glass      -          glasses

iii. by replacing 'y' with 'ies'

e.g.

story       -           stories

city         -           cities

iv. by replacing 'f' or 'fe' with 'ves'

e.g.

thief       -          thieves

wife       -           wives

v. by adding 's' to compound nouns

e.g.

son-in-law     -    sons-in-law

passer-by      -    passers-by

vi. plurals used as singular

e.g.

news , politics , athletes

vii. singular and plural nouns having the same form

e.g.

sheep ,  deer , furniture

viii.  singular nouns having unusual plurals.

e.g.

child          -      children

man          -      men

mouse      -      mice

ix.  nouns used only in the plural form.

e.g.

scissors ,  trousers ,  spectacles