NOUN: RULES

RULE 1: Some nouns are always used in plural form and take
plural verb.
Nouns that exist in pairs like some instruments, cloths, footwear,
accessories and some other.
Instruments: Scissors, Pliers, Tongs, Binoculars, Bellows, Pincers.
Cloths: Jeans, Pants, Trousers, Boxers, Shorts, Breeches, Drawers.
Foot wears: Shoes, Slippers, Sandals, Sneakers, Loafers, Clogs.
Accessories: Glasses, Sunglasses, Spectacles, Googles.
Other Nouns: Riches, Assets, Liabilities, Alms, Surroundings,
Earnings, Savings, Remains, Regards, Proceedings, Annals,
Fireworks, Crackers and Tidings.
Examples:
 This is my jeans. (INCORRECT)
 These are my jeans. (CORRECT)
 Latest Reebok shoes is my fantasy. (INCORRECT)
 Latest Reebok shoes are my fantasy.
 His earnings are not enough to meet the ends.
 Pliers are handy tools.
 The right lens of my spectacle is broken.
 His one shoe is torn.
 When phrases like a pair of or a set of are added before these
nouns that exist in pairs, they become singular.
 A pair of scissors was found lying on the floor in our class
yesterday.
  She bought a new pair of sunglasses which is of international
brand.

RULE 2: Some nouns appear to be plural but, are singular in

meaning and take singular verbs.
Certain nouns end with letter ‘-s’ and appear to be plural but they
are singular and take singular verbs.
Mathematics, Physics, Politics, Economics, Numismatics,
Linguistics, Optics, Dynamics, Ethics, Mechanics, Athletics,
News, Measles, Mumps, Rickets, Innings and Billiards.
Examples:
 Economics are his strong subject. (INCORRECT)
 Economics is his strong subject. (CORRECT)
 Breaking news are continuously flashing on all channels.
(INCORRECT)
 Breaking news is continuously flashing on all
channels. (CORRECT)
 Our teacher said that mechanics is a subject that requires more
of practical knowledge.
 Linguistics is the study of different languages.

Out of these nouns ending with -ics (names of subjects) become

plural in one case. When these are used in possessive
case (preceded by a possessive pronoun, made possessive
using apostrophe ‘s’ or of) they are considered plural nouns and
take plural verb.
Examples:
 His mathematics are
 The dynamics of this topic are
 Ethics of journalism are always debated.
RULE 3: Some collective nouns appear to be singular but, are
plural in meaning and take plural verbs.
Cattle, Police, Women, Men, Children, People, Crowd, Poultry,
Clergy, Gentry, Infantry, Cavalry, and Vermin.
Since these nouns are already plural, we never add suffix ‘-s’ to
them. Words like cattles, womens, childrens, crowds, gentries, etc
do not exist.
Examples:
 The police is on its way. (INCORRECT)
 The police are on their way. (CORRECT)
 Large cattles are found on the plains. (INCORRECT)
 Large cattle are found on the plains. (CORRECT)
 The poultry have been fed.
 The clergy were with the decision of the king.
 According to the school rules, children coming to campus
should carry their own lunch.
RULE 4: Some nouns are singular in form. They are always
used in singular form and take singular verb.
Jewelry, Crockery, Furniture, Information, Machinery, Education,
Advice, Luggage, Baggage, Percentage, Breakage, Knowledge,
Postage, Wastage, Wreckage, Traffics, Coffee, Food, Bread,
Stationery and Alphabet.
These nouns are never used in plural form and thus we never add
suffix ‘-s’ to them.
Examples:
 All the furnitures are loaded in the truck. (INCORRECT)
 All the furniture is loaded in the truck. (CORRECT)
 The receptionist provided her will all the
available informations. (INCORRECT)
 The receptionist provided her will all the
available information. (CORRECT)
 The percentages that she secured are difficult to
achieve. (INCORRECT)
 The percentage that she secured is difficult to
achieve. (CORRECT)
 We need to buy new machineries for the
factory. (INCORRECT)
 We need to buy new machinery for the factory. (CORRECT)
RULE 5: Certain numeral nouns take ‘-s’ as suffix to form
plural only when not preceded by a definite number.
Dozen, Couple, Pair, Score, Hundred, Thousand, Lakh, Crore,
Million, Billion, etc.
Case 1: When preceded by a definite number. Do not take ‘-s’ as
suffix to form plural.
Examples:
 Ravi has four dozen
 Those two pair of shoes I bought from Dubai last week.
 Japan has invested six thousand US dollars in Indian IT
sector.
Case 2: When not preceded by a definite number. They take ‘-s’ as
suffix to form plural.
Examples:
 Ravi has dozens of apples.
 Those pairs of shoes I bought from Dubai last week.
 Japan has invested thousands of US dollars in Indian IT
sector.
RULE 6: COLLECTIVE NOUNS- Singular or Plural
When all members act together it can be considered either singular
or plural.
But when all members of a collective noun differ in opinion or
action, they are considered plural.
Examples:
 The team is practicing for
finals. (CORRECT) (here we are
looking at the team as a single unit)
 The team are practicing for finals. (CORRECT) (here we
are talking with respect to each member of the team which are
more than one)
If members are not working as a unit than the collective noun
is always taken as plural.
 The family is fighting amongst
themselves. (INCORRECT)

 The family are fighting amongst themselves. (CORRECT)

Some more examples:
  Even after a discussion of three hours, the jury have
contradicting views about who should win. (members do not
agree with each other thus plural)

 The staff has organized a farewell party for its retiring

boss. (act as a unit so either singular or plural)
 The council were unable to reach unison about this
amendment. (members do not agree with each other thus
plural)
 Finally, the audience were mesmerized with the dance
performance. (act as a unit so either singular or plural)

RULE 7: Abstract nouns have NO plural form.

Examples:
 Kindnesses are his quality. (INCORRECT)
 Kindness is his quality. (CORRECT)
 His honesties are known to all. (INCORRECT)
 His honesty is known to all. (CORRECT)
 Teacher scolded her for her selfishnesses. (INCORRECT)
 Teacher scolded for her selfishness. (CORRECT)
RULE 8: Use of POSSESSIVE CASE.
#1→ Apostrophe s is used to make possessive case of only living
things.
Remember either apostrophe and an s or preposition of is used to
make possessive case of living beings or personified objects. But to
make possessive case of a non-living thing we use only
preposition of.
Example:
 Edward’s book – Book of Edward
 Cat’s ball – Ball of cat
 London’s queen – Queen of London
 Uncle’s magazine – Magazine of uncle
 Shakespeare’s play – Play of Shakespeare or Play written by
Shakespeare
 Window of car (Car’s window – INCORRECT)
 Roof of the bungalow (Bungalow’s roof – INCORRECT)
#2→ For words that already have letter s at the end, to make
their possessive case we add only apostrophe without ‘s’.

Possessive with OF INCORRECT CORRECT

Population of Paris Paris’s population Paris’ population

Toys of kids Kids’s toys Kids’ toys

Hostel of girls Girls’s hostel Girls’ hostel

House of Jonas Jonas’s house Jonas’ house

#3→ When two nouns are in apposition, that is two nouns are
used to refer to a single person then the Possessive sign is put to
the latter only. (noun that is written second)
Examples:
 This is Cristopher, his cousin’s book.
 That is Mr. Charles, my boss’ office.
 That is Tagore, the poet’s house.
#4→ The possessive is also used with nouns
denoting time, space, weight and dignified objects.
Examples:
 A week’s holiday
 A moment’s delay
 Aton’s weight
 At an arm’s length
 At a stone’s through
 A foot’s length
 Earth’s atmosphere
 God’s grace
 Sun’s high temperature is due to the continuous nuclear
fusion.
 She missed the opportunity by a second’s
 Our company organized two day’s seminar on self-worth.

#5→ When else is added after an indefinite pronoun to make

its possessive – apostrophe ‘s’ is added to else and not to the
indefinite pronoun.
Examples:
 He likes somebody’s else idea. (INCORRECT)
  He likes somebody else’s idea. (CORRECT)
 Can I get anybody’s else contact number? (INCORRECT)
 Can I get anybody else’s contact number? (CORRECT)

RULE 9: Possessive and Plural of COMPOUND NOUNS.

Nouns formed by more than words are called compound nouns.
Like, son-in-law, stepmother, commander-in-chief, etc.
#1→ To form plural of compound nouns suffix -s is added to
the root word.
Examples:

SINGULAR PLURAL

Mother-in-law Mothers-in-law

Stepdaughter Stepdaughters

Commander-in-chief Commanders-in-chief

Maidservant Maidservants

Man-of-match Men-of-match

Passer-by Passers-by
 SINGULAR PLURAL

Coat-of-mail Coats-of-mail

#2→ To form possessive case of compound noun we add

apostrophe ‘s’ at the end.
Examples:
 This is my father-in-law’s
 It is her stepson’s graduation ceremony.
 We asked her about her sister-in-law’s
RULE 10: To show PROGRESSION in English we use a
structure-
Noun (singular) + Preposition + Noun (Singular)
To show progression we use Noun (singular) + Preposition + Noun
(Singular) this structure. Here both nouns should be same and
singular.
Examples:
 The temperature is rising days by days. (INCORRECT)
 The temperature is rising day by day. (CORRECT)
 The profits are growing month after year. (INCORRECT)
 The profits are growing year after year. (CORRECT)
 Student after students, the invigilator questioned
everyone. (INCORRECT)
  Student after student, the invigilator questioned
everyone. (CORRECT)

Compound Noun:
Nouns that are made of two words are called Compound Nouns.
These are usually a combination of nouns, verbs, adjectives, and
prepositions. (For example, football, toothbrush, swimming pool,
bypass, dining room, etc.)

Noun Case:
Cases in noun tell about the position and role of the noun in a
sentence. It is another important topic in noun. There are Five cases
in all.

NOMINATIVE or SUBJECTIVE CASE:

When a noun acts as the subject of a verb in a sentence, it is said to
be in the nominative or subjective case. Questions with What is
made if the noun is a thing. If the noun is a person than Who is
used to make question.

Example: James decorated the room for her birthday.

ACCUSATIVE or OBJECTIVE CASE:

When a noun acts as the object of a verb in a sentence, it is said to
be in accusative or objective case. Question with What is made if
the noun is a thing. If the noun is a person than Whom is used to
make the question.

Example: She questioned Samantha.

DATIVE CASE:
When a noun acts as an indirect object of a verb in a sentence it is
said to be in the dative case. Indirect objects are those to whom or
for whom the verb is done. They are second to experience the verb.

Example: She gave her book to Samantha.

POSSESSIVE CASE:
Possessive case shows the possession, ownership or authority of a
noun. That is this case shows a relationship between two nouns or
between a noun and a pronoun.

Example: Marco’s house, Sam’s bicycle, Address of school.

VOCATIVE CASE or NOMINATIVE OF ADDRESS:

When a noun is addressed or called out in a sentence than that
noun is said to be in the vocative case. Another thing to remember
is to separate the vocative noun from the rest of the sentence with
the help of a comma.

Example: Ricky, come here.

Attributive Nouns
A noun can also be used like an adjective to modify another noun.
For example:
 oxygen tank
 diamond ring
 car door
In these examples, the examples "oxygen," "diamond," and "car"
are functioning like adjectives. When nouns are used like this,
they're called "attributive nouns."