英语语法教案设计-新编英语语法第6版

Lecture1

TheGrammaticalHierarchy

ITeachingobjectives:

1.HelpstudentstoknowthehierarchicalstructureofEnglishgrammar.

2.Getstudentstolearnmorphemeswords,phrasesandsentencesandtheir

classification.

IITeachingdifflculties:

1.Morphemes

2.Fourtypesofsentences

IIITeachingprocedures

1.Introduction

ThegrammaticalstructureofEnglishisahierarchicalone,whichcanbedivided

intofivelevels,i.e.Sentence,Clause,Phrase,WordandMorpheme.Asentenceisthe

largestunitandhighestlevelinagrammaticalstructurewhileamorphemeisthe

smallestandlowestone.

2.Morphemes

AmorphemeisthesmallestunitinEnglishgrammar,andalsothesmallest

meaningfulunitoflanguage.

1)FreeMorphemes

Freemorphemesaremorphemeswhichcanconstitutewordsbythemselves,e.g.

boy,girl,work,water.

2)BoundMorphemes

Somemorphemeslikede-,dis-,-ness,-lyareneverusedindependentlyinspeech

andwriting.Theyarealwaysattachedtofreemorphemestoformnewwords.

Thesemorphemesarecalledboundmorphemes.

Boundmorphemesaremostlyaffixes.Affixesareattachedtofreemorphemes

eithertoformnewwordsortoindicategrammaticalcategories.Affixescanbe

dividedintotwotypes:prefixesandsuffixes.

3.Words

1)SimpleWord,Derivative,CompoundWord

a)simplewords(morphemewords):at,far,hand,get

b)derivatives:

prefixes:dislike,unhappy,pronoun,prewar

suffixes:worker,widen,foolish,manly

c)compoundwords:handbook,outline,moreover,anybody

2)Accordingtogrammaticalfunction,Englishwordscanbeclassifiedinto

ClosedClassandOpenClass.

a)ClosedClass

ClosedclassreferstoalltheFunctionwords.Thenumberofthistypeofwords

arelimited.Nonewcomerswillenterintothisclass.Therefore,thiskindof

wordsarecalledClosedClass.Theyinclude:

Preposition:in,on,without

Pronoun:you,he,one,this

Determiner:a,the,his,that,some

Conjunction:and,or,but,when

Auxiliary:do,can,must,will

b)OpenClass

OpenclassreferstoalltheContentWords.Inthistypeofwords,newwords

appearcontinuously.Therefore,theyarecalledOpenClass.Theyincluded:

Noun:Smith,Paris,man,book

Adjective:old,big,cheap

Adverb:here,fast,early

MainVerb:work,make,give

4.Phrases

Aphraseisagrammaticalunitwhichisformedbyonewordormorethanone

word.Aphraseisusuallyastringofwordsbuiltuparoundaheadwordwhich

determinesboththeclassthatthephrasebelongstoandthewaythephraseis

structured.

NounPhrase(NP):

allthecollegestudents

thetallboysittingthere

VerbPhrase(VP):

lookspale

an-ivedlastnight

AdjectivePhrase(AdjP):

verydifficult

carefulenough

AdverbPhrase(AdvP):

veryclearly

soslowly

PrepositionPhrase(P.P):

beforethewar

inthenorth

5.Clauses

Inlogicalterms,aclauseisaconstructionofasubjectandapredicate.Inview

ofgrammaticalrelations,clausesaredividedintotwobroadcategories,themain

clauseandthesubordinateclause,thelatterofwhichmayfunctionasanominal

clause,arelativeclause,oranadverbialclause.

1)Nominalclauses

Hesaidthathehaddonehisbest.

Whathesaidwastrue.

2)Relativeclauses

ThisisoneofthebestfilmsI'veeverseen.

Hefailedtopassthetest,whichwasapity.

3)Adverbialclauses

IfIwereyou,Iwouldnotquit.

Iwashavingdinnerwhenhecame.

6.Sentences

Intermsofsentencestructure,sentencescanbeclassifiedintothreekinds:(1)

simplesentences,(2)compoundsentencesand(3)complexsentences.

(1)Youthrowastoneatthewindow.

rilscream.(twosimplesentences)

(2)YouthrowastoneatthewindowandI'llscream.(twocoordinatemain

clausesinonesentence).

(3)Ifyouthrowastoneatthewindow,I'llscream.(onemainclauseandone

subordinateclausewithinoneandthesamesentence)

IVAssignment

MemorizeEnglishgrammaticalterminology.

Lecture2

TheSentenceStructure

ITeachingobjectives:

1.HelpstudentstoknowthestructureofEnglishsentence.

2.GetstudentstolearnthepartsofsentenceandthebasicsentenceofEnglish.

IITeachingdifficulties:

1.Partsofsentence

2.Theexpansionandconversionofthebasicsentence

IIITeachingprocedures

1.Clauses

Wehavesaidthataclauseconsistsofoneormorephrases.Inlogicalterms,aclauseisa

constructionofasubjectandapredicate.Asfarasthestructureisconcerned,clausesfall

intosevenmajorpatterns:SV,SVC,SVO,SVoO,SVOC,SVAandSVOA.Inviewof

grammaticalrelations,clausesaredividedintotwobroadcategories,themainclause

andthesubordinateclause,thelatterofwhichmayfunctionasanominalclause,a

relativeclause,oranadverbialcause.Besidesthese,inthesubordinateclauses,wealso

havefinite,non-finite,andverblessclauses.Forexample,

Hecomplainedthatwhatyousaidwasnottrue.

2.Subjectandpredicate

Thesubjecthasaclosegeneralrelationtowhatisbeingdiscussed,thethemeofthe

sentence,withthenormalimplicationthatsomethingnew,thepredicate,isbeingsaid

aboutasubject.

3.Clausepatterns

Manygrammarbooksrecognizefiveclauseelements:subject(S),verb(V),object(O),

complement(C),andadverbial(A).Verbissometimesreferredtoaspredicator.Andas

wehavementionearlierinthelecture,wehavesevenbasicclausepatterns:SV,SVC,

SVO,SVoO,SVOC,SVAandSVOA.

Forexample:

1)SVstructure:

Everybodylaughed.

Theguestshavearrived.

Pricesaregoingdown.

2)SVCstructure

Thatcarismine.

Shelooksverybeautiful.

Themusicsoundssweet.

3)SVOstructure

Shelovesme.

Nobodycouldanswerthequestion.

Thecarisbuildingupspeed.

4)SVoOstructure

Ioftensendhime-mails.

Marylentmehercar.

Igaveherabunchofflowers.

5)SVOCstructure

WeelectedG.W.BushpresidentoftheUnitedStates.

Wemadehimourspokesman.

Hepronouncedhimselfinfavoroftheplan.

Inmostcases,adverbialsarenotnecessary,butinsomeSVstructuresandSVO

structureswhensomeverbsareconcerned,adverbialsbecomeindispensable.For

example,

IliveinBeijing.

Shakespearelivedinthe16thandearly17thcentury.

Theystayedinahotel.

HewillbeflyingtoShanghai.

Heputthecoininhismouth.

Hetreatedhervilely(extremelyunpleasantlyorbadly).

Inthesesentences,theadverbialsareindispensable;otherwisethemeaningofeach

sentencemaybecomeunclear.Thereforesomegrammariansarguethatweshouldadd

anothertwotypesofclausestructures:SVOAandSVAstructures.Basedonthesebasic

clausestructures,wewillbeabletoproduceasmanysentencesaswelike.

4.Sentences

Asentenceconsistsofoneormoreclauses.Aone-clausesentenceistermeda"simple

sentencen\asentencemadeupoftwoormoreclausesiscalledeithera^compound

sentence""ora"complexsentence".Toperformdifferentfunctions,asentencecanbea

statement,aquestion,acommand,oranexclamation.

5.Simple,compoundandcomplexsentences

Asdefinedabove,asimplesentencecontainsoneclause.Inasentencecontainingmore

thanoneclause,theclausesmayberelatedtooneanotherbycoordination(ina

compoundsentence)orbysubordination(inacomplexsentence).

6.Statements,commands,questionsandexclamations

Ifwethinkofthesocialroleoflanguage,wecansaythatlanguageisbroadlyconcerned

withgivingandrequiringinformationandwithofferingandrequiringthingsoractions.

Thefoursentencetypesarerecognizedlargelyonthebasisoftheirsyntacticforms;in

themeantime,theircommunicativefunctionsarealsotakenintoconsideration:

7.Transformationandexpansionofthebasicclausepatterns

（基本句型的转换与扩大）

Basedonthesevenbasicclausepatternsandthefourtypesofsentences,togetherwith

thehelpofthecoordinatorsandsubordinators,wecanthenhaveaninfinitenumberof

sentencesofvarioustypes.

Hewasahandicappedchild.Heperseveredinhisstudies.Laterhebecamea

well-knownscholar.

Hewasahandicappedchild,butheperseveredinhisstudies,andlaterhebecame

awell-knownscholar.

Sincethedayhewasborn,hehadbeenfoundtobeahandicappedchild,butwith

theencouragementfromhisparentsandfriendsheperseveredinhisstudies,and

yearslaterhebecameawell-knownscholarwhospecializedinphysics.

IVAssignment

1.MemorizeEnglish10partsofasentence

2.Makingasentenceforeachbasicsentence.

Chapter4+5

TheSubject-verbConcord(I)(II)

ITeachingobjectives:

1.Knowwhatiscalled“subject-verbconcord,,;

2.Knowtheguidingprinciplesofsubject-verbconcord;

IITeachingdifficulties:

1.Collectivenounsassubject;

2.Nounsendingin-sasthesubject.

IllTeachingprocedures

Subject-verbConcord(I)

1.Definition

Concord,alsotermed“agreement”,canbedefinedas“therelationshipbetweentwo

grammaticalunitssuchthatoneofthemdisplaysaparticularfeature(e.g,,plurality)that

accordswithadisplayedfeature(orsemanticallyimplicit)intheother”.

2.Threeguidingprinciples

Thesubject-verbconcordisgovernedbythreecomplementaryprinciples:the

grammaticalprinciple,thenotionalprincipleandtheprincipleofproximity.Amongthe

threeprinciplesthegrammaticalprincipleisfarmorepopularthantheothertwo.

Problemsoftenarisewithconcordwhenthesubjectisacollectivenoun,acoordinated

nounphrase,anindefiniteexpressionofamount,anominalclauseorthereinthe

existentialsentence.Suchasubjectofteninvalidatesthegrammaticalprincipleandwe

havetoresorttootherprinciplestojustifytheconcord.

Examples:

Everybodywashappywiththedecision,(thegrammaticalprinciple)

TheaudiencewerebroughttotheirfeetatthesightofPresidentHuJingtao.(the

notionalprinciple)

EitheryouorIamresponsibleforthemistake,(theprincipleofproximity)

3.Problemsofconcordwithnounsendingin-s

Therearequiteafewnounsthatendin-sbutwhicharenotcountable.Someof

thesenounsaretreatedassingular,someasplural,andsomeeitherassingularoras

plural.Allthiscanbedealtwithunderthefollowingheadings.

3.1Diseaseandgamenamesendingin-s

Namesofdiseasesendingin-saremostlytreatedassingular,butthereareafew

suchnames(asmeaslesandrickets)whichcanbeusedeitherassingularorasplural.

Gamenamesendingin-saregenerallyusedassingularwiththeexceptionof

cardswhichisusuallytreatedasplural.

3.2Subjectnamesendingin-ics

Namesofsubjectsendingin-icsaregenerallysingularnouns,butsomesuch

nounsaretreatedaspluralwhenusedinothersensesthansubjectnames.Compare:

Acousticsisthescienceofsound.

Theacousticsinthenewconcerthallarefaultless.

Economicsisarequiredcourseforallthestudents.

Theeconomiesoftheprojectarestillbeingconsidered.

3)Geographicalnamesendingin-s

Geographicalnamessuchasthenamesofarchipelagos,mountainranges,straitsand

fallsaregenerallyusedasplural,exceptforafewtreatedassingularwhenusedas

countrynames,eg:

TheHimalayashaveamagnificentvarietyofplantandanimallife.

TheStraitsofGibraltarhavenotlosttheirstrategicimportance.

InearlyJanuary1976,theNetherlandsms'hitbyit〜worststormsince1953.

3.4Othernounsendingin-s

Namesforthingsmadeoftwopartssuchasscissors,pincers,etcareusuallyusedas

plural.Butwhentheyareprecededbysuchunitnounsasapairofandtwopairsof,the

numberformofthefollowingverbisgenerallydeterminedbythenumbermarkerofthe

unitnoun.

Nounsusuallytakingpluralendingssuchasarchives,armsandclothesaregenerally

usedaspluralwiththeexceptionofwhereabouts,dramatics,etcwhichmaybetreated

eitheraspluralorassingular.

Nounsendingin-ingssuchasclippings,diggings,etcaregenerallyusedaspluralwith

theexceptionoftidingswhichcanbeusedbothways.

Therearealsonounssuchasbarracksandheadquarterswhosesingularandplural

numbersharethesameform.Thesenounsaretreatedaspluralwhenusedintheplural

sense,orviceversa.

4.Problemsofconcordwithcollectivenounsassubject

Collectivenounsaresingularinformbutpluralinmeaning.Thechoicebetween

grammaticalandnotionalconcordismostlydictatedbyusage.

4.1Collectivenounsusuallyusedasplural

Theseincludepeople,police,cattle,militiamen,etc,

TheChinesepeopleareagreatpeople.

Domesticcattleprovideuswithmilk,beefandhides.

4.2Collectivenounsusuallyusedassingular

Theseincludefoliage,machinery,equipment,merchandise,etc:

Allthemerchandisehasarrivedundamaged.

AllthemachineryinthefactoryismadeinChina.

4.3Collectivenounsusedeitheraspluralorassingular

Therearecollectivenounsthatcanbeusedeitheraspluralorassingular.Thechoiceof

theverbformfollowingsuchnounsdependsontheexactmeaningofthenounina

specificcontext.Whenthenounisusedinthesenseofacollectiveasawhole,theverb

takesthesingularform.If,ontheotherhand,thenounisusedinthesenseofthe

individualsthatmakethecollective,theverbtakesthepluralform.Compare:

Theanti-crimecommitteeistomakeitsreporttomorrow.

Thecommitteearedividedinopinionaboutthisproblem.

Thatgroupofsoldiersisatop-notchfightingunit.

Thatgroupofsoldiershahthebestratingsofindividualperformance.

4.4Acommitteeof,etc+pluralnoun

Whenapluralnounisprecededbyacommitteeof/aboardof/apanelof,theverb

usuallytakesthesingularform,eg:

Acommitteeoffivemenandthreewomenistoconsiderthematter.

Theboardofdirectorsisresponsibleforthemanagementofthecompany.

Subject-verbConcord(II)

Thissectiondealswithproblemsofconcordwithacoordinateconstruction,a

quantitativeexpression,oranominalclauseassubject.

1Problemsofconcordwithacoordinatesubject

Thefollowingrulesaretobeobservedinthecaseofacoordinatesubject.

1.1Coordinationwith"and"or"both...and"

Coordinationby"and"or"both...andMisusuallytreatedaspluralwhenitrefersto

twoormorethantwopersons/things,butitistreatedassingularwhenitreferstoonly

onepersonorthing.Compare:

BothPaulineandBobhavegonefishingonMiramarLake.

Rain,hailandwindhahcausedanestimated$22,000,000damageto

cropsandlivestock.

Thesecretaryandtreasurerwasabsentfromthemeeting.

Hamandeggsisagoodbreakfast.

1.2Coordinationwithnor'/neither...or1',nnor'7"neither...nor1',*'notonlybut

also"

Heretheproblemofconcordisgenerallydealtwithaccordingtotheprincipleof

proximity.Butininformalstyle,itemscoordinatedby"neither...nor"or"notonly...but

also"cansometimesberegardedasplural,eg:

Mysistersormybrotherislikelytobeathome.

Eithermyfatherormybrothersarecoming.

Neithertheplayersnorthecoachms/(were)overconfident.

Notonlytheswitchesbutalsothe'oldwiringbas/(have)beenchanged.

2Problemsofconcordwithexpressionsofquantityassubject

Quantitativeexpressionsfallintotwocategories-definiteandindefinite.

2.1Concordwithexpressionofdefinitequantityassubject

Whenadefinitequantityisregardedasasingleunit,theverbtakesthesingular

formandwhenusedinthesenseoftheindividualsthatconstitutethequantity,theverb

takesthepluralform.Compare:

Hethoughtthat65dollarsmsnott〜muchtoask.

Therearegsilverdollarsineachofthestockings.

Ifthesubjectis"afraction/percentage+of-phraseH,theformoftheverbis

determinedbythenounintheof-phrase.Apluralnounintheof-phraserequiresaplural

verb;asingularoramass.Nounintheof-phraseistobefollowedbyasingularverb,eg:

Over60%ofthecityyeasdestroyedinthewar.

Two-thirdsoftheswamplandhasbeenreclaimedforfarming.

Nearly50%ofthedoctorsarewomen.

IfthesubjectisanexpressionofnAplus/a〜dB"ornAmultipliedbyB",theverb

caneithertakethesingularorthepluralform.If,ontheotherhand,thesubjectisoneof

“AminusB"ornAdividedbyB"，theverbcanonlybesingular,eg:

Sevenplus/andfive(7+5)makes/maketwelve.

Fortyminusfifteen(40-15)leavestwenty-five.

Fivetimeseight(5x8)is/areforty.

Fortydividedbyeight(40+8)isfive.

Ifthesubjectisanounphrasecomposedof“onein/outo什pluralnoun”,theverbtakes

thesingularformininformalstyle,butininformalstyleitcanbeplural,eg:

Oneintenstudentshas/gavefailedtileexam.

Oneoutoftwentywas/werebadlydamaged.

2.2Concordwithexpressionofindefinitequantityassubject

Whenthesubjectisanounphrasecomposedofnallof...,someof…，noneof

halfofmostofetc',thenumberoftheverbisdeterminedbythenouninthe

of-phrase.Thisisalsotrueof"lotsof,heapsof,loadsof,scadsof,plentyof+noun",eg:

Allofthecargoislost.

Allofthecrewweresaved.

Lotsoffoodisgoingtowaste.

Lotsofpeoplearewaitingoutside.

Whenthesubjectisanounprecededby"aportionof,aseriesof,apileof,apanelof,

theverbinvariablytakesthesingularform,whatevertheformsofthenoun.Likewise,

whenthesubjectisanoun,singularorplural,precededby"akind/sort/typeoforby

"thiskind/sort/typeof\theverbtakesthesingularform.If"kind/sort/typeofis

precededby"these/those1'andfollowedbyapluralnoun,theverbshouldbeplural,eg:

Asubstantialportionofthereportsismissing.

Aseriesofaccidentshasbeenreported.

Thiskindofmanannoysme.

Thattypeofcarisold-fashioned.

Thesetortofmachinesareuptodate.

Ifthesubjectisanounphrasecomposedof"manya+noun"or"morethanone+

noun",thiskindofnounphrase,thoughnotionallyplural,istreatedassingular.

Manyamanhasdonehisduty.

Morethanonegame〜slost.

Ifthesubjectisapluralnounprecededbynanaverageof/amajorityof*,theverb

formisdeterminedbythenotionofthenounphrase:ifthenounheadistheword

"average/majority',,theverbshouldbesingular;iftheheadisthepluralnoun,theverb

shouldbeplural.Compare:

Anaverageof25applicationsamonthisnotunusual.

3Otherproblemsofsubject-verbconcord

Thereareotherproblemsofsubject-verbconcordthatworthmentioning.

3.1Problemsofconcordwithanominalclauseassubject

Whenthesubjectisanominalclauseintroducedbywhat,who,which,how,why,

whether,etc,theverbusuallytakesthesingularform.Butwhentwoormoresuch

clausesarecoordinatedbyandorboth...and,apluralverbisrequired,eg:

Whatcausedtheaccidentisacompletemystery.

Whatcausedtheaccidentandwhowasresponsibleforitremainamysterytous.

InSVCconstructionswithawhat-clauseassubject,theverbusuallytakesthe

singularform.Butwhenthesubjectcomplementisplural,orwhenthewhat-clauseis

pluralinmeaning,theverbofthemainclausecanbeplural,eg:

Whatwasrealtohimwerethedetailsofhislife.

Whatareoftenregardedaspoisonousfungiaresometimessafelyedible.

3.2Subject-verbconcordwithanon-finiteclauseassubject

Whenthesubjectisanon-finiteclause,theverbofthemainclauseusuallytakes

thesingularform.Butwhentwoormoresuchclausesarecoordinatedbyand,theverb

ofthemainclausetakesthesingularformwhenthesubjectreferstoonething,andthe

pluralformwhenthesubjectreferstoseparatethings,eg:

Toclimbmountainsrequirescourage.

Playingtennisisaverygoodexercise.

Compare:

ReadingIbsenandsolvingaquadraticequationareentirelydifferentassignments.

3.3Subject-verbconcordinrelativeclauses

Intheconstructionof"oneof+pluralnoun+relativeclause'1,theprincipleof

grammaticalconcordisgenerallyobserved.Sometimes,especiallyinBritishEnglish,in

ordertolayemphasison“one"，theverbcanalsotakethesingularform.When"one"is

precededby“the"or"theonly"，theverbcanonlybesingular.Compare:

Joanisoneofthosepeoplewhogooutoftheirwaytobehelpful.

JasperWhiteisoneofthoserarepeoplewhobelievesinancientmyths.

Keyesistheonlyoneoftheplayerswhohaslearnedalltherules.

3.4Subject-verbconcordincleft-sentences

Incleft-sentences,subject-verbconcordinthat-/who-clauseisgenerally

determinedbythenumberofthefocalelementfunctioningassubjectintheclause.

Thereisonepointthatshouldbenoted:whenthefocalelementisT'，theverbTOBEin

thefollowingwho-/that-clauseusuallyagreeswith"Tinbothpersonandnumber;if,

ontheotherhand,thefocalelementis"me"insteadof"I",theverbTOBEinthe

followingwho-/that-clauseshouldtakethethirdpersonsingularnumber,eg:

ItisIwhoamtoblame.

Itismethatistoblame.

3.5Subject-verbconcordinexistentialsentences

Inexistentialsentences,subject-verbconcordisgenerallydeterminedbythe

numberofthe"notionalsubject",butininformalstyle,especiallyinspokenlanguage,

theverboftenagreeswiththe"formalsubject11andtakesthesingularform,eventhough

thenotionalsubjectisplural.Whenthenotionalsubjectisacoordinateconstruction,the

verbformgoeswiththefirstcoordinateelementofthenotionalsubject,singularor

plural,eg:

Thereisanoteleftonthedesk.

Therearethreeroutesyoucantake.

There'smoregraceandlesscarelessness.

There'satongspringboard,andthreeraftsatvaryingdistancesfromtheshore.

IVAssignment

1.Exercise2B

2.Exercise3C

Lecture6+7

NounandNounPhrase

ITeachingobjectives:

1.Knowtheclassificationofnouns;

2.Understandthenumberformsofnounsandpartives.

IITeachingdifficulties:

1.Singularinvariables

2.Pluralinvariables

3.Irregularplurals.

IllTeachingprocedures

1.Nounclasses

Concretenounsvs.abstractnouns;propernounsvs.commonnouns;countable

nounsvs.massnouns

2.Number

Regularpluralformswillbeleftoutfromdiscussion.Ourattentionwillbefocusedon

somemoreproblematicissues:nounsthatareinvariablysingularorpluralandnouns

thattakeirregularpluralforms.

2.1.Singularinvariables

2.1.1.Propernouns

1)Propernouns,becauseoftheiruniquereference,arenormallyinvariablesingulars

evenwhensomeofthesenounsappearinthe“pluralfdrm”:

TheUnitedStateshastwoofficiallanguages:EnglishandSpanish.

TheUnitedNationshasitsheadquarterslocatedinNewYork.

2)However,theNetherlandsandthePhilippinescanbeeithersingularorplural:

TheNetherlandsis/arefamousfortwothings:tulipsandfootball.

ThePhilippinesis/areandislandcountry.

3)Therearesomeothergeographicalpropernounswithpluralformwhichareusually

orexclusivelytreatedasplurals:theAlps,theRockies,theHighlands,theBalkans,

theMaldives(尔代夫(群岛"亚洲岛国］),theBermudas,theHimalayas,Niagara

Falls,etc.

4)Namesofpeoplearegenerallysingularexceptthatreferencespointstoafamily.

TheJonesesarecomingtothepartythisevening.

TheBlacksareawayonholidays.

5)Orthattwoormorepersonswiththesamenamearepossiblyreferredto:

A:MayIspeaktoMark,please?

B:WehavetwoMarkshere.TheyoungMarkortheoldMark?

2.1.2.Massnouns

Massnouns,whetherabstractorconcrete,aregenerallysingular.Theyincludecertain

nounsendingin-s,someofwhichareonlyoccasionallyusedaspluralswhenthey

expressintensity,greatquantityandhavealiteraryflavor:

ThesandsofSahara

Sailingonthegreatwaters

2.2.Pluralinvariables

Thefollowingnounsarealmostalwaystreatedasplurals

1)Namesoftoolsandarticlesofdressconsistingoftwoequalparts:

Binoculars,calipers,compasses,flares,glasses,jeans,pants,trousers^pajamas,

spectacles,shorts,suspenders,tights,scissors,tongs,shades,etc.

2)Somecollectivenouns:cattle,clergy(occasionallytreatedasasingular),gentfy,

people,police,vermin,etc.

3)Geographicalnamesofmountainranges,waterfalls,groupsofislands:see)

4)Othernounsendingin-s:archives,arms,belongings,clothes,congratulations,

contents,customs,dregs,earnings,fireworks,funds,goods,greens,lodgings,

minutes,outskirts,pains,premises,savings,spirits,stairs,suburbs,surroundings,

thanks,tropics,wages,etc.

2.3.Irregularplurals

Thegeneraltypesofirregularpluralsinclude:nounswithirregularspellingor

pronunciationorboth,nounswithzeropluralsandnounsthattakeforeignplurals.

2.3.1.Irregularspelling/pronunciation

1)PluralsderivedfromOldEnglish:child-children,foot-feet,man-men,mouse-mice,

ox-oxen,penny-pence-pennies,etc.

2)Pluralsderivedfromnounsendingwithsound/f7andspelling-/or-fe\

Regular:belief-beliefs,proof-proofs,etc.

Irregular:calf-calves,knife-knives,leaf-leaves,etc.

3)Pluralsderivedfromnounsendinginspelling-o:

Regular:kilos,photos,radios,studios,etc.

Irregular:heroes,potatoes,Negroes,tomatoes,etc.

Bothformspossible:cargoes/cargos,mosquitoes/mosquitos,volcanos/volcanoes,

etc.

2.3.2.Zeroplurals

1)Someanimals:deer,sheep,cattle,etc.

2)Nationalitiesin-ese:Chinese,Japanese,etc.

3)Nounsbothsingularandpluralendingin-s/-es:barracks,corps,crossroads,works,

species,means,etc.

2.3.3.Foreignplurals

WordsthatareboiTowedfromotherlanguagesoftenhaveforeignplurals.Manysuch

wordshavebe