Week 1

Exercises

1. Complete this table:

Singular / Plural / Singular / Plural / Singular / Plural
loaves / manservant / cacti
roof / species / analysis
solo / passer-by / stimuli
teeth / traffic warden / strata
stepson / metropolis / vertebra
oxen / series / basis
son-in-law / trout / fungus
genera / stadium / phenomenon
index / criteria / memoranda
crises / museum / album
genius / man-of-war / addendum
appendix / axes / radii

2. Complete the following using the correct plural forms.

1 I want a Christmas card with a snowman on it. I`m afraid we`re out of cards with ………….

2 And I need some sort of bookshelf. We have some good value wooden ……………………. at £49.99.

3 And where can I get a silk scarf and a pure linen handkerchief? We have some beautiful silk …………………, but we only sell cotton ………………..

4 And can you ask your food department to send me a large plaice?

I don`t think they`ve any …………………………….. at all today.

5 Oh, and I need a dozen eggs – no, make it two ……………………….

6 And I want a story about spacecraft. I`m afraid there`s no demand for …………………… about …………………………

3.Complete the following. There may be alternative answers.

1 Is this the only series of children`s books you stock? No, we have several other ………….. for older children.

2 I`m buying another encyclopaedia. How many……………………….. have you got now?

3 She`s busy writing an index, and the appendix to her book. She seems to spend more time writing …………………….. and ……………………… than the actual books.

4 This is a crisis. Oh, dear, your whole life is a series of ………………………

5 He`ll send you a memorandum. He`s always sending ……………………………

6 Have you got a prospectus? There are two ……………………….. Which do you want?

7 He needs a stimulus. But he never reacts to any …………………………….

8 What`s your criterion for personal success? I think different people have different ………………………….

4. Choose the correct form.

1. Mumps is/are an unpleasant ailment.

2. So congratulations is/are due to Michael Heseltine.

3. The outskirts of the town is/are rather dull.

4. Splendid cattle was/were grazing on the hillside.

5. The public has/have a right to know what money is being spent in its name.

6. Astronomers have noticed a number of strange phenomena/phenomenas/phenomenons in the sky recently.

7. They had to drill through many different rock stratums/strata.

8. Two referendums/referenda were held on this issue.

9. This pair of scissors is/are broken.

10. The crowd was/were growing restless as the day got hotter.

11. The police has/have issued a warrant for Adamson’s arrest.

12. When she was found, her face was bruised and her clothes was/were torn.

13. The public has/have a right to know how the money is to be spent.

14. The college has/have spent over £500,000 on a new sports centre.

15. People was/were running in all directions, trying to get away.

16. There is/are people waiting to see you.

17. The people wholeheartedly support/supports you.

18. Ours is/are a great people, isn’t it/aren’t they?

19. The police has/have an unenviable task.

20. You old folk doesn’t/don’t know anything about us.

21. The youth is/are more serious than my generation was.

22. The youth was/were more serious than his uncle.

23. The news, I’m afraid, has/have got much worse.

24. Linguistics has/have developed rapidly in modern times.

5. Underline the words which end in –ies inthe plural.

baby, donkey, pigsty, soliloquy, stand-by, valley, Germany, tray, Henry

6. Arrange into 3 groups:

elf, dwarf, roof, cuff, leaf, scarf, wolf, thief, safe, wharf, hoof, calf, turf

plural in -fs only:

plural in -ves only:

plural in both -fs and -ves:

7. What is the plural form?

son of a bitch, maneater, necropolis, good-for-nothing, commander-in-chief, onlooker, Justice of the Peace, sheep, bamboo, coat of arms, also-ran, deer, push-up, hanger-on, salmon, louse, court martial, hand-me-down, cherub, schema, medium, point of view, fool’s errand, whisky-and-soda, add-on

8. Read this letter. There are 12 mistakes in the use of countable and uncountable nouns.

Dear kids,

Your mom and I are having a wonderful time in Brazil. We landed in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday as scheduled and made it to our hotel without any problems. On Wednesday we walked and sunbathed on Copacabana and Ipanema beaches. The only problem was that I dropped my camera and got sands in it, and now it is not working. Actually, there’s one other problem: We don’t have enough furnitures in our hotel room. There’s no places to put anything. But everything else has been great. We went to a samba show, and even though it was intended for tourist, it was a lot of fun.

The Brazilian people is very friendly and helpful. On Friday we had a flight to São Paulo scheduled for 9:00 a.m., and we missed the bus and couldn’t get a taxi. But we were saved by one of the hotel employee, who gave us a ride to the airport. We got there just in time. Now we’re in São Paulo. It’s an exciting place, but I can’t get over the traffics. It took two hour to get from our hotel to the downtown area. Yesterday we had lunch at a famous restaurant where they serve feijoda, which is typical Brazilian foods. It had so much spice in that our mouths were on fire, but it was delicious. Tonight we’re going to have dinner at another restaurant where they serve all kinds of meat. They raise a lot of cattle in Brazil, and meats are very popular. This restaurant is one of the most famous ones.

The other thing about Brazil that’s really interesting is the amount of coffee the Brazilians drink. They have little cups of coffees several times a day—called caffezinho. We tried it; it’s very strong and sweet.

That’s all for now. Your mom hasn’t had a time to go shopping yet, which is good. You know how much I hate shopping.

Love,

Dad