Tony Foster, Martijn Lemmen, Dick Smakman, Aletta G. Dorst & Philomeen Dol - English Grammar through Dutch Eyes

1 • Thingamajigs and what’s-its-names: nouns and noun phrases

Figure 1.2 summarizes this distinction:

They can take a/an as an article (lidwoord)

a rat an elephant

Countable

They can be plural (meervoud)

rats elephants

Nouns may be

*My sister gave me a good advice. *My sister gave me some good advices.

They can’t take a/an or be made plural

Uncountable

Figure 1.2 Countable versus uncountable nouns

1.2.2 How to make nouns plural

In high school, you will have learnt that in English most nouns are made plu ral by pasting or behind the noun: