Using Series, Species, Clothes, Premises
When somebody asks you whether you know nouns like series, species, clothes, premises, you will surely say "yes'. You may also be able to give examples like the following sentences.
I like to watch TV series. Lizards are of many different species.
Keep all the clothes in the closet. Smoking is not permitted on the premises.
If you are asked: Do these four nouns have singular and plural forms? What would be your answer? Do you say one series, two or more serieses, one species, two or more specieses? Do you drop the "es" when you say clothes in its singular form, drop the "s" when you say premises in its singular form? Read on and find out whether you agree with these rules.
Series and species are countable group nouns and they appear the same in both singular and plural form. Read these examples.
There are many TV series, (plural form) but I like watching just one particular series (singular) which is shown at 3 pm on Friday.
Some dog lovers like keeping different species of dogs, but some prefer to keep just one species, such as the pekingese.
Clothes is a plural group noun and it has NO singular form and stays plural all the time. Therefore, never drop "es" to make it singular! Also remember to use plural linking verbs like "are" or "were" or "have" and the quantifier "a lot of" to indicate the amount. Read these examples.
There are/were a lot of clothes in the suitcase.
All the expensive fashionable clothes in the boutique have been stolen.
If you must "count" clothes, just use the word "set" such as:
a set of clothes, two or more sets of clothes. Never say one clothes, two or more clothes! Never use the article "a" or a number just before the word clothes!
There is another word that is very much related to clothes. That word is "clothing". Remember "clothing" is an uncountable noun and "s" can never be ended to it. When you use clothing in sentences, make sure you use singular linking verbs such as is/was. Example:
Clothing is one of our basic needs.
Premises is a plural noun and it stays plural all the time and has NO singular form. It means all the sections or rooms or offices in a building and it agrees with plural verbs. Many English users overlook that "premise" is the singular form of "premises". Premise and premises are totally two different words and they are not at all related to each other. Read these sentences.
The old premises are too dilapidated and have to be repaired and renovated.
The office manager wasn't on the premises (not premise) when I called on him yesterday.
Smoking is strictly not allowed on the premises. (not premise)
Click on "vocabulary" for more words and phrases.
I like to watch TV series. Lizards are of many different species.
Keep all the clothes in the closet. Smoking is not permitted on the premises.
If you are asked: Do these four nouns have singular and plural forms? What would be your answer? Do you say one series, two or more serieses, one species, two or more specieses? Do you drop the "es" when you say clothes in its singular form, drop the "s" when you say premises in its singular form? Read on and find out whether you agree with these rules.
Series and species are countable group nouns and they appear the same in both singular and plural form. Read these examples.
There are many TV series, (plural form) but I like watching just one particular series (singular) which is shown at 3 pm on Friday.
Some dog lovers like keeping different species of dogs, but some prefer to keep just one species, such as the pekingese.
Clothes is a plural group noun and it has NO singular form and stays plural all the time. Therefore, never drop "es" to make it singular! Also remember to use plural linking verbs like "are" or "were" or "have" and the quantifier "a lot of" to indicate the amount. Read these examples.
There are/were a lot of clothes in the suitcase.
All the expensive fashionable clothes in the boutique have been stolen.
If you must "count" clothes, just use the word "set" such as:
a set of clothes, two or more sets of clothes. Never say one clothes, two or more clothes! Never use the article "a" or a number just before the word clothes!
There is another word that is very much related to clothes. That word is "clothing". Remember "clothing" is an uncountable noun and "s" can never be ended to it. When you use clothing in sentences, make sure you use singular linking verbs such as is/was. Example:
Clothing is one of our basic needs.
Premises is a plural noun and it stays plural all the time and has NO singular form. It means all the sections or rooms or offices in a building and it agrees with plural verbs. Many English users overlook that "premise" is the singular form of "premises". Premise and premises are totally two different words and they are not at all related to each other. Read these sentences.
The old premises are too dilapidated and have to be repaired and renovated.
The office manager wasn't on the premises (not premise) when I called on him yesterday.
Smoking is strictly not allowed on the premises. (not premise)
Click on "vocabulary" for more words and phrases.
By Susan L
On 12/03/2009 05:27:00 PM
0 Comment(s)
View More Articles... On 12/03/2009 05:27:00 PM
0 Comment(s)
> Vocabulary Articles
> Next English Article
> Previous English Article
> English Upgrade Home
Quick Links to English Upgrade Articles...
Rare Irregular Verbs Table |
Common Phrasal Verbs |
Solingo Flash Game |
Regular and Irregular Verbs |
Writing Ordinal Numbers |
Using Adjectives ending in ly |
Using Idiomatic Expressions |
Active And Passive Sentences Exercise |
Question Tags |
Different English Tenses Reference |
Using Look Forward To |
Countable Singular/Plural Nouns Table |
English Upgrade for English Users
Welcome to English Upgrade! Hi, I'm Susan. This blog contains notes, exercises, language games, etc. It is very suitable for English users who wish to improve their grammatical accuracy. Do visit this blog frequently to view the latest posts.
Connect With English Upgrade!
Info
© Copyright 2010 by Susan L.All rights to the notes and posts on EnglishUpgrade.blogspot.com belong to Susan L.
Flash games and videos posted on this blog belong to their respective authors.
