Read the following sentences and remember the singular nouns that take a singular verb.

1) This is a mere barracks.

2) You can’t expect me to live in a barracks like that!

3) Measles is a catching disease.

4) Mumps is an infectious illness.

5) The news is bad today.

6) Linguistics is very interesting.

7) Billiards is my favourable game.

8) Wales is a beautiful country.

9) Cutlery includes knives and other cutting instruments.

3.8. The following words are always singular and nearly always require singular verbs: Measles is an infectious disease (unless rather unusual occasions as in: The measles which the three children have are of different nature).

Think of sentences with the following nouns paying special attention to the form of the verb in Present Indefinite.

Acoustics, aeronautics, athletics, comics, dynamics, economics, aesthetics, linguistics, mathematics, means, measles, mumps, news, politics, the United States, poetics.

 

3.9.Read the following sentences and pay special attention to the plural nouns that take a plural verb.

1) The Middle Agesembrace the period in European history between AD 1100 and 1500.

2) The contents of the book are not much varied.

3) His earningsare very modest.

4) Her witsare well known.

5) Outskirts of the city are still picturesque.

6) Youth are with you, President.

7) The cattle on his farm are taken good care of.

8) Policeare after him.

9) The people there are very caring.

3.10. The following nouns are always plural and they require plural verbs, for example, His clothes are certainly expensive. Think of sentences with the following nouns paying special attention to the form of the verb in Present Indefinite.

Ashes, clothes, contents, goods, links, leavings, oats, pants, pliers, remains, riches, scissors, spectacles, thanks, trousers, vitals, wages.

 

3.11.Read the story about Jeff, a tramp who begs in the town centre. Put in is or are .

Old Jeff sits outside the bus station every day and begs for money. His clothes (1) … old and dirty, his hair (2) … never washed, and his glasses (3) … broken. He takes $ 10 a day in summer. People (4) … generous. $ 10 (5) … not much to live on but he never spends any of it. His savings (6) … hidden away somewhere. Though it is against the law, the police obviously (7) … quite happy about the situation.

 

3.12. Translate into English.

1) Его успехи в учебе очевидны.

2) Эта лестница ведет на задний двор.

3) Товар только что прибыл. Он еще на корабле.

4) Ее одежда не новая.

5) Морковь, лук и картошка – полезные и дешевые овощи.

6) Ее зарплата мала, а плата за обучение – высокая.

7) Содержание показывает, что этот учебник очень полезный.

8) Это оружие вполне современное.

9) Знания еще никому не мешали.

10) Ваши советы были весьма полезны.

11) Деньги на столе, возьмите их.

12) Все народы мира желают жить в мире.

13) На востоке страны живут дикие пони, олени и волки.

14) Фермеры выращивают коров и овец.

15) На холмах растет много картофеля и помидоров.

16) Где мои часы?

UNIT 4                             C A S E

 

English nouns have a two case system: the common case that is used ordinarily (a woman, a book) and the possessive case that generally indicates that the noun is dependent on the noun that follows it; this case often corresponds to a structure with of (my father’s hat = the hat of my father, his parents’ consent = the consent of his parents).

4.1. The (determinative) possessive case.

 

The noun in the possessive case performs the determinative function for a following noun and has the meaning ‘belonging to’: The student’s suggestions (‘suggestions belonging to the student’). This is the determinative possessive or just the possessive case, for short.

 

The following four animate noun classes normally have the possessive case:

a) personal names: Nelson’s column, John’s coat;

b) personal nouns: the boy’s shirt, my sister-in-law’s pencil;

c) collective nouns: the government’s decision, the nation’s security;

d) higher animals: the horse’s tail, the lion’s mane.

 

Some kinds of inanimate nouns may also have possessive case:

a) geographical names: Europe’s future, London’s water supply;

b) temporal and space nouns: yesterday’s newspaper, a mile’s distance;

c) nouns of special interest to human activity: the ship’s nose, the game’s history.

 

All other nouns usually take of -structure to reflect possession: the leg of the table, the interior of the room, the title of the book.

 

The possessive case is indicated in writing by an apostrophe ( ’ ) plus - s in the singular (the student ’s suggestion) and by an apostrophe following the plural - s inflection in the plural (the student s’ suggestions), though in speech three of these forms: students, student’s and students’ are pronounced identically:

                          Singular                      Plural

Common case     the student                                  the student s

Possessive case  the student ’s                      the student s’

suggestions                      suggestions

The possessive case for irregular nouns, however, distinguishes all four forms in speech as well as in writing:

 

                          Singular                      Plural

Common case     the child                            the children

Possessive case  the child ’s toy                   the children ’s toys

 

After proper nouns ending in - s possessive case may be formed only with an apostrophe: Dicken s’ novels (though Dickens ’s novels is also possible).

 

 

E x e r c i s e s

 

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