Substantivele de genul comun sunt o particularitate a limbii engleze. Substantivele care intra in aceasta categorie au aceeasi forma pentru ambele sexe: Ex.: child (copil, copila), cook (bucatar, bucatareasa), teacher (profesor, profesoara).
Unele substantive au forme diferite pentru genul masculin si cel feminin: Ex.: boy - girl, husband - wife, brother - sister, father - mother, son - daughter, uncle - aunt, dog - bitch, bull - cow, king - queen
1.3. Numarul
Numarul este forma pe care o ia un substantiv pentru a arata ca ne referim la unul sau mai multe obiecte sau fiinte.
Singularul coincide cu forma de baza a unui substantiv: dog, girl, wife, world, storm
Pluralul substantivelor se formeaza prin adaugarea unui s la forma de singular: Ex.: cat+s=cats, day+s=days, world+s=worlds
Pluralul substantivelor teminate in ch, o, sh, s, x se formeaza adaugand es la singular. Ex.: church+es=churches, bush+es=bushes, class+es=classes, potato+es=potatoes, bush+es=bushes, box+es=boxes
1.3.1. Pluralul neregulat
Substantive terminate in consoana+y fac pluralul in ies: Ex.: company - companies, factory - factories, baby - babies
Unele substantive terminate in o fac plural prin adaugarea unui s. Ex.: soprano - sopranos, piano - pianos, photo - photos
Unele substantive terminate in f sau fe vor suferi la plural schimbarea in ves. Ex.: leaf - leaves, half - halves, wife - wives, life - lives, self - selves, wolf - wolves Exceptii: roof - roofs, handkerchief - handkerchiefs, gulf - gulfs, wharf - wharfs/ wharves
Cateva substantive formeaza pluralul prin schimbarea unei vocale interne Ex.: foot - feet, man - men, tooth - teeth
Pluralul substantivului child este children.
Unele substantive raman identice la plural Ex.: aircraft, deer, series, sheep, species, fish
1.3.2 Pluralul substantivelor compuse
In cazul substantivelor compuse numai ultimul cuvant va trece la plural. Ex.: boy-friends, break-ins, travel agents Exceptii: substantivele compuse al caror prim element este man sau woman vor primi semnul pluralului pentru ambele substantive componente. Ex.: men drivers, women teachers, men servants
In cazul substantivelor compuse formate din constructii de genul substantiv + prepozitie / adverb + substantiv, substantivul de baza va primi semnul pluralului. Ex.: sisters-in-law, passers-by, men-of-war, hangers-on, lookers-on, runners-up
Abrevierile sau initialele vor forma pluralul prin adaugarea unui s Ex. : MPs (Members of Parliament), VIPs (very important persons)
1.4. Substantivele unice (uncountable nouns)
Sunt substantive care nu se pot numara (uncountable) deoarece reprezinta fie unicate, obiecte puternic individualizate, notiuni abstracte.
Nume de substante: bread, coffee, gold, paper, cloth, glass, oil, stone, wood
Abstractiuni: earth, paradise, nature, the present, advice, death, help, information, news, beauty, experience, horror, knowledge, friendship, theory, literature
Alte substantive: baggage, damage, shopping, reading, luggage, parking, weather
Substantivele unice sunt intotdeana la singular si vor lua un verb la singular: Ex.: This coffee is cold. The weather was dreadful.
Nu sunt precedate de a/an; pentru a exprima o unitate din aceste substantive se foloseste: some, any, no, a little, bit, piece of, slice of, etc. Ex.: I do not want any help. I need some information. This slice of bread is hard. The piece of advice you gave me helped.
Nota: Multe dintre substantivele unice pot avea si sensuri care se pot numara, astfel devenind substantive comune si comportandu-se ca atare (primes a/an la singular, pot avea plural).
Sens Unic / Sens Comun
Her hair is black. (Parul ei este negru.) She found a hair in the milk. (A gasit un fir de par in lapte.) Their house was made of wood. (Casa lor este din lemn.) We picnicked in the woods. (Am mers la picnic in padure.)
1.5. Forma posesiva
Se adauga 's la forma de singular a substantivelor care nu se termina in s: Ex.: a child's voice, the people's choice, a horse's mouth, women's clothes
Vom folosi doar apostroful (') cu formele de plural ale substantivelor care se termina in s. Ex.: a boys' school, the Johnsons' residence
Numele proprii terminate in s vor primi fie doar apostrof ('), fie 's Ex.: Mr Jones's / Mr Jones' car, Yeats's / Yeats' poems
In cazul substantivelor compuse si a titlurilor ultimul cuvant va primi 's Ex.: My father-in-law's guitar, Henry the Eighth's wives
's se foloseste si dupa initiale sau abrevieri. Ex.: The CEO's assistant, the PM's speech
Forma posesiva se foloseste in general cand vorbim de oameni, animale, tari. Se foloseste de asemenea in urmatoarele cazuri:
In expresii temporale Ex.: yesterday's newspaper, in five years' time, ten minutes' break
In expresii construite dupa modelul bani + worth Ex.
Gramatica limbii Italiene
Documente in limba spaniola
