Important things to keep in mind when using nouns are which article to use and how to form the plural and how to form the possessive case. Aklınızda tutmanız gereken en önemli şey, isimleri kullanırken bunların tekil mi? yoksa çoğul mu olduğunu? Daha önce bahsettiğim birşey ise doğrudan “the” artikeli gelmesi gerektiğini bilmemiz gerekiyor.

Article

Direct article – the

example: the house

Indirect article a / an

a – if the first letter of the following word is pronounced like a consonant – Eğer ismimizin ilk harfi sessiz telafuz ediliyorsa “a” almalı.

example: a car, a university

an – if the first letter of the following word is pronounced like a vowel – Eğer ilk harfimiz sesli telafuz ediliyorsa sessiz bile yazılsa “an” alır.

example: an apple, an hour

Plural

general rule: singular form + s

example: a car - two cars

after s, ch, x, z the plural is formed by adding es

example: a box – two boxes

y after a consonant is changed to ie before the plural s

example: a city – two cities

But: y after a vowel is not changed

example: a boy - two boys

After o the plural is usually formed by adding es (this is not the case, however, with words used for electric gadgets and music: radio, video, disco)

example: a tomato – two tomatoes

Possessive Case of Nouns

If there is a relation to people when using the possessive case with unanimated things, often the s is added instead of using an of phrase.

example: Germany’s economy or the ecomony of Germany

When using the possessive case with a time, s is added.

example: a three week’s holiday

The words much and many mean a lot of.

• If a noun is in singular, we use much

  Example:

  much money

• If a noun is in plural, we use many

  Example:

  many friends

Use of much / many

In everyday English, we normally use much / many only in questions and negative clauses.

Example:

How much money have you got?

Carla does not have many friends.

In positive clauses with so, as or too, we also use much / many.

Example:

Carla has so many friends.

She has as many friends as Sue.

Kevin has too much money.

In all other positive clauses, however, we prefer expressions like a lot of / lots of.

Example:

Carla has a lot of / lots of friends.

Kevin has a lot of / lots of money.

In formal texts, however, much / many are also common in positive clauses. This you will notice for example when you read English news.

Countable / Uncountable Nouns

In connection with much / many people often speak of countable nouns and uncountable nouns.

Countable nouns have a singular and a plural form. In plural, these nouns can be used with a number (that’s why they are called ‘countable nouns’). Countable nouns take many.

Example:

100 friends – many friends

Uncountable nouns can only be used in singular. These nouns cannot be used with a number (that’s why they are called ‘uncountable nouns’). Uncountable nouns take much.

Example:

100 money – much money

Note: Of course you can count money – but then you would name the currency and say that you have got 5 euro (but not „5 money“).

The expressions a little and a few mean some.

• If a noun is in singular, we use a little

  Example:

  a little money

• If a noun is in plural, we use a few

  Example:

  a few friends

Countable / Uncountable Nouns

In connection with a little / a few people often speak of countable nouns and uncountable nouns.

Countable nouns have a singular and a plural form. In plural, these nouns can be used with a number (that’s why they are called ‘countable nouns’). Countable nouns take a few.

Example:

4 friends – a few friends

Uncountable nouns can only be used in singular. These nouns cannot be used with a number (that’s why they are called ‘uncountable nouns’). Uncountable nouns take a little.

Example:

3 money – a little money

Note: Of course you can count money – but then you would name the currency and say that you have got 3 euro (but not „3 money“).

A Little / A few or Little / Few

It’s a difference if you use a little / a few or little / few. Without the article, the words have a limiting or negative meaning.

• a little = some
  little = hardly any

  Example:

  I need a little money. – I need some money.

  I need little money. – I need hardly any money.

• a few = some
  few = hardly any

  Example:

  A few friends visited me. – Some friends visited me.

  Few friends visited me. – Hardly any friends visited me.

Without the article, little / few sound rather formal. That’s why we don’t use them very often in everyday English. A negative sentence with much / many is more common here.

Example:

I need little money. = I do not need much money.

Few friends visited me. = Not many friends visited me.