Grammar Focus

Nouns (Ουσιαστικά)

Nouns (Ουσιαστικά) are words that name people, animals, places, things and ideas. First we learn nouns in general, then singular/plural forms, and after that countable and uncountable nouns.

1. What are Nouns? (Τι είναι τα ουσιαστικά;)

Τα nouns είναι οι λέξεις που ονομάζουν ανθρώπους, ζώα, πράγματα, μέρη ή ιδέες. Με απλά λόγια: όταν λες ποιος, τι ή πού, χρησιμοποιείς ένα ουσιαστικό.

✨ Examples (Παραδείγματα)

CategoryEnglishGreek
Personteacher, doctor, Mariaδάσκαλος, γιατρός, Μαρία
Animaldog, cat, elephantσκύλος, γάτα, ελέφαντας
Placeschool, park, Londonσχολείο, πάρκο, Λονδίνο
Thingbook, chair, pencilβιβλίο, καρέκλα, μολύβι
Idea / Feelinglove, happiness, peaceαγάπη, χαρά, ειρήνη

📚 Types of Nouns (Είδη Ουσιαστικών)

  • Common Nouns: γενικά πρόσωπα/πράγματα — boy, car, city.
  • Proper Nouns: συγκεκριμένα ονόματα — Maria, London, Tuesday.
  • Concrete Nouns: μπορούμε να τα δούμε/αγγίξουμε — apple, rain.
  • Abstract Nouns: ιδέες ή συναισθήματα — happiness, love.
  • Countable & Uncountable: apple / milk.
  • Singular & Plural: cat / cats.

🧠 Examples in Sentences

  • The dog is sleeping. → Το σκυλί κοιμάται.
  • I love music. → Μου αρέσει η μουσική.
  • My school is near the park. → Το σχολείο μου είναι κοντά στο πάρκο.
  • This chair is very old. → Αυτή η καρέκλα είναι πολύ παλιά.

🌟 Mini Quiz

Which are Proper Nouns? 👉 dog, Athens, school, Mary, teacher

2. Singular and Plural Nouns (Ενικός & Πληθυντικός)

Singular = ένα άτομο, ζώο ή πράγμα (a cat). Plural = περισσότερα από ένα (two cats).

🧮 Rules (Κανόνες)

RuleExamples
1. Add -sbook → books, car → cars
2. -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, -z → +esbus → buses, box → boxes, brush → brushes
3. consonant + y → -iesbaby → babies, city → cities. If vowel + y: toy → toys.
4. -o → usually +estomato → tomatoes, but photo → photos.
5. -f / -fe → -vesleaf → leaves, knife → knives. Exception: roof → roofs.
6. -us → -icactus → cacti, focus → foci
7. -is → -esanalysis → analyses
8. -on → -aphenomenon → phenomena
9. -um → -adatum → data, curriculum → curricula
10. Irregular / special pluralsman → men, woman → women, child → children, tooth → teeth, mouse → mice, person → people. Same form: sheep, deer, fish, series, species. Always plural: trousers, scissors, glasses, jeans, shorts.

🌟 Mini Quiz

Write the plural: leaf, potato, toy, woman, bus, fish.

3. Countable & Uncountable Nouns (Μετρήσιμα & Μη Μετρήσιμα)

🧮 Countable Nouns (Μετρήσιμα)

  • Μπορούν να μετρηθούν: one apple, two apples
  • Έχουν ενικό και πληθυντικό.
  • Στον ενικό παίρνουν a/an: a biscuit, an egg.
  • Μετριούνται με some, many, a few, a lot of.

Examples: I’ve got a lot of friends.There aren’t many potatoes left.

How many…? How many children are there in your class?

☕ Uncountable Nouns (Μη Μετρήσιμα)

  • Δε μετριούνται κομμάτι-κομμάτι: water, milk, rice, sugar, money, time.
  • Έχουν συνήθως μόνο ενικό και δεν παίρνουν a/an.
  • Χρησιμοποιούν some, a lot of, little, a little.
  • Στην άρνηση/ερώτηση συχνά: any, much.

Examples: There is a lot of milk in the fridge.We haven’t got much coffee.

How much…? How much time have we got?

📘 Comparison (Σύγκριση με μια ματιά)

CountableUncountable
many, a few, how manymuch, a little, how much
There are some apples.There is some milk.

💡 Measurable quantities for uncountable nouns

Για να «μετρήσουμε» μη μετρήσιμα ουσιαστικά, χρησιμοποιούμε ποσότητες:

  • a glass of water
  • a bottle of milk
  • a piece of bread
  • a bowl of rice
  • a cup of tea

⚠️ Attention: We say some bread or a piece of bread, not a bread. We say How many apples? but How much milk?

✨ Few / A few – Little / A little

ExpressionMeaningExample
fewλίγα και όχι αρκετάThere are few biscuits left.
a fewμερικά / αρκετάThere are a few biscuits.
littleλίγο και όχι αρκετόThere is little water.
a littleλίγο / αρκετόThere is a little water.

📝 Practice

A. Write C for countable or U for uncountable.

apple, milk, rice, pencil, bread, chair, homework, banana

B. Choose the correct word.

  1. How many / much books have you got?
  2. There is some / a water in the bottle.
  3. We haven’t got many / much rice.
  4. There are a few / a little biscuits on the plate.
✅ Show answers

Nouns

  1. cat, table
  2. Maria, pencil
  3. football, park

Groups: doctor = person, school = place, dog = animal, chair = thing, love = idea, Greece = place, bird = animal, book = thing.

Proper nouns

Athens, Mary

Plurals

leaf → leaves, potato → potatoes, toy → toys, woman → women, bus → buses, fish → fish

Countable / Uncountable

apple C, milk U, rice U, pencil C, bread U, chair C, homework U, banana C

Choose

  1. many
  2. some
  3. much
  4. a few

Singular & Plural Nouns – English Grammar Lessons

PLURAL NOUNS 🦸‍♀️ Grammar and Spelling for Kids 📝

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