SUBSTANTIVUL

SUBSTANTIVUL

ATENTIE: In engleza, toate propozitiile trebuie sa aiba subiect. Subiectul poate fi un substantiv sau un pronume.

A. Genul.

1. Cele mai multe substantive au aceeasi forma pentru toate genurile:

friend, child, doctor, cousin, baby, teenager, artist, cook, dancer, driver, teacher

Genul poate fi indicat de un pronume insotitor:

My friend sent her son a present. ("friend" este de genul feminin)

The doctor opened his bag. ("doctor" este un barbat)

Child si baby pot fi considerate neutre:

The baby closed its eyes and fell asleep.

Numele de tari sunt si ele considerate neutre:

Lately, Kenya has greatly improved its economy.

2. Multe substantive care denumesc oameni si animale au o forma feminina si una masculina:

son, daughter nephew, niece uncle, aunt

actor, actress waiter, waitress gentleman, lady

father, mother husband, wife man, woman

male, female bull, cow hero, heroine

3. genul poate fi indicat combinand substantive fara gen cu: boy, girl, male, female, man, woman, he-, she-.

boyfriend, girlfriend male pilot, female pilot

man dentist, woman dentist wolf, she-wolf

policeman, policewoman

NOTA: In incercarea de a elimina "discriminarea de gen" (gender discrimination) exista o tendinta de a inlocui "terminatiile" -man si -woman cu -person sau de a le elimina complet. In alte cazuri au fost create alte expresii sau alte cuvinte lipsite de gen.

salesman, saleswoman salesperson

chairman, chairwoman chairperson sau chair

steward, stewardess flight attendant

B. Numarul.

B.1. Substantivele numarabile - se pot numara, adica au numar. Pot avea atat forme de singular cat si de plural. La plural avem urmatoarele forme:

1. la majoritatea substantivelor se adauga -s formei de singular:

book, books day, days house, houses

donkey, donkeys handkerchief, handkerchiefs

2. substantivele in o, ch, sh, s sau x primesc -es:

potato, potatoes church, churches brush, brushes

bus, buses box, boxes kiss, kisses

3. substantivele terminate in consoana + y pierd pe y si primesc -ies:

baby, babies factory, factories fly, flies

NOTA: Exista exceptii:

kilo, kilos photo, photos piano, pianos

radio, radios soprano, sopranos

4. unele substantive elimina -f/fe de la final si primesc -ves:

calf, calves wife, wives wolf, wolves loaf, loaves

half, halves leaf, leaves life, lives shelf, shelves

thief, thieves knife, knives self, selves

5. unele substantive isi modifica vocalele:

foot, feet tooth, teeth goose, geese

man, men woman, women

mouse, mice louse, lice

*child, children person, people

6. unele substantive au aceeasi forma la singular si la plural:

sheep, deer, aircraft, fish (RAR: fishes) trout, salmon, series, species, means, headquarters

7. unele substantive exista numai la forma de plural:

clothes, pants, pyjamas, scissors, eyeglasses, scales, stairs, savings, earnings, belongings, outskirts, wages, premises, surroundings, archives, customs, police, the Middle Ages

8. unele substantive imprumutate pastreaza pluralul grecesc, italian sau latin:

crisis, crises cactus, cacti phenomenon, phenomena

datum, data libretto, libretti fungus, fungi

nucleus, nuclei stimulus, stimuli criterion, criteria

basis, bases thesis, theses oasis, oases

axis, axes medium, media bacterium, bacteria

NOTA: Engleza moderna foloseste adesea data, media, bacteria cu sens plural, dar cu un verb la singular.

The latest data is highly encouraging.

9. numele de familie se pot folosi la plural pentru a indica intreaga familie. Numelui i se adauga un -s. Nu au loc schimbari de ortografie:

The Kennedys are world-famous.

10. Substantivele colective se refera la un grup de oameni sau lucruri. Sunt in mod normal folosite la singular. In engleza britanica (Br.E.) se pot folosi atat cu verbe la singular cat si la plural. In engleza americana (Am.E.) au intotdeauna un verb la singular. Iata o lista de substantive colective uzuale:

family, aristocracy, nobility, government, enemy, proletariat, press, opposition, jury, community, army, audience, crew, staff, team, committee, public

NOTA: Ocazional substantivele colective sunt folosite la plural si sunt numarabile.

Romeo and Juliet came from two feuding families.

The governments of Israel and Egypt agreed to sign the treaty.

Only two teams can get to the finals.

B.2. Substantivele nenumarabile - NU pot fi numarate, adica nu au numar. De obicei au numai forma de singular. Se impart in urmatoarele categorii:

1. substantive concrete:

water wood metal paper

grass glass oil silver

gold sand snow rain

bread milk coffee butter

wine fire food salt

2. substantive abstracte:

love beauty hope relief intelligence

experience advice purity joy design

freedom information courage evil

duty capacity education

time patience reality

NOTA: Work este nenumarabil, dar job este numarabil.

Harriet is looking for work. James has two jobs.

Works inseamna: fabrica, parte mecanica, productie literara, fapte sau acte.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta is known for her good works.

My father has the complete works of Victor Hugo in his library.

The steel works are down the road.

ATENTIE: Iata cateva substantive nenumarabile in engleza care in alte limbi se pot deseori numara:

advice, baggage, luggage, furniture, damage, hair, shopping, homework, information, knowledge, money, weather, research, progress, business, spaghetti, news

3. substantive verbale (verbe in ING): camping, dancing, shopping, jogging, singing etc.

Smoking is bad for your health.

The town council does not permit parking on this street.

4. nume de limbi: German, English, Chinese, Italian, Spanish etc.

You speak excellent English.

5. unele nume de boli, stiinte si jocuri au forma de plural, dar in mod normal primesc un verb la singular. Sunt considerate nenumarabile: measles, mumps, dominoes, physics, politics, ethics, acoustics, statistics, mathematics, news, eletronics etc.

Politics does not interest me.

The latest news is quite encouraging.

Mathematics is an important subject. DAR: His mathematics were all wrong. (NU stiinta, ci calculele)

ATENTIE: Substativele nenumarabile nu sunt niciodata precedate de expresii de numar (a, an, one, two, three etc.). Iata cateva expresii folosite pentru a indica numarul/cantitatea:

• a piece of information / furniture / advice / equipment / glass / paper / news
• a type of atmosphere / behavior / violence
• an item of luggage / baggage / news
• a case of mumps / measles / flu
• a ray of hope / sunshine
• a lot of strength / security

C. Adjective folosite ca substantive - se foloseste THE + adjectiv pentru:

1. grupuri de persoane cu aceleasi caracteristici. Urmeaza un verb la plural:

The injured were taken away by helicopter.

The rich are not always as happy as we imagine.

2. calitate impersonala. Urmeaza un verb la singular:

The impossible has strong attraction for some people.

3. nationalitate (daca nu exista un cuvant separat):

the French, the Chinese, the English, the Japanese, the Irish

DAR: the Poles, the Germans, the Romanians, the Finns

D. Substantive compuse. Ele pot fi:

1. scrise ca un singur cuvant, cuvinte separate sau cu cratima. Daca aveti indoieli, cel mai bine e sa consultati intotdeauna dictionarul:

armchair can opener one-way street

2. numarabile sau nenumarabile:

alarm clock fast food

compact disk human race

tooth brush drinking water

waiting room welfare state

yellow pages pocket money

3. compuse din doua substantive. Primul substantiv este folosit ca adjectiv si este la singular:

chain factory (a factory for chains)

cotton skirt (a skirt made of cotton)

a ten-year-old girl (a girl who is ten years old)

car accident (an accident involving cars)

4. substantivele compuse numarabile formeaza pluralul aplicand regulile normale de plural ultimului substantiv:

mail boxes sleeping bags t-shirts

NOTA: Uneori, dar rar, substantivele la plural pot fi folosite ca adjective:

sports car, customs department, clothes store, sales division, savings bank, news item

5. substantivele compuse formate din verbe complexe sau substantive legate cu of si in au plurale neregulate:

passers-by runners-up sisters-in-law

E. Posesia - OF si genitivul sintetic.

1. in multe cazuri folosim of pentru a exprima posesia. Substantivele, folosite ca adjective, pot si ele uneori indica posesia:

door of the car car door

frame of the picture picture frame

headquarters of the company company headquarters

the color of the wall the wall color

NOTA: Adjectivele nu au numar. Substantivele care devin adjective sunt la singular:

the tops of the boxes the box tops

2. genitivul sintetic - in cazul persoanelor si animalelor folosim genitivul sintetic pentru a exprima posesia:

EXERCITII

1. Completati cu forma corecta de plural.

1. Chinese (woman) used to bind their (foot).
2. The (man) were watching the (aircraft) land.
3. The (child) saw many (species) of (fish) in the (aquarium).
4. The (mouse) invaded the (house) of the local (person).
5. What white (tooth) you have!
6. They each caught two (trout) and thee (salmon) during their fishing expedition.
7. It took us five (day) to visit two (country).

2. Formati substantive compuse potrivind coloana A cu coloana B.

A B

1. arm a. sitter

2. bottle b. pages

3. fast c. heating

4. yellow d. chair

5. lawn e. directory

6. telephone f. mower

7. chewing g. conditioner

8. central h. bag

9. air i. opener

10. tea j. food

11. alarm k. gum

12. post l. clock

13. baby m. stop

14. heart n. tale

15. burglar o. attack

16. fairy p. office

17. credit q. lens

18. bus r. card

19. bank s. alarm

20. contact t. account

3. Subliniati forma corecta.

1. The money borrowed from the bank has been / have been well used.
2. Jane's hair is / are tangled. It needs / they need brushing.
3. Please pass a bread / a piece of bread.
4. Swatch is a famous brand of watchs / watches.
5. The sick needs / need patience and care.
6. The French are / is known for their excellent food / foods.
7. People here are / is very helpful.
8. I buy paper / a paper every morning.

APLICATII

JOBS

1. Read the descriptions of some of the worst jobs ever!

1. Water caddy

As basic sanitation and running water only became available in the late 19^th century, people needed to have water carried to their homes.

There were people who were paid to do exactly that: carry a 30-kilogram barrel on their back, to deliver water to houses and apartments all over the city. It also includes climbing many flights of stairs and a fair number of hills. Not to mention that you are not allowed to drink from it and this can become very tormenting on a hot day.

In order to make a living, one had to deliver about 36 barrels of water every day.

2. Leech collector

In the past, doctors believed that draining people of blood was very helpful. For that, they used leeches.

Because leeches were used quite often, doctors paid people to get them.

Usually women went to lakes and marshes to collect the worms. In order to find them, they used their own legs as bait. When they were attached, the leeches were put in jars and sent to doctors who delivered this expensive treatment.

This job left women with scarred legs.

3. Stone worker

In the medieval times of building castles and cathedrals, stone workers were in great demand.

First, there was the stone quarry, were people worked in very difficult conditions, without mechanised tools.

Then, there was the job of stone carver which meant many hours of carving hard rocks and inhaling dust.

If you worked on a constructions site, then your job would involve dangerous conditions of unsafe scaffolding at a great height.

4. Executioner

In an age when people were executed by order of the king, the most common form was beheading and hanging.

The first needed the help of an executioner using a ceremonial axe and a knife. Aside from having to perform the horrifying act, the executioner was also hated by everyone, including his family.

Sometimes the condemned paid the executioner to deal with them quickly - this meant to have a steady hand. It didn't always happen: Mary Queen of Scots only died after the second axe blow.

5. Whipping boy

In the past, the monarch ruled by divine right. This meant that the king or queen was chosen by God to rule. Their children were also divine.

However, this became a problem when a young prince or princess behaved badly and needed to be punished. As a divine person could not be punished, there was always a position of whipping boy at the court.

You would be fed, housed and clothed by the royal court - all you had to do is take the whipping deserved by the prince or princess, in case they did something bad.

6. Food taster

In the old days, aristocrats and kings tried to take out their enemies by poisoning their food.

In order to protect themselves, the kings would hire an official food taster.

Your job would be to takes everything before it touched the royal lips. The good side was that you had the chance to taste some of the best foods the royal chefs had to offer. The bad side was that you could always fall to the floor in agony and die from the poison meant for the king. Which actually happened, from time to time.

2. Which of these jobs in the past you absolutely couldn't do, under any circumstances? Please provide reasons.

3. Go to https://www.usgenweb.org/research/occupations.shtml to see a list of old occupations explained.

4. Why do you think we have such a high rate of unemployment today? Tick the appropriate answers.

• people are not educated
• people have enough money
• people are lazy
• people can't find jobs

5. Try to come up with possible solutions for unemployment.

Did you know?

Unemployment is calculated using an unemployment rate, as follows: