unmarked plural nouns in english and theis difficulties for the 1st year students at the faculty of tourism, honoi university of culture = danh từ số nhiều không có dấu hiệu nhận dạng trong tiếng anh

iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Certificate of originality of study project report………………………………………… i
Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………… ii
Abstract……………………………………………………………………… ………… iii
Table of contents……………………………………………………………………….….iv
List of tables and charts……………………………………………………………… .vii

PART I- INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………… 1
1. Rationale…………………………………………………………………… ….1
2. Aims of the study…………………………………………………………… 1
3. Scope of the study…………………………………………………………… 2
4. Methodology……………………………………………………………… … 2
The subjects……………………………………………………….…… …2
The instruments……………………………………………….…… 3
The procedures…………………………………………….……………….3
Data analysis…………………………………………………………… …4
5. Design of the study…………………………………………………………… 4

PART II- DEVELOPMENT………………………………………………………….… 5
Chapter 1- Literature Review………………………………………….…………….… 5
1.1. Definition of English nouns………………………………….…………….… 5
1.2. Classification of nouns…………………………………………………… … 5
1.2.2. Proper nouns……………………………………………………… 6
1.2.2.1. Definition……………………………… ………………… 6
1.2.2.2. Classification……………………………….…………… 6
1.2.3. Common nouns…………………………………………………… 7
1.2.3.1. Definition…………………………………………………….7
1.2.3.2. Classification…………………………………………… 7

1.3. Grammatical categories…………………………………………………… ….7
1.3.1. Number…………………………………………………………… 7
1.3.1.1. Definition……………………………………………… …. 7

v
1.3.1.2. Classification of nouns in terms of number…………….……8
1.3.2. Case………………………………………………………………… 8
1.3.2.1. Kinds and choice of genitives…………………………… . 8
1.3.2.3. Genitive meanings……………………………………….… 8
1.3.3. Gender………………………………………………………… ……9
Chapter 2- Grammatical features of plural nouns in English…………………… ….10
2.1. Definition……………………………………………………………….…….10
2.2. Classification…………………………………………………………… … 10
2.2.1. Marked plural nouns…………………………………………… ….11
2.2.1.1. Definition……………………………………….………… 11
2.2.1.2. Classification……………………………….…………… ….11
(a) Invariables…………………………………….…………… …….11
(b) Variables……………………………………….…………… … 12
2.2.2. Unmarked plural nouns……………………………………… ……13
2.2.2.1. Definition……………………………… ……………… … 13
2.2.2.2. Classification…………………………………………… …. 14
(a) Unmarked plural nouns which are always used with plural verbs 14
(b) Unmarked plural nouns which refer to groups of people or
things………………………………………………………………….15
(c) Unmarked plural nouns which are formed by ‘the + adjective’… 18
(d) Invariable nouns which can be singular or plurals…………….… 19
2.2.2.3. Subject-Verb agreement………………………………… … 20
Chapter 3- Findings 21
3.1. Data analysis results…………………………………………………… ……21
3.1.1. The mid-term test……………………………………………….… 21

3.1.2. The students’ questionnaires…………………………………… …22
3.1.3. The teachers’ interview……………………………………… ……27
3.2. Findings……………………………………………………….………… … 30
3.2.1. No inflectional distinction with singular form… …………… … 30
3.2.2. Subject-Verb agreement…………………………………… …… 30
Chapter 4- Some suggested solutions…………………………………………… …… 32
4.1. Towards the students…………………………………………………… … 32

vi
4.1.1. Using dictionary……………………………………………… … 32
4.1.2. Self-access materials…………………………………………….… 33
4.1.3. Making a vocabulary notebook………………………………… …34
4.1.4. Group work…………………………………………………… … 34
4.2. Towards the teachers………………………………………………………….34
4.2.1. Using effective teaching techniques………………………… …….35
4.2.2. Using vocabulary consolidation as warm-up activities……… ……35
4.2.3. Guiding students’ home revision and give them feedback…… … 36

PART III- CONCLUSION………………………………………………………… … 38
1. Summary of the study……………………………………………………… 38
2. Limitation of the study……………………………………………………… 39
3. Suggestion for further study………………………………………………… 39
References…………………………………………………………………………………41
Appendixes……………………………………………………………………………… I

vii
LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS

Table 1: The mid-term test
Chart 1: Students’ attitude towards vocabulary learning
Chart 2: Problems in learning English plural nouns
Chart 3: Ways of practicing unmarked plural nouns
Chart 4: Ways of presenting unmarked plural nouns students like
Chart 5: Difficulties caused by unmarked plural nouns
Chart 6: Consolidation of unmarked plural nouns students are most interested in
Chart 7: Ways of practicing unmarked plural nouns students like most
Chart 8: Parts students find most difficult in their last exams



1
PART I- INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
In the age of information technology today, English is required as a basic need in any field

of life. In our country, at present, learning English is not only a concern but also a practical
need for many people. Therefore, more and more attention of both the general public and
the government has been paid to English learning and teaching at schools, colleges and
universities.
Learning to master a language is a lengthy and effortful process including both learning the
language knowledge: grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, etc. and language skills:
reading, speaking, writing and listening. As the final aim of learning language in general
and learning English in particular is communicative, vocabulary is one of the most
essential goals to achieve.
However, how to learn a language, especially its vocabulary effectively is really a problem.
At Hanoi University of Culture (HUC), the 1
st
year students at the Faculty of Tourism
often report to have a lot of difficulties in learning vocabulary, especially the number
category. Normally, a noun is marked inflectionally as singular or plural by means of –s
(and other markers such as voicing, -en endings, vowel changes or foreign plural) or Ø
respectively. In some nouns, however, there is no such inflectional distinction (Bache,
1997). Surprisingly, a number of plural nouns in English have no plural endings
(unmarked plural nouns). This is a big problem for students because they cannot realize
these nouns as plural by their forms. It arises even more challenges for students when they
often make mistakes in making the subject and the verb of the sentence agree.
Up to now, no study on this matter has been carried out at HUC. Therefore, the situation
encouraged the author to do a research on ‘Unmarked plural nouns in English and their
difficulties for the 1
st
year students at the Faculty of Tourism, Hanoi University of
Culture’. It is the author’s hope that this study will be really useful for both teachers and
students in teaching and learning vocabulary in general and unmarked plural nouns in
particular.
2. Aims of the study

- to provide learners with grammatical features of unmarked plural nouns in English
- to specify difficulties which unmarked plural nouns in English cause to the 1
st
year
students at the Faculty of Tourism, HUC

2
- to suggest some solutions for students to overcome the difficulties in their using
unmarked plural nouns in English
3. Scope of the study
This study is limited to provide learners with grammatical features of unmarked plural
nouns in English such as definition, classification, agreement with verbs, some usage
notes, etc. More importantly, it tries to serve the purpose of finding out the difficulties in
using unmarked plural nouns in English faced by the 1
st
year students at the Faculty of
Tourism, HUC and seeking for possible solutions to the problems.
4. Methodology
The theoretical background in this study is based on the theoretical frameworks by
different linguists. Quirk (1973, 1990, 1987), Greenbaum (1990, 1996), John (1996), Swan
(1995, 1984), Murphy (1994), Collins Publishers (1987, 1990, 1992), Maclin (1994), Sons
(1990), etc. propose such well known and convincing researches on which we will rely for
the theory of plural nouns in general, and unmarked plural nouns in particular. The
presentation of these linguists’ theory is to give the readers features of plural nouns and
especially grammatical features of unmarked plural nouns in English.
Additionally, in order to find out the difficulties of unmarked plural nouns in English for
the 1
st
year students at the Faculty of Tourism, HUC, this study adopts quantitative and
qualitative methods. Below is a description of the subjects, the instruments, and procedures

for the study.
4.1. The subjects
There are two types of subjects participating in the study. The first type is the 1
st
year
students at the Faculty of Tourism, HUC, and the later is the teachers who have been
working with these students for years.
90 of the 1
st
year students were chosen to take part in a questionnaire survey. They came
from 3 classes in the Faculty of Tourism at the university. They are both male and female,
at the age from 19 to 20 and have learnt English for at least 3 years at high schools.
In addition, 10 teachers who are working with these students were invited to participate in
an interview held by the researcher. They are both male and female, aging from 29 to 50
and have taught at the university for at least 3 years.
4.2. The instruments
In order to ensure the validity and reliability of the study, different tools were used, namely
written test, questionnaires, and interview.

3
Instrument 1: The mid-term test was used as a tool to investigate the difficulties of
unmarked plural nouns in English which the 1
st
year students have to encounter in their
vocabulary learning. This test has much to do with unmarked plural nouns, and includes 4
parts presented in the following order: Gap-filling (10 points); S-V agreement (10 points);
Gap-filling combined with S-V agreement (10 points); and Translation (10 points). (see
appendix 3)
Instrument 2: Survey questionnaires on the 1
st

year students were employed to find out
what difficulties unmarked plural nouns in English cause to them in their vocabulary
learning, what teaching methods used by their teachers they would enjoy, and what they
have done to improve their knowledge of unmarked plural nouns in English. (see appendix
1)
Instrument 3: An interview was organized with 10 teachers who are teaching English to
the 1
st
year students at the Faculty of Tourism at HUC to find out what teaching methods
they are using when dealing with unmarked plural nouns in English, what difficulties they
find from their students in their learning unmarked plural nouns in English, and some
recommendations made by them. (see appendix 2)
4.3. The procedures
4.3.1. The mid-term test
90 written tests done by the 1
st
year students who came from the Faculty of Tourism, HUC
at the middle of the 2
nd
term were chosen to mark for statistical data. The test is scaled by
the researcher as follows:
Very bad: 0 – 2; Bad: 3 – 4; Good: 5 – 6; Very good: 7 – 8; Excellent: 9 – 10
4.3.2. Questionnaires
90 questionnaires were delivered to 90 chosen students. Each questionnaire consists of 8
items designed with both close-ended and open-ended questions which are to help
respondents feel free to express their own ideas.
4.3.3. Interviews
An interview was organized between the researcher and 10 teachers mentioned above. The
interview was a semi-structured kind with 5 items focusing on their teaching methods and
difficulties they find from their 1

st
year students in their learning unmarked plural nouns in
English. The interview was recorded for later reference.
4.4. Data analysis
As above mentioned, the data for this study is collected by the mid-term tests, students’
questionnaires, and teachers’ interview. With the mid-term tests, students’ acquisition of

4
unmarked plural nouns in English can be accurately assessed. Information provided from
students’ questionnaires will be categorized, tabulated and converted to percentages for the
convenience of analysis. Moreover, information collected during teachers’ interview is
added to assist interpretation.
5. Design of the study
This study is divided into three main parts:
Part I: Introduction
The Introduction presents the rationale for the study, states what the study is aimed at and
what specific tasks it deals with, and gives the methods by which the study was conducted
together with the organization of the study.
Part II: Development
The Development includes 4 chapters:
Chapter 1 is concerned with the theoretical concepts, classification and grammatical
categories of nouns in English.
Chapter 2 deals with the grammatical features of plural nouns in general and unmarked
plural nouns in particular.
Chapter 3 analyses data collected from the subjects and instruments employed in the
research along with some discussion.
Chapter 4 suggests some solutions which are expected to improve the 1
st
year students’
learning English unmarked plural nouns in HUC context.

Part III: Conclusion
The Conclusion reviews the major findings of the study, refers to some limitations of the
study and suggestions for further study.




5
PART II- DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1 – LITERATURE REVIEW
In this chapter, an overview of English nouns is examined to help learners get general ideas
about the matter studied. This part consists of 3 sections: (1) definition of English nouns,
(2) classification of English nouns, and (3) grammatical categories of English nouns.
1.1. Definition of English nouns
In Gerald’s view (2001), nouns denote both concrete objects and abstract entities.
For example:
Concrete
Abstract
book
anger
chair
difficulty
dog
eagerness
According to Collins (1992:444), a noun is used to identify a person or thing.
Tran (2008:15) defines a noun as ‘a word used to name person, thing, animal or abstract
concept’. For example:
- Names of persons: Tom, John, people, man, boy, woman, etc.
- Names of things: bed, chair, table, house, earth, etc.
- Names of animals: cat, dog, tiger, lion, etc.

- Names of abstract concepts: peace, war, independence, etc.
From my point of view, Tran’s concept of English nouns is more concrete. Therefore, the
definition of English nouns by Tran (2008) is mentioned in this paper.
1.2. Classification of English nouns
Different linguists classify English nouns into different kinds. According to Collins
(1992:444), English nouns can be classified into six main types: count nouns, uncount
nouns, singular nouns, plural nouns, collective nouns, and proper nouns. In Thomson and
Martinet’s view (1986), there are four kinds of nouns in English: common nouns, proper
nouns, abstract nouns and collective nouns. Tran (2008) classifies English nouns into 2
main types: proper nouns and common nouns. For the purpose of this study that focuses on
grammatical features of unmarked plural nouns in English of which collective nouns are
consisted, the classification by Tran (2008) is more general and will be used in this paper.
Let’s look at the diagram to see the classification of English nouns in Tran’s point of view.
Nouns


Proper nouns Common nouns

6
(unique reference) (generic/specific reference)
Tom, John, Mr. Smith, etc.


Count noun Non-count noun
man, boy, people water, oil, independence

Concrete Abstract
man, boy, water peace, war, independence
The two types of nouns (proper nouns and common nouns) will be discussed hereafter.
1.2.1. Proper nouns

1.2.1.1. Definition of proper nouns
According to Collins (1992:448), names of people, places, organizations, institutions,
ships, magazines, books, plays, paintings, and other unique things are proper nouns. For
example: Mozart, Romeo and Juliet, the President of the United States, the Seine, etc.
Gerald (2001:34) defines proper nouns as ‘the names of individual people and places,
including geographical features such as roads, rivers, mountains and ocean’. He gives
some examples of proper nouns as Patrick, China, Hong Kong, Atlantic Ocean, River
Thames, Mount Everest, etc. In addition, he also states that the names of institutions,
newspapers, buildings, and ships are proper nouns. Finally, he presents the days of the
week, the months of the year and other periods of the calendar as proper nouns.
Quirk (1987:76) states that proper nouns are names of specific people (Shakespeare),
places (Milwaukee), countries (Australia), months (September), days (Thursday), holidays
(Christmas), magazines (Vogue), and so forth.
In short, proper nouns usually refer to unique individuals, places or events in the calendar.
Proper nouns have unique reference (i.e. they refer to a unique person, country,
organization or sometimes a group of these).
1.2.1.2. Classification of proper nouns
According to Quirk (1987) and Gerald (2001), the following list exemplifies the main
classes of proper nouns.
(a) Personal names: Tom, John, Mr. Smith, Bill Clinton, Sir Jones, etc.
(b) Geographical names (including names of continents, countries, counties, states, cities,
towns, lakes and mountains): America, Brazil, Arkansas, Boston, Silver Lake, Mount
Everest, the Nile, etc.
(c) Names of institutions or organizations: London University, FAO, UNICEF, etc.
(d) Name + common noun: Park Lane, Kennedy Airport, etc.
(e) Calendar items: January, Monday, Christmas, etc.

7
1.2.2. Common nouns
1.2.2.1. Definition of common nouns

If proper nouns usually refer to unique individuals, places or events in the calendar, all
other nouns are common nouns.
1.2.2.2. Classification of common nouns
According to Tran (2008:16), the most important classification of common nouns is the
distinction between (a) count and (b) non-count nouns.
Count nouns are defined simply by him as those that vary in form. For example:
Singular Plural
man, boy, ox men, boys, oxen
Whereas, non-count nouns can be understood as those that have only one form which is
often used in the singular: water, oil, silver, independence, etc.
Tran (2008) also states that count nouns and non-count nouns can be concrete or abstract:
Concrete Abstract

Count Non-count Count Non-count
man, boy water, gold war, activity peace, independence
1.3. Grammatical categories
Grammatical categories of nouns can be another aspect which needs to be mentioned when
dealing with nouns. Accordingly, grammatical categories of nouns consist of number, case
and gender.
1.3.1. Number
1.3.1.1. Definition
Regarding Tran’s view (2008), number is the grammatical category that divides count
nouns into singular and plural.

For example: Singular Plural
man, boy men, boys
war, activity wars, activities
1.3.1.2. Classification of nouns in terms of number
Tran (2008:17) classifies nouns in terms of number into invariables and variables which
can be seen clearly through the below diagrams.

(a) Invariables
Singular only Non-count material (water, oil)

8
I N-ending in –s abstract (peace, freedom)
N (news, physics)
V Substantivised adj. (Abstract) (the true, the beautiful)
A
R N with plural meaning (scissors, trousers)
I
B Pluralia tantums (customs, arms)
L
E Collective Ns (people, cattle)
S Plural only
Substantivised adj. (Concrete) (the poor, the blind)

(b) Variables
Regular plural + -s /-s/ books, stops
V /-z/ beds, stars
A /-iz/ boxes, brushes
R
I Irregular plural +voicing /f/ /ve/ : leaf

leaves
A +en ending : ox

oxen
B +change of root vowel : foot

feet

L +foreign plural : phenomenon

phenomena
E
S
Zero plural: sheep, deer, fish, trout

1.3.2. Case
1.3.2.1. Kinds and choice of genitives
Quirk (1987) and Tran (2008) state that there are 2 genitives: ‘s genitives and of - genitives.
Accordingly, the choice of genitives will depend on whether the noun is of higher or lower
gender classes. The first type is used with nouns of higher gender classes (i.e. the boy’s
name) whereas the second one is used with nouns of lower gender classes (i.e. the wheels
of the car).
1.3.2.2. Genitive meanings
According to Quirk (1987:95) and Tran (2008:18), the meanings of the genitive can best be
shown by sentential or phrasal analogues such as the presentation below.
Genitives
Analogues
(a) possessive possession (my father’s hat)
human relation (my sister’s friends)
My father has a hat.
My sister has friends.
(b) subjective (my father’s permission)
(the arrival of the bus)
My father permits.
The bus arrived.
(c) objective (the criminal’s arrest)
Someone arrested the
criminal.

(d) descriptive (two days’ visit)
A visit that lasts two days.
(e) appositive (the town of Vinh Yen)
Vinh Yen is a town.
1.3.3. Gender

9
Gerald (2001:38) states that nouns in English are not in themselves either masculine or
feminine. They do not have grammatical gender, though they may refer to male or female
people or animals. For example:
The waiter was very efficient. The waitress was very efficient.
According to Tran (2008:18), gender is sometimes considered unimportant, especially
formally.
Gerald also states gender, however, is important in English when we replace a noun with a
pronoun. Let’s look at this example:
The waiter was very efficient. ~ He was very efficient.
The waitress was very efficient. ~ She was very efficient.











CHAPTER 2- GRAMMATICAL FEATURES OF PLURAL NOUNS IN ENGLISH
This chapter covers the following issues of English plural nouns: (1) definition, (2)

classification. For the purpose of this study which focuses on grammatical features of
unmarked plural nouns in English, the other grammatical features of plural nouns, such as
spelling rules, pronunciation, rules of plurality making, agreement with verbs, etc. will be
discussed in other studies.
2.1. Definition
In order to define plural nouns, it is necessary to understand the concept of plural in
general. Plural, according to the definition stated in ‘English Language Dictionary’, is the
term used for the state or form of a noun, pronoun, determiner, adjective, or verb when it
refers to two or more people, things or groups.’
Naturally, the concept of plural nouns is based on that of plural. That is ‘plural nouns refer
to more than one person or thing or consist of different kinds of people or things.’

10
(English Language Dictionary)
Another concept of plural nouns is defined by Collins (1990) as ‘There are some things
which are thought of as being plural rather than singular, so some nouns have only a
plural form. For example, you can buy ‘goods’, but not ‘a good’. These nouns are called
plural nouns.’
2.2. Classification
As mentioned in the previous chapter, in Quirk’s view (1987), the English number system
comprises singular, which denotes ‘one’, and plural, which denotes ‘more than one’.
Accordingly, plural nouns in English include both variable nouns and invariable nouns.
The classification will be summarized in the below graph which can be realized more
easily by readers.
N with plural meaning : scissors
Pluralia tantums : customs
Invariables Collective Ns : people
Substantivised adj. (Concrete) : the poor

Regular plural: + -s /-s/ books

/-z/ beds
Variables /-iz/ boxes
Irregular plural +voicing /f/ /ve/ : leaf

leaves
+en ending : ox

oxen
+change of root vowel: foot

feet
+foreign plural : phenomenon

phenomena
Zero plural: sheep, deer, fish, trout
From the author’s point of view, plural nouns in English can be classified into 2 major
groups: marked plural nouns and unmarked plural nouns. The first group consists of
regular plural nouns (have –s ending) and irregular plural nouns which have markers to be
realized, such as voicing, -en ending, vowel change, etc. The later consists of nouns which
have no plural endings or have same forms with singular nouns or in other words, they are
not realized as plural by their forms. Below is the description of these two groups, of which
unmarked plural nouns will be paid more attention to in order to help learners have better
understanding of this type of plural nouns.
2.2.1. Marked plural nouns
2.2.1.1. Definition
As aforementioned, marked plural nouns can be understood as nouns which have
characteristics to be easily noticed, such as –s endings, -en endings, voicing, vowel
changes or markers of foreign plural. In other words, people can notice marked plural
nouns based on their forms.
2.2.1.2. Classification

(a) Invariables

11
(i) Summation plurals
Quirk (1987) defines summation plurals as tools and articles of dress consisting of two
equal parts which are joined. He also adds that countability of this kind of noun can be
imposed by means of a pair of (i.e. a pair of scissors, three pairs of trousers).
The following is some summation plurals.
bellows tongs pants pliers spectacles shorts
binoculars tweezers pyjamas scales braces suspenders
pincers glasses shorts scissors flannels tights
(ii) Pluralia tantums
Pluralia tantums are defined as nouns that only occur in the plural. (Quirk, 1987:169).
Here is the list of these nouns.
goods quarters remains clothes means suds
belongings lodgings riches earnings outskirts surroundings
brains looks stairs goods particulars thanks


(b) Variables
The regular plural is formed by means of an –s suffix. The following table shows the basic
ways of forming the plurals of count nouns. (Collins, 1992: 517)
(i) Regular

Singular form
Plural form
regular

hat
tree

Add –s (/s/ or /z/)
hats
trees

ending in –se
-ze
-ce
-ge

rose
prize
service
age
Add –s (/iz/)
roses
prizes
services
ages

ending in -sh
-ch
-ss
-x
-s

bush
speech
glass
box
bus

Add –es (/iz/)
bushes
speeches
glasses
boxes
buses

ending in consonant + y


country
lady
Change –y to -ies
countries
ladies



Add -s

12
ending in vowel + y
boy
valley
boys
valleys

(ii) Irregular
+voicing (/f/


/vz/)
In Quirk’s view (1987:176), some nouns which in the singular end in the final voiceless
fricatives /f/ have voicing to /v/. For example:
-f(e) /f  -ves /vz/ : calf  calves
Here is a list of some nouns which have voicing to /v/.
calf calves
elf elves
half halves
knife knives
life lives
loaf loaves

+ mutation
According to Quirk (1987:177), mutation involves a change of the medial vowel in the
following nouns:
foot feet
tooth teeth
goose geese
louse lice
+ en ending
This occurs in three nouns:
brother brethren
child children
ox oxen
+ foreign plural
Regarding Collins’ view (1992:519), there are words in English which are borrowed from
other languages, especially Latin, and which still form their plurals according to the
following rules of those languages:
-us ending  -i : nucleus


nuclei
-um ending  -a : aquarium

aquaria

13
-a ending  -e : larva

larvae
-is ending  es : analysis

analyses
-ix or –ex ending : -ices : appendix

appendices
-on ending  -a : criterion

criteria
2.2.2. Unmarked plural nouns
The presentation in this part is to give readers a picture of unmarked plural nouns in
English with the following sub-sections: (1) definition, (2) classification, (3) agreement
with verbs, and (4) some usage notes (if any).
2.2.2.1. Definition
In order to give a definition of unmarked plural nouns in English, let’s compare the two
types of plural nouns to see the distinction between them.


Marked plural nouns
Unmarked plural nouns
-s ending (books, beds, boxes)

No –s ending (police, sheep)
Voicing (leaf—leaves)
Ø
-en ending (ox

oxen)
Ø
Vowel change (foot

feet)
Ø
Foreign plural (phenomenon

phenomena)
Ø
From the comparison, the definition of unmarked plural nouns in English can be given as
follows:
Unmarked plural nouns can be understood as nouns that have no plural endings (-s
ending,
-en ending). They also have no voicing, no vowel changes or no rules to change into plural
like foreign nouns.
In other words, unmarked plural nouns are nouns that cannot be realized as plural by their
forms.
2.2.2.2. Classification
From the author’s point of view, unmarked plural nouns in English can be classified into 4
major groups that will be discussed hereafter. The classification is based on the forms of
unmarked plural nouns (whether they are variable or invariable nouns) or the agreement of
the verbs following the nouns.
(a) Unmarked plural nouns which are always used with plural verbs

14
Cattle, people and police are plural words with no singular. They are invariable plural
ones. Therefore, when we refer to a number of things or people, we cannot say ‘polices’,
‘cattles’ or ‘peoples’. In the case we mention a person, for example a person in the police,
we have to say: a policeman, a policewoman or a police officer (not ‘a police’ only).
Agreement with verbs
Obviously, these nouns have plural meanings and always take plural verbs in any cases.
For example:
Cattle are selling for very high prices this year.
(Not: Cattle is selling….)
The police are searching for a tall dark man with a beard.
(Not: The police is searching………….)
People are funny.
(Not: People is funny)
(Swan, 1984)
(b) Unmarked plural nouns which refer to groups of people or things
These nouns are variable ones (e.g: family, team, crew). They can be changed into plural
by just adding ‘s’ to the end. (e.g: families, teams, crews).
However, we do not put these nouns into plural forms when they refer to groups of people
or things. In this case, these nouns are known as ‘collective nouns’.
Collective nouns are special nouns that stand for a group of people, animals, birds or
insects. (Maclin, 1994: 209). Words like committee, public, herd, jury, etc. are collective
nouns.
Collective nouns are defined by Collins (1990) as ‘There are a number of nouns in English
which refer to a group of people or things. These nouns are called collective nouns, for
example: audience, committee, company, government, family, jury, etc.’
Agreement with verbs
Most collective nouns in English have both singular and plural forms. According to the
concord of Subject-Verb in number, collective nouns in plural forms always require plural
verbs. However, collective nouns in singular forms are not the same. Since they are

grammatically singular but notionally plural, they may take either a singular or plural verb.
For example:
The public are tired of demonstrations. (1)
The audience were enjoying every minute of it. (2)
(Quirk, 1987)

15
Although singular and plural verbs are more or less interchangeable in these above
contexts, the choice is based, if on anything, on whether the group is being considered as a
single undivided body, or as a collection of individuals. Thus, plural is more likely than
singular in above examples because consideration is being given to the individual reactions
of members of the public and the audience.
In contrast, the singular has to be used in sentences like:
The public consists of you and me. (3)
The audience was enormous. (4)
(Quirk, 1987)
Thus, the rule can be stated by Swan (1995) as follows: Plural forms are common when the
group is considered as a collection of people doing personal things like deciding, hoping or
wanting; and in these cases we use who, not which, as a relative pronoun. Singular forms
(with which as a relative pronoun) are common when the group is seen as an impersonal
unit. The following examples will be useful to see the distinction:
My family have decided to move to Nottingham. They think it’s a better place to live. (5)
The average British family has 3.6 members. It is smaller and richer than 50 years
ago.(6)
(Swan, 1995)
In example (5), members of the family are acting as individuals -each with a separate
opinion, so the verb is plural. However, in example (6), the family is seen as an impersonal
unit, so the verb is singular.
Usage note
(i) We often use singular when we refer to the group’s size or make –up, or how it

compares with others. For example:
The class consists of twelve girls and fourteen boys.
The union is the biggest in the country.
(Collins, 1990)
(ii) The plural is more likely when we talk about people’s thoughts, feelings or actions. For
example:
The class don’t understand what the teacher is saying.
The union are delighted with their pay rise.
(Collins, 1990)

16
(iii) In most cases where the individuals composing a group are acting separately, it is
better to use such expressions as the members of the jury, the members of the family. These
expressions sound better and clearly indicate that the individuals are acting separately:
The members of the jury have returned to their homes.
The people in the audience were waving their hands.
(Collins, 1990)
(iv) In the cases where the names of many organizations are collective nouns, either a
singular or a plural verb can be used.

The BBC is sending him to Tuscany for the summer.
The BBC are planning to use the new satellite next month.
England was leading 18-0 at half-time.
England are seeking alternatives for their B team.
(Collins, 1990)
(v) The titles of some works which are collections of stories, etc. can be used with a
singular or a plural verb. For instance:
The Canterbury tales exist/ exists in many manuscripts.
(Collins, 1990)
(vi) Attention should be paid to collective nouns which have notional regular plural but can

be followed by a singular or plural verb such as the aristeracy, the gentry, the proletariat,
the majority, etc.
E.g: The proletariat is/ are determined to protect its rights.
(Collins, 1990)
(vii) ‘Offspring’ has notional plural form but can be followed by a singular verb to refer to
one or a plural verb to refer to more than one.
E.g: His offspring is very naughty (~ one child)
His offspring are very naughty. (~ more than one child)
(Collins, 1990)
(viii) ‘The youth of today’ (i.e. all young people) should not be confused with a/ the youth
(i.e. a/the young man) which has a regular form ‘youths’.
E.g: The youth of today is/ are better off than we used to be.
A youth is outside the shop and five youths are in the shop.
(Collins, 1990)

17
(ix) The words ‘bacteria’, ‘data’, and ‘media’ are now often used as collective nouns, that
is with either s singular or a plural verb and no change in form. However, some speakers
think they should only be used with a plural verb because they have the rare singular forms
‘bacterium’, ‘datum’, and ‘medium’.
E.g: Medieval Arabic data show that the length of the day has been increasing more
slowly than expected.
Our latest data shows more firms are hoping to expand in the near future.
(Collins, 1990)
List of collective nouns
Here is a list of common collective nouns (Collins, 1990)
aristocracy committee enemy herd press
army community family jury proletariat
audience company flock media public
bacteria council gang navy staff

brood crew government nobility team
cast data group opposition
According to Quirk (1987), we may distinguish three subclasses of collective nouns:
(a) SPECIFIC: army, clan, class, club, committee, crew, crowd, family, flock, gang,
government, group, herd, jury, majority, minority
(b) GENERIC: the aristocracy, the bourgeoisie, the clergy, the elite, the gentry, the
intelligentsia, the laity, the proletariat, the public
(c) UNIQUE: the Arab League, (the) Congress, the Kremlin, the Papacy, Parliament, the
United Nations, the United States, the Vatican
(c) Unmarked plural nouns which are formed by ‘the + adjective’
(i) the + adjective
Adjectives like the following are used after ‘the’ to represent a group as a whole such as
the blind, the deaf, the dead, the rich, the poor, the young, the old, the unemployed, etc.
These words refer to a group of people who share the same characteristic or quality. For
example:
the rich = people who have lots of money
the deaf = people who can’t hear
the dead = people who had died

18
These nouns are invariable plural ones. Thus, we cannot say the olds, the youngs, etc. when
we want to refer to more than one person. When we want to convey singular meanings, we
cannot say a blind or an injured. We must say: a blind man, an injured child, etc.
Here are some examples of adjectives which can be used with ‘the’.
+ In terms of social status or economic status
disadvantaged, homeless, hungry, poor, privileged, rich, starving, strong, underprivileged,
unemployed, weak

+ In terms of health or medical care
blind, deaf, dead, disabled, handicapped, living, sick

+ In terms of ages
elderly, middle-aged, old, over-sixties, under-fives, young
We can sometimes use an adverb before the adjective.
The very poor are left without hope
The severely disabled need full-time care.
(John, 1996:250)
There are some adjectives in this structure that normally have an adverb.
The less fortunate cannot afford to go on holiday.
Should the mentally ill be allowed to live in the community?
(John, 1996:250)
(ii) the + adjectives of nationality
We use ‘the’ with adjectives of nationality to mean ‘the people of that country’. For
example:
The French = the people of France
The Chinese = the people of China
These expressions also convey plural meanings. When a person is mentioned, English
provides two alternatives: a Frenchman, an Englishwoman or a French, an English, etc.
Agreement with verbs
These expressions are always plural in meaning. Therefore, they always take plural verbs.
For example:
The young are usually keen to travel.
The homeless usually have great difficulty in getting a job.
(John, 1996)
The French are famous for their food.

19
Why do the English think they are so wonderful?
(Murphy, 1994)
(d) Invariable nouns which can be singular or plural
These nouns are names of certain creatures like fish, sheep, deer, etc. They have the same

spoken and written form in both singular and plural. Thus, we can say ‘a fish’ or ‘those
fish’.
Note that fishes exists but uncommon. It is used to denote different individual or species.
For example:
the fishes of the Mediterranean
Quirk (1987) gave some types of fish which do not normally change in the plural
carp pike salmon trout
cod plaice squid turbot
mackerel etc.
Agreement with verbs
These nouns are invariable ones. Thus, we have to depend on the contexts to decide which
verbs are suitable in each sentence. For example:
This sheep looks small.
All those sheep are mine.
(Quirk, 1987)
Obviously, it will be useful for learners to know all the grammatical features of unmarked
plural nouns in English because the acquisition will help learners a lot in widening their
knowledge of English vocabulary in general and unmarked plural nouns in particular as
well as avoiding making mistakes when dealing with unmarked plural nouns, especially in
making the subject and the verb of the sentence agree.

20
CHAPTER 3- FINDINGS
The issues mentioned in the previous chapters only belong to the theoretical category. To
seek for an insight into the difficulties of unmarked plural nouns for the 1
st
year students at
the Faculty of Tourism, HUC both theoretically and practically, this chapter presents the
results derived from analyzing the data collected, thus findings are identified.
3.1. Presentation of data analysis results

3.1.1. Mid-term test
Results from marking the tests are ranked in this table and calculated by proportion of
students and changed into percentage for data analysis of the study.
Parts of the test
Fail
Pass
Very bad Bad
Good
Very
good
Excellent
1. Gap -filling
20% + 15.6% = 35.6%
27.8%
34.4%
2.2%
2. S-V agreement
24.4% + 23.3% = 45.7%
28.9%
15.6%
7.8%
3. Gap-filling+ S-V
agreement
43.3% + 23.3% = 66.6%
24.4%
7.9%
1.1%
4. Translation
24.4% + 13.3% = 37.7%
23.3%

38.9%
1.1%
Table 1. The 2
nd
mid-term test
As apparently observed from the table, the number of students who did badly the part Gap-
filling combined with Subject-Verb agreement in the text is the highest, counting for
66.6%, followed by the Subject-Verb agreement part with 45.7%. The first part (Gap-
filling) was done best with the lowest percentage (35.6%) of the students failing. The
number of students who did not pass the Translation part was 37.7%. These figures
indicate that there may be some reasons for the problems. For the first part of the test,
students might not know the meanings of the given words or the meanings of the
sentences, which led to their failure to fill appropriate words in sentences. For the second
one, students were really confused in deciding which verb (plural or singular) to choose.
Since unmarked plural nouns like police, cattle, people, etc. have no inflectional distinction
with singular forms, students could not realize them as plural. Consequently, they often
made errors on Subject-Verb agreement. Furthermore, students had more challenges when
they met collective nouns which can be used with either plural or singular verbs such as
firm, family, orchestra, the BBC, etc. Students had to consider whether the group noun
mentions a single undivided body, or a collection of individuals. As a consequence,
students had difficulty in choosing the right verbs for sentences. The third part seems to be
the most problematic for students because they were required not only to choose the right
noun but also to decide the correct verb (is or are) to fill in the blanks. Compared with the

21
other parts of the test, the number of students who did not pass this part was much higher
(66.6%). The last part deals with the same kind of word with the first one: unmarked plural
nouns formed with the + adjective. There were not any new words, phrases or expressions
in this part. Unfortunately, these students forgot or could not guess word meaning in
contexts. The result showed that they failed in transferring Vietnamese meanings into

English equivalents.
3.1.2. The students’ questionnaires
1. How do you think of the role of vocabulary in learning a foreign language?
It can be easily noticed from this pie chart that most of the 1
st
year students at the Faculty
of Tourism at HUC are well aware of the importance of English vocabulary learning. This
is represented by 80% and 20% of them considering it as very important and important
while 0% not important.
This number signifies that most of
these students have a very good
attitude towards their vocabulary
learning, leading to a high motivation
in their English learning process.

Students' attitude tow ards vocabulary
learning
80%
20%
0%
very important
important
not import ant

Chart 1- Students’ attitude towards vocabulary learning

2. What is the most difficult for you when you learn English plural nouns?
As shown in the chart, what students find the most difficult in learning English plural
nouns is unmarked plural nouns. Students may remember the spelling rules (only 8.9%
have problems with this), or rules of plurality making (11% have difficulties in learning

this) and know how to pronounce the words (this cause difficulties to only 6.7% of the
students) but more than half of the students taking part in the survey (55.6%) are confused
with the words which have no markers to be realized as plural when they learn English
plural nouns. As a consequence, 17.8% of the students find it hard to make the subject and
the verb of the sentence agree. These may due to the fact that the time allocated is not