Monophthongs, Countable and Uncountable Nouns (Regular and Irregular Plurals) and Linking Paragraphs
Subject : English Studies
Class : SS 1
WEEK : 2
TOPICS
Speech Work: Monophthongs (Introduction)
Comprehension/Summary (Introduction to Summary)
Vocabulary Development (Words Associated with Agriculture)
Structure: Nouns: Countable and Uncountable Nouns (Regular and Irregular Plurals)
Writing Skills: Narrative: Linking Paragraphs
ASPECT: Speech Work
TOPIC:
Monophthongs
Monophthongs can be defined as pure vowel sounds. They are part of vowel sounds which are produced without any obstruction in the oral or nasal cavity. There are twelve (12) pure vowel sounds (Monophthongs) in English language. It can further be divided into two parts (long and short vowels.)
EXAMPLES OF MONOPHTHONGS
/i: / e.g. beat, seat, neat, feet, tea, sheep, quay, leave, seen, dean, etc.
/i/ e.g. bit, sit nymph, village, kid, kit, lip, skip, tip, ship, etc.
/e/ e.g. bed, bread, said, bury, many, any, net, belt, etc.
/æ/ e.g. cat, lack, pack, rat, mad, lad, mat, bat, etc.
/a: / e.g. car, dart, calm, heart, sharp, mark, farther, far, etc.
/ɒ/ e.g. pot, what, gone, wash, cot, cod, etc.
/ↄ:/ e.g. war, pork, saw, bought, four, fall, hall, more, glory, etc.
/u/ e.g. put, foot, book, could, should, pull, look, wood, etc.
/u: / e.g. pool, blue, screw, shoe, two, too, ewe, juice, pool, etc.
/ ʌ / e.g. cut, come, blood, country, money, honey, love, etc.
/ З: / e.g. first, purse, earn, bird, burn, shirt, work, learn, turn, etc.
/∂/ e.g. about, baker, sailor, teacher, doctor, labour, etc.
| Short vowel | Long vowel |
| /i/ | /i: / |
| /e/ | /ȝ:/ |
| /æ/ | / a: / |
| /ɒ/ | /ↄ:/ |
| /u/ | /u: / |
| /ʌ / | |
| / ∂/ |
The Pure Vowels (Chart)
EVALUATION
From the words lettered A to D, choose the word that has the same vowel sound(s) as the one represented by the letter(s) underlined.
- rich (a) reach (b) heed (c) seat (d) knit.
- head (a) set (b) neat (c)eat (d)seat.
- hot (a) dark (b) hart (c) stock (d)cord.
- cool (a) wood (b) would(c) rude (d) blood
- buy(a) chilly (b) bully (c)built (d) mild
Interactive Questions and Answers
Monophthongs are vowel sounds that are pronounced with a single, uninterrupted vowel sound. The following are some examples of monophthongs in English:
– /ɪ/ as in kit
– /e/ as in bed
– /æ/ as in bat
– /ʌ/ as in cut
Interactive Questions and Answers
1) What is a monophthong?
2) How many vowel sounds are in a monophthong?
3) Give an example of a monophthong
4) How is the word “kit” pronounced as a monophthong?
5) What is the difference between a monophthong and a diphthong?
Suggested Answers
1) A monophthong is a vowel sound that is pronounced with a single, uninterrupted vowel sound
2) There is only one vowel sound in a monophthong
3) An example of a monophthong would be the word “bed” which is pronounced /e/.
4) The word “kit” is pronounced as a monophthong by saying /ɪ/
5) The difference between a monophthong and a diphthong is that a monophthong has one vowel sound while a diphthong has two vowel sounds. For example, the word “bat
.
TOPIC:
Summary (Introduction)
Summary writing is a process of expressing ones thought in a brief and clear manner. In other words, it is a way of expressing in a few words as possible what has been said in very many words. It is the ability to read, digest and produce some relevant facts as required by the examiner in a very clear and brief manner.
The first step in writing a good summary is to identify the topic sentence in a given passage. This deals with what a given passage is about.
To write a good summary, the students should take note of the following:
- Avoid the use of examples.
- Avoid the use of illustrations.
- Do not use analogy.
- Do not use repetition.
- Avoid the use of flowery language.
- Do not use link words or connectives.
- The summary should be in a simple sentence.
To write a good summary, the students should take note of the following:
A summary should be short and to the point. It should not include any unnecessary details.
The students should make sure that they understand the main idea of the text before trying to summarize it.
A good summary should be written in the student’s own words. Plagiarism should be avoided at all costs.
The summary should be well-organized and should follow the same structure as the original text.
The students should proofread their summary carefully before submitting it.
By following these simple tips, the students can be sure that they will write a good summary. Thanks for your time.
CLASS ACTIVITY
A short passage should be read used to illustrate and explain the points listed above.
Vocabulary Development (Words associated with Agriculture)
The following words listed below are associated with agriculture:
| Cash crop | Food crop | Plantation | Fish pond | Ruminant | |
| Cereal | Cultivate | Seedling | Husbandry | Cropping | |
| Feed | Erosion | Nursery | Cultivation | Tillage | |
| Grain | Plough | Seasonal | Weeds | Staples | |
| Arable | Livestock | Perennial | Seasonal | Bumper | |
| Fertilizer | Piggery | Veterinary | Family | Yam seeds | |
| Irrigation | Grazing | Tractor | Implements | Irrigation | |
| Grafting | Irrigation | Harrowing | Bush burning | Annual | |
ASPECT: STRUCTURE
TOPIC:
NOUNS: COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS (REGULAR AND IRREGULAR PLURALS)
Noun is a naming word. It is used to refer to a person, an animal, a thing or a quality.
Nouns are a very common feature of language and they are categorized into various classifications as
- Common and Proper nouns
- Concrete and Abstract nouns
- Countable and Uncountable nouns
- Collective and Material nouns
A countable noun, also known as a count noun, is a noun that can be preceded by the word ‘a’ and can exist in a plural form. When the plural form is used it is not usually preceded by a determiner, but is used alone. Most concrete nouns are countable. The following are examples of countable nouns:
city (plural cities),
gate (plural gates),
foot (plural feet),
lady (plural ladies),
monkey (plural monkeys),
mouse (plural mice),
taxi (plural taxis),
In the following sentences the underlined words, either in the singular or plural form, are countable nouns:
I’ve just bought a flat there.
I prefer cities to the countryside.
Open the door please.
The child believes in fairies.
The church is over there.
There are mice in the house.
An uncountable noun, also known as anon-count noun, is a noun that cannot usually be preceded by the word ‘a’ or ‘an’ and does not usually exist in a plural form. Abstract nouns tend to be uncountable. The following are examples of uncountable nouns:
They lived in poverty.
Our luggage went missing.
We are waiting for vital information.
You should put sugar in this pudding.
Education is an obsession with her.
I put some petrol in the car yesterday.
I’ll have a kilo of flour, please.
Could I have a slice of bread?
NOUN: SINGULAR AND PLURAL FORMS
Most English nouns have a different ending for ‘one’ of something (called the singular form) than they do for ‘more than one’ (called the plural form). In the case of the majority of nouns the plural is formed regularly simply by adding ‘s’ or ‘es’ to the singular, as in bat/bats, monkey/monkeys, church/churches.
In cases where the singular noun ends in a consonant followed by ‘y’ then the plural form regularly becomes ies, as in fairy/fairies.
Regular plural forms of nouns
The following is a list of common nouns with their regular plural forms:
banana/bananas
berry/berries
bush/bushes
kiss/kisses
lady/ladies
march/marches
Irregular plural forms of nouns
Some nouns do not form their plural in the above regular ways. Instead their plural forms are said to be irregular.
Some irregular plurals are formed, not by adding an ending to the singular form, but by changing the vowel in the singular forms, as in man/men, or by having a completely different form from the singular, as in mouse/mice.
The following are examples of nouns with their irregular plural forms:
foot/feet
goose/geese
tooth/teeth
woman/women.
A few irregular plural forms are formed by adding ‘en’ to the singular form, as in ox/oxen. In the case of the word child the letter r is added before the ‘en’.
Some nouns ending in ‘f’ form irregular plurals ending in ‘ves’, as in loaf/loaves. The following is a list of such nouns with their plural forms:
half/halves
leaf/leaves
scarf/scarves
wife/wives
Foreign plural forms of nouns
Some nouns in English have a plural form that follows the spelling rules of the foreign language from which they are derived, as in stimulus (stimuli). The following are examples of such words with the plural form in their original foreign language:
bacterium/bacteria
bacillus/bacilli
criterion/criteria
larva/larvae
phenomenon/phenomena.
datum/data
index/indices or indexes
oasis/oases
memorandum/memoranda
COMPOUND NOUNS
A compound noun is a fixed expression that is made up of more than one word and functions as a noun in a sentence or clause.
Examples: bank account, cover-up, pen- friend, air conditioning, bank account, blood pressure, coffee jug, doorstep, fairy tale, frying pan, health centre, housewife, income tax, letter-box, make-up, musical instrument, nail varnish, passer-by, police station, seaweed, swimming pool, teapot, washing machine.
Plural forms of compound nouns
The plural forms of compound nouns vary according to the type of words they are made up of. If the final word of a compound noun is a countable noun, the plural form of the countable noun is used when the compound noun is made plural, as in swimming pools, police stations, letter-boxes and coffee jugs.
Compound nouns that are directly derived fromphrasal verbsusually have a plural form ending in s, as in cover-up/cover-ups and show-off/ show-offs.
In the case of compound nouns which consist of a count noun and an adverb the plural form of the noun is used before the adverb when the compound noun is in the plural form, as in passers-by and lookers-on.
| Singular | Plural |
| Commander-in-chief | Commander-in-chiefs |
| Son-in-law | Sons-in-law |
| Armful | Armfuls |
| Maid-servant | Maid-servants |
| Man-of-war | Men-of-war |
CLASS ACTIVITY
Group the following words into regular and irregular nouns: lady, balloon, goose, army, life, wolf, calf, and fox.
COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS (REGULAR AND IRREGULAR PLURALS
Objective Questions
1. Which of the following is an uncountable noun?
a. Dog
b. Book
c. Table
d. Milk
2. Which of the following is a countable noun?
a. Computer
b. Pencil
c. Fruit
d. Teacher
3. Which of the following is an irregular plural noun?
a. Sheeps
b. Mouses
c. Knives
d. Children
4. Which of the following is a regular plural noun?
a. Cacti
b. Foci
c. Alumni
d. Bacteria
5. How many countable nouns are there in the sentence?
The dog, cats, and birds were chasing each other around the block.
a. One
b. Two
c. Three
d. Four
6. How many uncountable nouns are there in the sentence?
I poured a generous amount of milk into my cereal bowl.
a. One
b. Two
c. Three
d. Four
7. How many irregular plural nouns are there in the sentence?
The teacher gave the children a lot of homework today.
a. One
b. Two
c. Three
d. Four
8. How many regular plural nouns are there in the sentence?
Please pass me a tissue, I have a cold.
a. One
b. Two
c. Three
d. Four
9. Which word in the sentence is a countable noun?
I have two sisters and three brothers.
a. Sisters
b. Brothers
c. Three
d. Two
10. Which word in the sentence is an uncountable noun?
I can’t believe there’s only one week left of school!
a. School
b. Only
c. Week
d. Left
EVALUATION
In tabular form, indicate whether the following are countable or uncountable nouns:
happiness, source, discretion, fence, lawn, misery, cooker, information, beach, location, luggage, bottle, forest, poem, inspiration, jewel, milk, suitcase, poetry, essay, literature, choir, legislation, cookery, knowledge.
ASPECT: CONTINUOUS WRITING
TOPIC: NARRATIVE ESSAY: LINKING PARAGRAPHS
What is a paragraph?
A paragraph is a group of sentences about a single topic. All the sentences of the paragraph explain the writer’s main idea (most important idea) about the topic. A paragraph is often between five to ten sentences but it can be longer or shorter, depending on the topic. Here is an example of one-paragraph narrative essay titled “Mrs. Robinson”
Mrs. Robinson
My first grade teacher was an important person in my life. Her name was Mrs. Robinson. In the schools in my country, children usually learn to print before they learn to write. Mrs. Robinson didn’t believe in printing. She thought it was a waste of time. She taught us to write in cursive script (like handwriting) from the first day. At first it was hard. She made us practice a lot. I remember filling entire pages just with capital Os. At the end of the year, we felt very grown up because we could write in cursive. Mrs. Robinson was important in my life because she taught me a valuable lesson. I can achieve anything by working hard.
PARAGRAPH ORGANIZATION
A paragraph has three basic parts:
- The topic sentence: This is the main idea of the paragraph. It is usually the first sentence of the paragraph.
- The supporting sentences: These are sentences that talk about or explain the topic sentence. They are more detailed ideas that follow the topic sentence.
- The concluding sentence: This may be found as the last sentence of a paragraph. It can finish a paragraph by repeating the main idea or just a final comment about the topic.
PARAGRAPH DEVELOPMENT/LINKING PARAGRAPHS
After you have chosen a topic and a topic sentence, you develop your main idea by adding more information to explain what your essay is about. This is possible through the following ways: giving details, giving explanations, and giving examples.In addition, developing paragraphs in narrative essay entails using transitional words or phrases otherwise called cohesive devices. These transitional words or phrases include: in the middle, here, further, on this side, wherever, here and there,at the present time, henceforth,eventually,at the same time, meanwhile, all of a sudden, now, immediately, formerly, instantly, suddenly, presently, finally, shortly, occasionally, however, more so, despite, in fact, etc.
PARAGRAPH DEVELOPMENT/LINKING PARAGRAPHS
Interactive Questions and Answers
Questions
1. What is the best way to develop a paragraph?
2. How can I ensure that my paragraphs are properly linked?
3. What are some common mistakes people make when developing paragraphs?
4. How can I make sure my paragraph flows smoothly?
5. What are some tips for writing effective paragraphs?
Suggested Answers
1. There is no one “best” way to develop a paragraph, but there are some general guidelines you can follow to ensure that your paragraph is well-developed and effective. Make sure your paragraph has a clear topic sentence that states the main idea of the paragraph, and that the rest of the paragraph supports and elaborates on that main idea. Additionally, make sure your paragraph flows smoothly and logically by using transitional words and phrases to connect your ideas.
2. You can ensure that your paragraphs are properly linked by using transitional words and phrases to signal to the reader the connection between the current paragraph and the previous one. Additionally, make sure that each paragraph flows smoothly and logically by ensuring that the main idea of the paragraph is clear and that the supporting details all relate to that main idea.
3. Common mistakes people make when developing paragraphs include failing to develop a clear main idea, or including irrelevant or unrelated information in the paragraph. Additionally, people often forget to use transitional words or phrases which can result in choppy or disjointed paragraphs.
4. You can ensure that your paragraph flows smoothly by using transitional words and phrases to signal to the reader the connection between the current paragraph and the previous one. Additionally, make sure that each paragraph flows logically by ensuring that the main idea of the paragraph is clear and that the supporting details all relate to that main idea.
5. Tips for writing effective paragraphs include ensuring that each paragraph has a clear main idea, using transitional words and phrases to signal the connection between ideas, and making sure that all of the details in the paragraph support the main idea. Additionally, be sure to proofread your paragraph for grammar mistakes and typos before you submit it.
