Let's talk today about office supplies that we use in the workplace and at school. Some words, like "ballpoint pen," you probably know already, but let's take a look at some items that may be new to your vocabulary.

This is a felt-tipped pen because the tip, the end — usually a small end — is made of felt or something synthetic.

Captions 15-17, Sigrid explains: The Tipping Point

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Felt-tipped pens are also called "marking pens" or "permanent markers." This is because you can write on surfaces like steel or plastic with them and the ink does not rub off. They also often smell bad!

This highlighter is pink, and pink is usually just red and white mixed together,

Captions 31-32, Luana explains: Colors

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A highlighter, also called a "highlighter pen," is often used to mark passages of text in books with bright colors so you can more easily find them again. Since this makes it difficult for someone else to read it later, you may want to consider marking the book lightly with a pencil instead. It's also more environmentally friendly.

The caveman assembles the board with glue.

Caption 5, Caveman Skatetech: Desert

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Glue is a sticky fluid used to fasten objects such as wood and paper together. There are many different kinds of glue for different purposes.

I use a ruler to draw a straight line.

Caption 52, The Alphabet: The Letter U

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A ruler is a straight, flat, and narrow piece of wood, plastic, or metal that you can draw a straight line with, but it usually also has centimeter or inch markings on it so that you can measure something. Builders often use a tape measure, which is much longer than a ruler, and rolls up into a small case that is portable.

Most people think that the pink part of the eraser is for pencil marks.

Captions 36-37, Facts Verse: 10 Things You Did Not Know The Use For

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An eraser is a rubber-like object you use to remove or erase pencil marks.

Further Learning
Go to Yabla English and watch the videos above to get a better overview of the words you just learned. Stay tuned for the last part of our office supplies series next month!

With most English nouns, you simply add an "s" to make the noun plural. The singular word for "noun" is "noun," and if you want to describe more of them, you just add an "s" to make it plural: "nouns." Sometimes there are irregular plurals with no "s," such as the singular "man" becoming the plural "men."

However, there are a number of nouns in English which cannot really be counted and are never used in plural form with an "s" ending. These are called mass nouns (or sometimes "uncountable nouns"). The Oxford Dictionary describes a mass noun as "a noun denoting something that cannot be counted (e.g. a substance or quality), in English usually a noun which lacks a plural in ordinary usage and is not used with the indefinite article."

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Children often make the mistake of adding "s" to mass nouns, which is cute but also shows that it's not so easy to understand their usage. "Mommy, look at all the sheeps!" and "I really like to eat spaghettis!" are cute, but unfortunately grammatically incorrect!

You have a sheep and a hippo? -Yeah.

Caption 58, Jimmy Kimmel: Lie Detective

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A herd of bighorn sheep ends up blocking traffic on their way to a better grazing ground.

Caption 1, The Last Paradises: America's National Parks

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"Sheep" is a mass noun and there is no such word as "sheeps": One sheep, two sheep, three sheep.

They can play chess, if they wish.

Caption 30, George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four: BBC TV Movie

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The noun "chess" is not used in a plural sense at all. You can have "games of chess," "chess sets," or "chess boards," but in these cases, "chess" is being used as an adjectival describer and the nouns being described are the plurals.

Would you like to sample our vegan bacon?

Caption 1, Parks and Recreation: Best of Ron & April

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The only way to suggest "bacon" in singular form is to combine it with other descriptions such as "a piece of bacon" or a "little bit of bacon."

All spaghetti spoons have a hole in the bottom.

Caption 60, Facts Verse: 10 Things You Did Not Know The Use For

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With "spaghetti" too, you can have "lots of spaghetti" but not "spaghettis."

Thank you for showing your support for women's rights.

Caption 4, A message from Prince Harry: at the CHIME for Change concert

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You may see the word "supports" with an "s" in verb form, as in "Prince Harry supports women's rights." You also see it in a different meaning for the noun, such as "the steel supports for the building." But when you are talking about the kind of support that means you are giving approval, comfort, or encouragement to someone or something, then it's always a mass noun.

Further Learning
Go to Yabla English and study the captions in the videos above to get a better idea of the contexts in which mass nouns have been used. You can also go to this site and see a long list of mass nouns.