Singular and plural nouns – There are two forms of nouns: singular and plural. A singular noun is used to refer to just one person, animal, thing or place. For two or more people, animals, places, or things, a plural noun is used. To make a regular noun plural, we add an –s or – es to the end (camel/camels, map/maps; echo/echoes) of the noun. A plural irregular noun has a different ending (hoof/hooves) or spelt differently from the singular noun (tooth/teeth).
Common endings of plural nouns:
Singular
|
Plural
|
How the plural is formed
|
daughter
|
daughters
|
By adding –s
|
class
|
classes
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By adding –es to nouns ending –s
|
brush
|
brushes
|
By adding –es to nouns ending –sh
|
watch
|
watches
|
By adding –es to nouns ending –ch
|
box
|
boxes
|
By adding –es to nouns ending –x
|
potato
|
potatoes
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By adding –es to nouns ending –o
|
piano
|
pianos
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By adding –s to nouns ending –o
|
baby
|
babies
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By changing –y to – ies
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key
|
keys
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By adding –s to some nouns ending –y
|
leaf
|
leaves
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By changing –f to – ves
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knife
|
knives
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By changing –fe to – ves
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roof
|
roofs
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By adding –s to some nouns ending –f
|
safe
|
safes
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By adding –s to some nouns ending –fe
|
tooth
|
teeth
|
By changing vowels
|
ox
|
oxen
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By adding –en
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child
|
children
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By adding –ren
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deer
|
deer
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Some nouns have same singular and plural
|
There are nouns that are always plural.
Plural verbs must follow these nouns.
Jeans, knickers, pants, pyjamas, shorts, tights, trousers, stockings and
underpants
Pincers, pliers, scissors, shears, tongs
Clogs, sandals, slippers, shoes, and sneakers
Glasses (spectacles), binoculars, goggles
arms, belongings, chopsticks, clothes, congratulations, contents, customs,
earnings, goods, outskirts, remains, steps, surroundings, thanks, troops,
tropics, wages, wits
Examples:
These trousers I am wearing are handed down from my grandfather.
Pliers are a handy tool.
My garden shears trim the hedge very well.
My glasses are used only for reading.
A pair of can be used with the above plural nouns to make them singular and
take a singular verb.
Examples:
This pair of purple trousers does not match your yellow jacket.
This set of kitchen knives belongs to me.
A new pair of stainless steel scissors is what I need.
Other nouns that are always plural.
Examples:
Clothes: My clothes need to be washed.
Earnings: Earnings in the agricultural sector have increased by 5% in the
fourth quarter.
Cattle: Cattle are grazing all over the field.
Police: Police are charging him with the murder of the princess.
People: People in general are not very approachable. (Peoples when used in
the plural (i.e. with '–s') refers to peoples from more than one race or
nation, e.g. the peoples of Asia)
Football team: Liverpool are a very successful football team. (But
Liverpool is a great city.)
Nouns which are plural in form but take a singular verb
The following plural nouns are used with a singular verb as they are
treated as singular:
Acoustics, athletics, economics, gymnastics, linguistics, mathematics,
mechanics, news, numismatics, measles, mumps, physics, politics, pyrotechnics
and statistics.
Examples:
Economics: Economics was my favourite subject at school.
Gymnastics in her college involves exercises on bars, beam, floor, and
vaulting horse.
News – The good news is that we have all been invited.
Diseases such as mumps, measles, etc: An infectious illness, mumps was
common among children.
Measurements and amounts that are considered as a single unit:
Examples:
One hundred years is a century. One hundred years is a century.
Ten kilometres is
Twenty dollars is not enough to buy a good shirt. .
