Singular and Plural Noun

There are two types of Noun according to the number of things/persons considered.

1) Singular Noun

2) Plural Noun.

Singular Noun

• A noun which is used for only one person or thing is said to be in the Singular Number.
  
• Example: girl, man, child, pen, table, chair etc.

Plural Noun

• A noun which is used for more than one person or thing is said to be in the Plural Number.
  
• Example: girls, men, children, pens tables, chairs etc.

Rules for Forming The Plural Of Singular Nouns

Rule 1: Most Singular Nouns form their Plurals by adding –s.

Example:

Rule 2: Nouns that ends in –s, -ss, -x, -sh, or –ch form their Plurals by adding –es to the Singular

Example:

Rule 3: Noun that ends in –y, and the –y has a consonant before it, its Plural is formed by changing –y into –ies;

Example:

Rule 4: But if the Noun ends in –y, and the –y has a vowel before it, its Plural is formed by adding –s to the Singular

Example:

Rule 5: Noun that ends in –f or –fe form their Plurals by changing –f or –fe into –ves

Example:



But the following Nouns form their Plurals by simply adding –s to the Singular

Example:

Rule 6: Nouns that ends in –o, if they have a consonant before them, generally form their Plurals by adding –es to the Singular

Example:

Rule 7: The following Nouns form their Plurals by a change of the inside vowel

Example:

Rule 8: The following Nouns form their Plurals in –en or –ren

Example:

Rule 9: Compound Noun and their Plurals>

Example:



Rule 10: The following Nouns have the same form for the Plural as for the Singular.

Example:



Rule 11: The following Nouns are always Singular:

Example:



Rule 12: The following Nouns are always Plural:

Example:



Rule 13: When the subject changes from Singular to Plural the Predicate of the sentence must change too.

Example:

Practice Exercise

Q1) Match each singular noun in the left column with its plural noun in the right column.

Singular		Plural
house		asses
ass		families
family		houses
monkey		loaves
loaf		hoofs
hoof		monkeys
mosquito		teeth
ox		maid-servants
passer-by		oxen
tooth		mosquitoes
sheep		passers-by
maid-servant		sheep

Q2) Fill in the blanks with words given in the brackets:

· There are hundred __________ in our society. (home/homes)

· We shared the ___________ with our friends. (mango/mangoes)

· I will buy one new _________ today. (dress/dresses)

· I have many flowering __________ in my backyard. (plant/plants)

· The _________ jumped across the fence. (horse/horses)

· Those __________work hard. (boy/boys)

· The __________goes to her work. (woman/women)

· The ________lives in its nest. (bird/birds)

· Our ________wins almost every time. (team/teams)

· These ____________are sweet. (mango/mangoes)

· The ___________fight and win. (soldier/soldiers)

· The __________were happy in their adventure camp.(child/children)

· I brought one __________for the fruit break.(apple/apples)

Q3) Write the plural form of each singular noun given below.


rose

_______________________

brush

_______________________

bunch
_______________________

duty
_______________________

reply
_______________________

valley
_______________________

leaf
_______________________

chief
_______________________

cargo
_____________________

goose
_______________________

maid-servant
_______________________

deer
_______________________

scenery
_______________________

trousers
_______________________

wolf
_______________________

gulf
_______________________

Q4)Choose the correct plural form.

bottle	bottless	bottles	bottlies
watch	watches	watch	watchs
lady	ladys	ladies	lades
essay	essays	essaies	essayss
loaf	loafies	loafs	loaves
mango	mangos	mangoes	mangoies
mouse	mice	mouses	Mousies
ox	oxen	oxs	oxies
step-son	step-sones	steps-son	step-sons
water	water	watery	waters
glass	glassies	glasses	glassy
monkey	monkeys	monkeies	monkeey
proof	proofss	proofes	proofs