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Singular and Plural Nouns
What Is a Noun?
- Every word is a part of speech and has a role in our language. The biggest "star" of the English language is noun because it names things.
- A noun names person, place, thing, feeling, idea, or any concept.
For example:
- Shopkeeper
- Bedroom
- Bicycle
- Love
- Safety
- Freedom
Are all nouns the same?
No! There are different types or classes of nouns.
- Proper Nouns
- Common Nouns
- Abstract Nouns
- Count and Noncount Nouns
- Compound Nouns
- Gerund Nouns
- Collective Nouns
Forms of Nouns
There are different forms of nouns. Let's see what they are.
Singular Nouns
- Singular means one.
- A singular noun refers to only one person, place, or thing.
For example:
- Mother
- Doctor
- Supermarket
- School
- Pencil
- Basketball
Plural Nouns
- Plural means two or more than two.
- A plural noun refers to more than one person, place, or thing.
For example:
- Mothers
- Doctors
- Supermarkets
- Schools
- Pencils
- Basketballs
Changing Singular Nouns into Plural Nouns
Singular nouns can be changed into plural nouns using different rules.
Most plural nouns in English are regular. That means you can simply add -s or -es to make them plural.
To form regular plurals, follow these rules.
→ For most nouns, just add -s to make them plural.
For example:
- window → windows
- plate → plates
- cat → cats
- lamp → lamps
→ If a noun ends in s, z, x, sh, or ch, add -es to make them plural.
→ This is because it is difficult to pronounce an s after these letters since they have a similar sound.
For example:
- boss → bosses
- buzz → buzzes
- box → boxes
- wish → wishes
- bunch → bunches
→ If a noun ends in a consonant (all letters except a, e, i, o, and u) followed by y, then change "y" to "i" and add -es to make them plural.
For example:
- berry → berries
- baby → babies
- sky → skies
Irregular Plural Nouns
However some plural nouns are irregular. They do not follow the simple rules of adding -s or -es. They follow different rules or they do not follow any rules at all, so you need to remember each of them.
→ If a noun ends in a vowel followed by y, add -s to make them plural.
For example:
- toy → toys
- day → days
- essay → essays
→ If a noun ends in a consonant followed by o, add -es to make them plural.
For example:
- hero → heroes
- tomato → tomatoes
- volcano → volcanoes
Note: There are some exceptions to this rule:
- solo → solos
- piano → pianos
- memento → mementos
- halo → halos
→ If a noun ends in a vowel followed by o, add -s to make them plural.
For example:
- studio → studios
- cameo → cameos
- portfolio → portfolios
→ For nouns ending in f and fe, change "f/fe" to "v" and add -es to make them plural.
For example:
- shelf → shelves
- half → halves
- knife → knives
Note: There are some exceptions to this rule:
For example:
- roof → roofs
- safe → safes
- grief → griefs
- kerchief → kerchiefs
- chef → chefs
→ For nouns ending in us, change "us" to "i" to make them plural.
For example:
- syllabus → syllabi
- fungus → fungi
→ Some nouns change a few letters or complete spelling. You have to memorize these nouns.
For example:
- man → men
- woman → women
- child → children
- person → people
→ Some nouns are the same in both singular and plural from.
For example:
- deer → deer
- sheep → sheep
- fish → fish
- series → series
→ Some nouns are always singular. They have no plural form.
→ Often, that is because these nouns are uncountable, so the singular form is used to refer to the entire quantity rather than one, two, or more countable items.
For example:
- gold
- silver
- flour
- sugar
→ Some nouns have no singular form. These nouns are always plural.
For example:
- scissors
- trousers
- pants
- glasses
→ Some nouns are used with modifiers. If that is the case, change the noun, not the modifiers.
For example:
- daughter-in-law → daughters-in-law
- brother-in-law → brothers-in-law
- guest of honor → guests of honor
- minister of education → ministers of education
- A noun names person, place, thing, feeling, idea, or any concept.
- There are different types or classes of nouns.
- Proper Nouns
- Common Nouns
- Concrete Nouns
- Abstract Nouns
- Count and Noncount Nouns
- Compound Nouns
- Gerund Nouns
- A singular noun refers to only one person, place, or thing.
- A plural noun refers to more than one person, place, or thing.
- Most plural nouns in English are regular. That means you can simply add -s or -es to make them plural.
- The table below shows all rules to form regular plural nouns.
- However some plural nouns are irregular. They do not follow the simple rules of adding -s or -es. They follow different rules or they do not follow any rules at all, so you need to remember each of them.
- The table below shows all rules to form irregular plural nouns.
- piano → pianos
- memento → mementos
- halo → halos
- roof → roofs
- safe → safes
- grief → griefs
- kerchief → kerchiefs
- chef → chefs
| Rule | Singular Noun | Plural Noun |
| For most nouns, just add -s | window | windows |
| If a noun ends in s, z, x, sh, or ch, add -es | boss buzz box wish bunch |
bosses buzzes boxes wishes bunches |
| If a noun ends in a consonant (all letters except a, e, i, o, and u) followed by y, then change "y" to "i" and add -es | berry | berries |
| Rule | Singular Noun | Plural Noun | Exceptions |
| If a noun ends in a vowel followed by y, add -s | toy | toys | N.A. |
| If a noun ends in a consonant followed by o, add -es | hero | heroes | There are some exceptions to this rule:
|
| If a noun ends in a vowel followed by o, add -s | studio | studios | N.A. |
| For nouns ending in f and fe, change "f/fe" to "v" and add -es | shelf knife |
shelves knives |
There are some exceptions to this rule:
|
| For nouns ending in us, change "us" to "i" | syllabus | syllabi | N.A. |
| Some nouns change a few letters or complete spelling. You have to memorize these nouns. | man | men | N.A. |
| Some nouns are the same in both singular and plural from. | sheep | sheep | N.A. |
| Some nouns are always singular. They have no plural form. | gold | no plural form | N.A. |
| Some nouns have no singular form. These nouns are always plural. | no singular form | scissors | N.A. |
| Some nouns are used with modifiers. If that is the case, change the noun, not the modifiers. | daughter-in-law | daughters-in-law | N.A. |
