{"id":1728,"date":"2020-11-06T10:00:33","date_gmt":"2020-11-06T09:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.englishforums.com\/blog\/?p=1728"},"modified":"2020-11-06T10:00:33","modified_gmt":"2020-11-06T09:00:33","slug":"singular-and-plural-nouns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/singular-and-plural-nouns\/","title":{"rendered":"Singular and Plural Nouns"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We may think that singular and plural nouns are just so simple. Truth is, it is indeed simple, but we must not oversimplify this and make some mistakes. Some people may also think that to form a plural of a noun, you simply add<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> s <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">after a word.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While this is true to most nouns, they forget that there are what we call irregular nouns, in which we can get the plural form by changing its spelling in the ending. Yet, rules still vary regarding irregular nouns. Now it sounds a bit complicated, isn&#8217;t it? But there are actually certain rules to form a plural of singular nouns, and these are pretty straightforward.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before we discuss the rules of writing the plural nouns of different singular nouns, let&#8217;s first give some examples as a refresher:<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>What is an example of a plural noun?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Notice how these plurals differ in spelling (not always ending in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">s<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">):<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">dogs<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">cats<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">cakes<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">snakes<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">foxes<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">boxes<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">glasses<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">kisses<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">giraffes<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">knives<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">roofs<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">shelves<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">men<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">women<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">mouse<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">geese<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">children<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>What are the examples of singular and plural nouns?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now, let us enumerate a couple of singulars and plural forms:<\/span><br \/>\n<b>Singular \u279d Plural<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">book \u279d books<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">cat \u279d cats<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">cake \u279d cakes<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">snake \u279d snakes<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">fox \u279d foxes<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">box \u279d boxes<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">glass \u279d glasses<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">kiss \u279d kisses<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">giraffe \u279d giraffes<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">knife \u279d knives<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">roof \u279d roofs<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">shelf \u279d shelves<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">woman \u279d women<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">mouse \u279d mice<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">man \u279d men<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">goose \u279d geese<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">child \u279d children<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Rules to form the plural of different singular nouns<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now that you have the examples to familiarize yourself (or this may be a refresher for you already), let&#8217;s discuss the rules. There are actually three simple rules to be followed to form the plural of certain singular nouns. Here they are with examples:<\/span><br \/>\n<b>Nouns ending in <\/b><b><i>z, s , x, sh<\/i><\/b><b> or <\/b><b><i>ch <\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u279d Simply add <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">es<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> after the word. However, if it ends in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">z<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, you have to add another <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">z <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">before you add <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">es. <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is considered as an irregular plural form because it changes the spelling.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Examples:\u00a0 <\/span><b>Singular \u279d\u00a0 Plural<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">bush \u279d bushes<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">bus \u279d buses<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">fox \u279d foxes<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">coach \u279d\u00a0 coaches<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">quiz \u279d\u00a0 quizzes<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b><i>Nouns ending in<\/i><\/b> <b><i>fe<\/i><\/b><b> or <\/b><b><i>f <\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u279d Usually, you simply have to add s in nouns ending in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">f<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> fe.<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Sometimes, you also need to change <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">f<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">v<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, then add<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> es<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Like the rule above, the latter is also considered as an irregular plural form.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Examples:\u00a0 <\/span><b>Singular \u279d\u00a0 Plural<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">giraffe \u279d giraffes<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">knife \u279d knives<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">roof \u279d roofs<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">shelf \u279d shelves<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Most nouns <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u279d And of course, the simplest of all, when there are nouns ending in any letter except for the ones mentioned above, you simply have to add <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">s.<\/span><\/i><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Examples:\u00a0 <\/span><b>Singular \u279d\u00a0 Plural<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">book \u279d\u00a0 books<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">cat \u279d cats<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">cake \u279d cakes<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">snake \u279d snakes<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Irregular Plural Nouns<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, here&#8217;s one exemption to the rules. Remember that there are certain nouns with irregular plural forms that are totally different in spelling. This is regardless of which letter the noun ends.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Examples:<\/span><br \/>\n<b>Singular \u279d P L U R A L S<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">child \u279d\u00a0 children<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">person \u279d people<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">goose \u279d geese<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Woman\u00a0 \u279d\u00a0 Women<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">mouse \u279d\u00a0 mice<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">man \u279d men<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this case then, it always pays to check the dictionary or continuously familiarize yourself with words so you will be well-versed.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Rules on singular and plural possessive nouns<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now don&#8217;t be confused when it comes to plural nouns and plural<a href=\"http:\/\/www.englishforums.com\/blog\/possessive-nouns-worksheet-whats-new\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> possessive nouns<\/a>. The rule here is simple: add an apostrophe and s when a noun ends in letters other than <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">s<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">; while simply add an apostrophe to a possessive noun if the noun ends in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">s<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Examples:<\/span><br \/>\n<b>Singular\u00a0 \u279d Plural\u00a0 \u279d Plural Possessive Noun<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Person \u279d People \u279d People&#8217;s<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Child \u279d Children \u279d Children&#8217;s<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bus \u279d Buses \u279d Buses&#8217;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Knife \u279d Knives \u279d Knives&#8217;<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Is couple a singular or plural noun?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some nouns are still confusing whether they are singular or plural. One example is &#8220;couple&#8221;. &#8220;Couple&#8221; can either be a singular or plural. But it depends on how it&#8217;s used.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Examples:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The couple are starting to discuss some serious matters with each other. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(Here, the action refers to an act done by two individuals toward each other. Therefore, each individual must be acknowledged; thus the verb &#8220;are&#8221; in plural form is used.)<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The couple is attending a family planning seminar.\u00a0 <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(Here, the action is being done by two individuals who are together, so they are considered as one).<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So the &#8220;couple&#8221; above is referring to two individuals who are married or romantically involved. But &#8220;couple&#8221; can also refer to an indefinite number of anything. In that case, then, it is always plural.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are some examples:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Please give me a couple of minutes to call you back.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mike did not hesitate to share a couple of tips to his new colleagues.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Is each a singular or plural noun?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another noun that can be confusing whether it&#8217;s a singular or plural noun is &#8220;each&#8221;. &#8220;Each&#8221; is a singular noun so it shouldn&#8217;t be mistaken as a plural noun. Some people, when writing a plural noun after &#8220;each&#8221; forget that the former is a singular noun.<\/span><br \/>\n<b>Incorrect: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Each of his dogs are well taken care of.<\/span><br \/>\n<b>Correct:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Each of his dogs is well taken care of.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since there is the word &#8220;parts&#8221;, which is in plural form, some people are getting confused. &#8220;Each&#8221; is always a singular noun, even though it&#8217;s sometimes followed by a noun in plural form.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Singular and plural nouns worksheet<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now that you know the rules when it comes to writing the plural form of a singular noun, let&#8217;s now put what you&#8217;ve learned to the test! Write the plural forms or plural nouns of the following singular nouns. (<\/span><b>Hint: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">remember to observe which letter the noun ends; sometimes, it&#8217;s not just enough to add <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">es<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> s<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">!)<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">teacher [correct answer: teachers]<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">wife [correct answer: wives]<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">box [correct answer: boxes]<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">boss [correct answer: bosses]<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ourself [correct answer: ourselves]<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">tooth [correct answer: teeth]<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">foot [correct answer: feet]<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">doctor [correct answer: doctors]<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">life [correct answer: lives]<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">model [correct answer: models]<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">cactus [correct answer: cacti]<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">show [correct answer: shows]<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">wish [correct answer: wishes]<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">hiss [correct answer: hisses]<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">wolf [correct answer: wolves]<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">loaf [correct answer: loaves]<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now that you learned these nouns, singular and plural forms to be precise, you should be more confident toward your journey in polishing your English vocabulary skills.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We may think that singular and plural nouns are just so simple. Truth is, it is indeed simple, but we must not oversimplify this and &#8230; <a title=\"Singular and Plural Nouns\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/singular-and-plural-nouns\/\" aria-label=\"More on Singular and Plural Nouns\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1811,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_generate-full-width-content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[304],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1728"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1728\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}