Understanding singular and plural nouns are one of the basic requirements for understanding nouns. Depending on the number of quantity, nouns are of two types: Singular noun and plural noun. Both singular and plural noun is very easy to spot in the English language. In this article, we will learn the definition, rules, examples and worksheets related to singular and plural nouns.
Singular and Plural Noun Definition
The term singular comes from the term “Single” which means one. So singular noun specifies the names of one person, thing, place, or idea. Plural nouns specify a noun with a quantity of more than one. Both singular and plural specify names and thus nouns. Only the quantity or number makes the difference.
Examples of Singular and Plural Nouns
Let’s have a look at the following sentence; One red color bus is standing in between six green buses. Here, the red color bus is denoting only one bus and its singular. On the other hand, green buses are denoting six green buses; Hence it is plural, and “-es” is added to convert the singular bus to plural buses.
The following table shows a few examples of singular and plural nouns for reference
Examples of singular and plural nouns
Singular
Plural
Singular
Plural
Singular
Plural
cat
cats
Lady
ladies
mouse
mice
worker
workers
story
stories
foot
feet
hawk
hawks
key
keys
ox
oxen
place
places
boy
boys
deer
deer
rope
ropes
calf
calves
giraffe
giraffes
lamp
lamps
chief
chiefs
cliff
cliffs
brush
brushes
roof
roofs
loaf
loaves
fox
foxes
life
lives
calf
calves
monarch
monarchs
fish
fish
way
ways
zoo
zoos
sheep
sheep
lily
lilies
video
videos
ox
oxen
hero
heroes
tornado
tornadoes
quiz
quizzes
highway
highways
address
addresses
shelf
shelves
fungus
fungi
arch
arches
family
families
diagnosis
diagnoses
bug
bugs
oreo
oreos
egg
eggs
Singular and Plural Nouns
Singular and Plural Noun Conversion Rules
There are a few basic rules for converting singular nouns into plural nouns.
Rule 1: Add ‘s’ at the end of the singular noun to make it plural. For example, cat=>cats; bird=>birds; pen=>pens; egg=>eggs; nest=>nests.
Rule 2: For nouns that end in ‘s’, ‘ss’, ‘sh’, ‘ch’, ‘x’, or ‘z’ requires an ‘es’ at the end of the singular noun to convert it into plural. Words ending with ‘z’ needs one extra z before ‘es’. For example, bus=>buses; witch=>witches; quiz=>quizzes (extra z); beach=>beaches; box=>boxes.
However, when the ‘ch’ at the end sounds like ‘k’, only ‘s’ is added to make it a plural noun. For example, stomach=>stomachs.
Rule 3: Singular nouns ending in ‘f’ or ‘fe’ need ‘s’ to be added at the end. However, sometimes the ‘f’ is required to be changed to ‘v’. For example, safe=>safes; wife=>wives (f converted to v); roof=>roofs; shelf=>shelves. belief=>beliefs.
Rule 4: Singular nouns that end with ‘y’ need changing of ‘y’ to ‘i’ before adding ‘es’ to make it plural. For example, baby=>babies; story=>stories; trophy=>trophies.
However, when there is a vowel (a, e, i, o, u) before ‘y’ then simply add ‘s’ to make it a plural noun. For example, toy=>toys; key=>keys; bay=>bays.
Again, when the singular noun ending with ‘y’ represents some places or person, only ‘s’ is added at the end. For example, Chakraborty=>Chakrabortys;
Rule 5: Some singular nouns are the same in their plural noun forms. For example, fish; deer; sheep; etc.
Rule 6: Singular nouns those end in ‘o’ followed by a consonant, requires ‘es’ for making it a plural noun. For example; tomato=>tomatoes, potato=>potatoes.
However, there are exceptions like piano=>pianos; halo=>halos. Remember that for the singular noun volcano; both volcanos and volcanoes are correct as a plural noun.
When the singular nouns have a foreign origin, only ‘s’ is added at the end in its plural noun form. For example, avocado=>avocados; maestro=>maestros
If the singular noun ending in ‘o’ is followed by a vowel, simply add ‘s’ to form a plural noun. For example, studio=>studios; portfolio=>portfolios.
Rule 7: When the singular noun ends in ‘is’, the ‘is’ changes to ‘es’ in its plural noun form. For example; Ellipsis=>ellipses; Analysis=>analyses.
Rule 8: Singular nouns ending in ‘on’ end in ‘a’ in its plural conversion. For example; Criterion=>criteria; Phenomenon=>phenomena.
Rule 9: When the singular noun ends in ‘us’, the plural noun ends in ‘i’. For example; focus=>foci; cactus=>cacti.
Rule 10: For irregular nouns, there are no specific rules for conversion into plural form. So, it’s always preferable to learn these words by heart. For example; Man=>men; tooth=>teeth; person=>people; child;=children; foot=>feet; etc.
Rule 11: There are few nouns that only have a plural noun form. Examples-binoculars, scissors, glasses, jeans, sunglasses, pants, headphones, pajamas, etc.
Rule 12: Collective nouns that represent a group of nouns are always plural noun in form. Examples: crew, company, audience, team, public, etc.
Rule 13: In a similar way, Some nouns are always in singular noun form even though they have ‘s’ at their end. Example; Maths, Physics, Classics, Aerobics, etc.
Rule 14: Singular Nouns with ‘um’ at their end need replacement of ‘um’ by ‘a’ in their plural noun forms. For example, datum=>data; curriculum=>curricula; medium=>media.
Rule 15: Few singular nouns that end with ‘a’, required changing of this ‘a’ by ‘ae’ for converting into the plural. For example, antenna=>antennae; alumna=> antennae.
Rule 16: For some singular nouns ending with ‘ex’ or ‘ix’, replace it with ‘ices’ while converting into a plural noun. For example, index=>Indices; appendix=>appendices.
Now that you have learned about the rules of singular and plural nouns, let’s practice the following singular and plural noun worksheets to check your understanding of the subject.
Q1. Fill in the blanks with appropriate plural noun forms of the words in bracket.
The young ________ peel the _________. (lady, vegetable)
Mother cut the omelet into two __________. (half)
The cowherd’s ___________walked slowly into the field. (cow)
The old _____________ are standing at the bus stop. (woman)
The busy ____________ were cleaning the road. (man)
My grandpa sharpened the __________ in the kitchen. (knife)
Rohan’s ________ made pineapple chicken. (wife)
There were so many beautiful ________ in Uttarakhand. (valley)
The ________played happily with ________. (mouse, cheese)
Santu bought two _________ from the market. (mango)
The ______are happy because they have got new _________ . (girl, dress)
I like _________ and________________. (mango, orange)
Q2. Match the singular noun with its corresponding plural noun.
Singular
Plural
a. Desk
1. Knives
b. Branch
2. Men
c. Buffalo
3. Oxen
d. Piano
4. Desks
e. Army
5. Branches
f. Thief
6. Buffaloes
g. Man
7. Pianos
h. Ox
8. Armies
i. Knife
9. Thieves
Q3. Write the plural forms of the nouns given below
