ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

TUNAS NEGERI JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL

SINGULAR & PLURAL NOUNS

The difference between singular and plural nouns is easy to spot. When a noun
indicates one only, it is a singular noun. When a noun indicates more than one, it is
plural.

Singular Noun Examples

The following sentences contain singular nouns examples.
 The boy had a baseball in his hand.
 My horse prefers to wear an English saddle.
 That cat never seems to tire of jumping in and out of the box.
 You stole my idea and didn’t give me any credit.
 Your mom is going to be upset about that broken lamp.
 It’s not difficult to grow a tree as long as you give it plenty of water.
 I can’t believe you let your dog stick his head out the window while you drive.

Plural Noun Examples

The following sentences contain plural noun examples.
 The boys were throwing baseballs back and forth between bases.
 Our horses are much happier wearing lightweight English saddles.
 Those cats never seem to tire of chasing one another in and out of those
boxes.
 You stole my ideas and didn’t give me any credit.
 Our moms are going to be upset that we stayed out all night going to parties.
 It’s not too difficult to grow trees as long as you provide them with plenty of
water.
 I can’t believe you allow your dogs to climb all over the seats while you are
driving.

In order to make a noun plural, it is usually only necessary to add s. However, there
are many irregular nouns that add es. The rules for spelling plural nouns are based
on the letters at the end of the word. The chart below breaks up the rules into
categories so that they are easier to remember.

© 2020 English Department, Tunas Negeri JHS 1

Making Plural Nouns in English:
It’s more than just adding s!
You surely know that in order to change a singular noun to its plural form in
English, you usually add s. But there are many cases where this is not the case.
This review will lead you through the more important grammar rules you should
know in order to improve your English writing and avoid mistakes in turning
singular nouns to their plural form.

Remember that only count-nouns actually have plural forms. Count-nouns

represent items that exist in separated units you can count, such as apples,
songs, or children. Non-count nouns represent items existing as a mass, such as
powders and liquids ( sand, water) or concepts ( honesty, economics). In addition,
unlike a singular count-noun that must have at least a/an as a determiner ( This is
an apple), plural count nouns can appear without a determiner ( I like apples).

There may be accepted alternative spellings to the general rules presented below,
so when in doubt, consult a dictionary. If a noun adds anything but a simple s to
make the plural, then most dictionaries will show the special/ alternative plural
forms. For example, a mango – mangos/ mangoes, and a scarf – scarfs/ scarves.

Spelling Rules for Adding the Plural S to Singular Nouns

 The general plurals rule: Usually add the letter s to the end of a singular
noun to make it plural.
I’ll take this book; you can use those books over there.
We have one bedroom on the first floor and three more bedrooms on the second.
 In compound nouns, add s only to the main noun.
This family uses one air- conditioner and one washing machine . Their
neighbors use three air- conditioners and two washing machines .

I have one son-in-law; my friend Frieda has three sons-in-law.

© 2020 English Department, Tunas Negeri JHS 2

  Add es to a noun ending with a whistling sound ( s,sh,ch,x,z) to make it
plural.
one bus – three buses, a church – many churches, a box – boxes, a
buzz – buzzes
 If the singular noun ends with a consonant + y, drop the y, replace with
an i and add es. Don’t drop the y, if the y is preceded by a vowel.
Yes: one city – two cities, a baby – babies, a country – countries
No: a toy – toys, a day – days

Note: If the noun ending with a y represents a person or a country, add

only s in any case.
John F. Kennedy was the most famous of the Kennedys. In 1963, he didn’t
visit the two Germanys after giving his speech in West-Berlin.
 If the singular noun ends with a consonant + o, add es. If the o is
preceded by a vowel, only add s to make the plural form.
Yes: a potato – five potatoes, a hero – heroes, an echo – echoes
No: a radio – radios, a studio – studios, a kangaroo – kangaroos

Irregular Noun Plurals

1. Singular Nouns Ending with f/fe
Some nouns ending with f, fe, drop this ending and add ves to make the
plural form. There may be alternative spelling.
Yes : a knife – knives, one half – two halves, my life – their lives, a wolf –
wolves.
No : one roof – roofs, a cliff – many cliffs, a safe – safes
Both : a dwarf – the seven dwarfs/ dwarves, one wharf – a few wharfs/
wharves

2. Unique Old English Plural Nouns

These nouns have unique plural forms that survived from Old English. Learn
them well according to the following groups, as they are in common use.
a man – men a foot – feet
a woman – women a goose – geese
(Plural pronounced /wimen/) a tooth – teeth
a person -- people
a child – children a mouse – mice
an ox – oxen (castrated bulls) a louse – lice
a brother – brethren (in church orders), a die – dice (for playing
brothers (in a family) games)

3. One Form for Singular & Plural

Many nouns have identical forms for both singular and plural.
a sheep – sheep, a deer – deer, a moose – moose
a fish – fish (fishes, if used for different species of fish)
a dozen – two dozen roses, a hundred – several hundred men
( but: dozens of roses, hundreds of people)

© 2020 English Department, Tunas Negeri JHS 3

Special Singular - Plural Cases
1. Plural-Only Nouns
 Some nouns only have a plural form, ending with s or without.
The police are looking for the robbers.
I like these pants / jeans / shorts.
Use either scissors or nail clippers.
Binoculars ar stronger than any glasses.
 Other nouns ending with s only have a plural form only with certain
meanings.
customs (at the airport, not practices), guts (courage, not intestines)
quarters (lodgings, not 1/4s), clothes (garments, not fabrics)
goods (merchandise, not the opposite of bad), arms (weapons, not
limb)

2. Singular Nouns with an S Ending

Watch out!
 Some nouns end with s but are usually singular. They take a singular
verb with an s ending in the Present Simple.
diseases: measles, rabies.
fields of study and occupation: economics, ethics, linguistics, politics,
physics, gymnastics.
games: dominoes, darts, cards

I study mathematics, which is very difficult. Dominoes is my favorite

pastime.
 Some nouns have an identical form for singular and plural that both
end with s.
barracks, means, headquarters, crossroads,
a TV series – many TV series,
Money is a means to an end.
Newspapers and TV are means of mass-communication.
There is one species of humans but many species of cats.\

3. Plural Nouns from Other Languages

As English has constantly borrowed words from other languages throughout
its history, there are many nouns with plural endings taken from the source
language. Some of these, notably Latin and classical Greek nouns, have been
anglicized and may also have an English plural s ending.

Others have both forms, where the original is used in formal language or by
specialists, while the anglicized is for more common use. Some of these are
now almost only known or used in the plural form, which is treated as
singular for subject-verb agreement (third person verb with s in the Present
Simple). In the table below, the more common forms are underlined.

© 2020 English Department, Tunas Negeri JHS 4