Singular and Plural

The word singular

means just one of The word plural means more than
something. one of something.

houses

a house

a dog
dogs
Singular and Plural

The word singular is very similar to

single. This can help us remember the
meanings of singular and plural.
 Most singular nouns form the plural by adding –s.

Naomi’s Notes

singular form plural form

boat boats

car cars

house houses

tree trees
 Singular nouns ending in ‘s’, ‘x’, ‘z’, ‘ch’ or ‘sh’ form
the plural by adding –es.

Naomi’s Notes

singular form plural form

bus
boat buses
boats

box
car boxes
cars

church
house churches
houses

wish
tree wishes
trees Try saying ‘buss’, ‘boxs’ or
‘wishs’ and you will see why
nouns which end in a hissing
sound use –es in the plural!
 Singular nouns ending in a consonant and the letter ‘y’
form the plural by dropping the ‘y’ and adding –ies.

Naomi’s Notes

singular form plural form

penny
bus pennies
buses

baby
box babies
boxes

daisy
church daisies
churches

spy
wish spies
wishes
 Singular nouns ending in a vowel and the letter ‘y’
form the plural by simply adding –s.

Naomi’s Notes

singular form plural form

boy
penny boys
pennies

toy
baby toys
babies

valley
daisy valleys
daisies

tray
spy trays
spies
 BUT…
So, most of the
The English language has some
time, we make a
rule-breaking nouns in it. These
plural noun by
are nouns that have their own
adding an -s,special
-es rules or spellings for
making them into plurals.
or –ies.
 Some singular nouns ending in ‘o’ form the
BUT…
plural by adding –s.
ost of the The English language has some
we make a rule-breaking nouns in it. These
Naomi’s Notes
l noun by are nouns that have their own
g an -s, singular
-es form special
pluralrules
formor spellings for
making them into plurals.
s.
piano pianos

solo solos

photo photos

memo memos

kilo kilos

video videos
 But some singular nouns ending in ‘o’ form
the plural by adding –es!

Naomi’s Notes

singular form plural form

potato
piano potatoes
pianos

hero
solo heroes
solos

tomato
photo tomatoes
photos

echo
memo echoes
memos

torpedo
kilo torpedoes
kilos

domino
video dominoes
videos
 Nouns that end in ‘f’ or ‘fe’ usually form the
plural by dropping the ‘f’ and adding -ves.

Naomi’s Notes

singular form plural form

thief
potato thieves
potatoes

knife
hero knives
heroes

wife
tomato wives
tomatoes

elf
echo elves
echoes

leaf
torpedo leaves
torpedoes

domino dominoes
 However, some nouns that end in ‘f’ form
the plural by simply adding -s.

Naomi’s Notes

singular form plural form

cliff
thief cliffs
thieves

earmuff
knife earmuffs
knives

foodstuff
wife foodstuffs
wives

cuff
elf cuffs
elves

playoff
leaf playoffs
leaves

roof roofs
 If you can hear the sound ‘f’ in the
plural noun, you probably spell the
plural form with an ‘f’.

cliffs
Naomi’s Notes

singular form plural form

puffs
cliff cliffs

If youearmuff earmuffs
can hear a ‘v’ sound, then you
will probably
foodstuffneed to use a -ves plural.
foodstuffs

cuff cuffs
wives
playoff playoffs

roof lives roofs

Some tricky nouns are the same in the
singular and the plural forms.

Naomi’s Notes

singular form plural form

sheep sheep

fish fish

deer deer

aircraft aircraft

species species
 Pairs of things usually only
have a plural form.

Naomi’s Notes

singular form plural form

sheep sheep

fish fish

deer deer
jeans aircraft aircraft

The singular form is species species

not ‘jean’. It is a ‘pair of
jeans’.
 Pairs of things usually only
have a plural form.

scissors binoculars

jeans
The singular form is
not ‘jean’. It is a ‘pair of trousers glasses
jeans’.
 Words from Other Languages

Many English nouns have been taken from other

languages. These words behave differently.
The plurals are formed as they would be in the original language.

Some nouns in this group can

also use an English plural –s or –es.
These nouns are shown in the following slides.
Singular Greek and Latin nouns ending in
‘a’ add an –e to form the plural.

Naomi’s Notes

singular plural English plural

form form form

larva larvae
alga algae

formula formulae formulas

antenna antennae antennas
Singular Greek and Latin nouns ending in
‘is’ change it to –es to form the plural.

Naomi’s
Naomi’sNotes
Notes

singularplural
singular form Englishform
plural plural
form form form
analysis analyses
larva larvae
crisis crises
alga algae
oasis oases
formula formulae formulas
diagnosis diagnoses
antenna antennae antennas
Singular Greek nouns ending in ‘on’ change
it to –a to form the plural.

Naomi’s Notes

singular form plural form

criterion
analysis criteria
analyses
phenomenon
crisis phenomena
crises
automaton
oasis automata
oases

diagnosis diagnoses
Singular Latin nouns ending in ‘ix’ or ‘ex’
use –ices to form the plural.

Naomi’s
Naomi’sNotes
Notes

singularplural
singular form Englishform
plural plural
form form form
criterion
analysis criteria
analyses
index indices indexes
phenomenon
crisis phenomena
crises
appendix appendices appendixes
automaton
oasis automata
oases
matrix matrices matrixes
diagnosis diagnoses
Singular Latin nouns ending in ‘um’ use –a
to form the plural.

Naomi’s Notes

singular plural English plural

form form form

datum
index data
indices indexes
bacterium
appendix bacteria
appendices appendixes
matrix
stadium matrices
stadia matrixes
stadiums
curriculum curricula curriculum
Most singular Latin nouns ending in ‘us’
change to –i to form the plural.

Naomi’s Notes

singular plural English plural

form form form

fungus
datum
index fungi
data
indices funguses
indexes
octopus
bacterium
appendix octopi
bacteria
appendices octopuses
appendixes
matrix
cactus
stadium matrices
cacti
stadia matrixes
cactuses
stadiums
focus
curriculum foci
curricula focuses
curriculum
Singular French nouns ending in ‘eau’ or
‘eu’ add –x to form the plural.

Naomi’s
Naomi’sNotes
Notes

singularplural
singular form Englishform
plural plural
form form form
chateau chateaux
fungus
datum
index fungi
data
indices funguses
indexes
gateau gateaux
octopus
bacterium
appendix octopi
bacteria
appendices octopuses
appendixes
matrix
cactus
stadium matrices
cacti
stadia matrixes
cactuses
stadiums
focus
curriculum foci
curricula focuses
curriculum
Singular Italian nouns ending in ‘o’ change
to -i to form the plural.

Naomi’s Notes

singular form plural form

virtuoso
chateau chateaux
virtuosi

graffito
gateau gateaux
graffiti

paparazzo paparazzi
Some nouns are completely irregular and
do not follow any of these patterns.

Naomi’s Notes

singular form plural form

virtuoso
chateau chateaux
virtuosi

graffito
gateau gateaux
graffiti

paparazzo paparazzi
 Some nouns are completely irregular and
do not follow any of these patterns.

Naomi’s Notes

These plurals are called mutated

(or mutating) plurals.

singular form plural form

foot feet

child children
woman
person people women
tooth teeth The plural form of
women is not ‘womans’.
mouse mice
 Making Singular English Nouns Plural

singular form to form the plural… plural form

boat add -s boats
bus add -es buses
penny drop y, add -ies pennies
piano add -s pianos
domino add -es dominoes
thief drop f, add -ves thieves
cliff add -s cliffs
sheep do nothing sheep
trousers do nothing trousers
die change the word dice
foot change the word feet
person change the word people
Making Singular Nouns from Other Languages Plural

singular form to form the plural… plural form

larva add -e larvae
formula add -e or -s formulae/formulas
analysis change -i to an -e analyses
phenomenon drop -on, add -a phenomena
index drop -x, add -ices, or add -s indices/indexes
stadium drop -um, add -a, or add -s stadia/stadiums
fungus drop -us, add -i, or add -es fungi/funguses
chateau add -x chateaux
graffito change -o to -i graffiti
 Quiz

How much do you remember

about plural nouns?

What is the plural form

Incorrect.
Correct! 1 of ‘cuff’?
Well
Try again!
done!
a cuffes

b cuff

c cuves

d cuffs
Next
 Quiz

How much do you remember

about plural nouns?

What is the plural form

Incorrect.
Correct! 2 of ‘sheep’?
Well
Try again!
done!
a sheeps

b sheepes

c sheep

d sheepies
Next
 Quiz

How much do you remember

about plural nouns?

What is the plural form

Incorrect.
Correct! 3 of ‘piano’?
Well
Try again!
done!
a pianos

b pianoes

c pianers

d pians
Next
 Quiz

How much do you remember

about plural nouns?

What is the plural form

Incorrect.
Correct! 4 of ‘scissors’?
Well
Try again!
done!
a scissorses

b scissers

c scissors

d scissories
Next
 Quiz

How much do you remember

about plural nouns?

What is the plural form

Incorrect.
Correct! 5 of ‘foot’?
Well
Try again!
done!
a feet

b feets

c foot

d foots
Finish