Singular and Plural Nouns

Notes On Generalizations
For Spelling/Forming
Plural Nouns.
 Singular vs. Plural

A singular noun names one person,

place, thing, or idea.
• One cat, one store, one item
A plural noun names two or more
persons, places, things, or ideas.
• Two cats, four stores, fifteen items
 Generalizations for forming plural
nouns:
1. For most singular nouns, add s.

Singular Plural
teacher teachers
street streets
pencil pencils
book books
elephant elephants
Generalizations for forming plural
nouns:
2. For nouns ending with s, x, z, sh, or ch,
add es.

Singular Plural
gas gases
wax waxes
waltz waltzes
dish dishes
church churches
 Generalizations for forming plural
nouns:
3. For nouns ending with a consonant and y,
change the y to i and add es. For nouns ending
with a vowel and y, add s.

Singular Plural
sky skies
army armies
penny pennies
boy boys
alley alleys
 Generalizations for forming plural
nouns:
4. For some nouns ending with f or fe, add s. For others,
change the f to v and add s or es. (You will need to
memorize the spellings for such words or look them up
in a dictionary to check.

Singular Plural
belief beliefs
roof roofs
loaf loaves
life lives
knife knives
 Generalizations for forming plural
nouns:
These are a little more tricky . . .
5. For nouns that end with o, add s or es. (Again, you
would need to memorize the spellings of such words or
look them up in a dictionary to double-check.)
—One trick to remember: if it has to do with sound (“music”),
just add s.—Ex: cello. piano, radio
Singular Plural
cello cellos
piano pianos
radio radios
zoo zoos
potato / tomato potatoes / tomatoes
Generalizations for forming plural
nouns:
6. Some nouns have irregular plural forms. You
will have to memorize the spelling for irregular
plurals.
Singular Plural
child children
foot feet
tooth teeth
mouse mice
man / woman men / women
Generalizations for forming plural
nouns:
7. A few nouns have the same singular and
plural forms.

Singular Plural
sheep sheep
Chinese Chinese
moose moose
grapefruit grapefruit
deer deer
salmon salmon
Generalizations for forming plural
nouns:
8. A few nouns have only plural forms.

Plural
scissors
jeans
savings
dues
Generalizations for forming plural
nouns:

9. A few nouns that end with s look plural

but are considered singular.

Singular
measles
news
economics
dues
 Generalizations for forming plural
nouns:

Compound Nouns
10. For most compound nouns, make the most
important word plural.
• For a compound noun written as one word,
make the last part plural.
• For a compound noun written with hyphens
or as separate words, make the key word
plural.
 Generalizations for forming plural
nouns:

Singular Plural
One word billboard billboards
compound
nouns cupful cupfuls
campground campgrounds
Separate
words maid of honor maids of honor
Hyphenated
attorney-at-law attorneys-at-law
compound step-brother step-brothers
nouns
Great-grandma Great-grandmas
 Generalizations for forming plural
nouns:
11. Letters, numbers, symbols, and words used as
words are made plural by adding an apostrophe (‘)
and s.
Singular Plural
# #’s
A A’s
25 25’s
and and’s
& &’s
ABC & 123 ABC’s & 123’s
 Using a Dictionary:

Nouns that are made plural in other ways

besides just adding -s or -es can be looked up
in a dictionary to check the correct spelling.
Sample Dictionary entries:
dic-tion-ar-y (dik’ she ner’ e), n., pl. –aries, a book containing
words of a language, usually arranged alphabetically,
with their meanings, pronunciations, etymologies, etc.
en-try (en’ tre), n., pl. -tries. 1. entrance. 2. the act of
recording something in a book, register, etc. 3. the
item so recorded. 4. a person or thing entered in a
contest. 5. a word, phrase, etc. listed alphabetically
in a dictionary or reference book, usually with its
definition or explanation.
 Multiple Choice
Which 2 words correctly complete
these sentences?
We bought a pair of _____ and some _____
at the yard sale.

A. ski . . . dishes

B. skis . . . dishs

C. skies . . . dish

D. skis . . . dishes
 CORRECT!
We bought a pair of _skis_ and
some _dishes_ at the yard sale.
 Multiple Choice

One of her _______ is studying _______ in

the wild.

A. hobbys . . . monkeyes

B. hobbyes . . . monkies

C. hobbies . . . monkeys

D. hobbys. . . monkees
 CORRECT!
One of her _hobbies_ is
studying _monkeys_ in the wild.
 Multiple Choice

A team of ______ pulled a wagon with three

_______ inside.

A. ox . . . woman

B. oxen . . . women

C. oxes . . . women

D. oxens . . . womans
 CORRECT!
A team of _oxen_ pulled a wagon
with three _women_ inside.
 Multiple Choice

Near the campsite they saw two _______

and several ________.

A. deer . . . moose

B. deers . . . moose

C. deers . . . mooses

D. deer . . . meese
 CORRECT!
Near the campsite they saw two
_deer_ and several _moose_.
 Newspaper Nouns
Use a newspaper or magazine article for this
activity:
•In the article, find at least 25 singular nouns.
Circle them with a colored pencil.
•On your own paper, make a T-chart. . . on the
left side write “Singular” and write “Plural” on
the right side of the T-chart.
•List the singular nouns you found in the article
on the left side of the T-chart, then write the
correct plural form of each on the right side.
 Scoring Guide:
You should find at least 25 singular nouns.
Each of the plural nouns formed correctly from
these 25 singular nouns is worth 4 points, for a
total of 100.

Opportunity for BONUS points:

For every 5 additional singular nouns you identify,
list, and form the plural of correctly, you can earn one
bonus point.—up to a maximum of 5 bonus points (i.e. it
takes 25 additional singular nouns correctly made plural to
earn all 5 bonus points—but you can do it!!!)
 Scoring Guide:
4 points each = total points 100
100% = 25 singular nouns identified and listed
with plural form spelled correctly.
96% = 24 singular nouns identified and listed
with plural form spelled correctly.
92% = 23 singular nouns identified and listed
with plural form spelled correctly.
Etc.
Grading: A = 90-100%, B = 80-89%,
C = 70-79%, D = 60-69%,
F = Below 60%