Singular and Plural Nouns with Possessive Nouns

Singular and Plural

Nouns with Possessive

Nouns Lesson 17

Lesson 17 – Singular and Plural Nouns

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What is a plural noun?

The answer is a relatively easy one, as grammar goes. A plural noun

is a word that indicates that there is more than one person, animal

place, thing, or idea. When you talk about more than one of anything, you re

using plural nouns. he difference between singular and plural nouns is easy to

spot. When a noun indicates one only, it is a singular noun.

It s ot diffi ult to gro a tree as long as you

give it plenty of water.

It s ot too diffi ult to grow trees as long as

you provide them with

plenty of water.

That cat never seems

to tire of jumping in

and out of the box.

That cat never seems

to tire of jumping in

and out of the box.

Give more examples.

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Plural Noun Rules

There are many plural noun rules, and because we use nouns so frequently

when writing, it s important to know all of them! The correct spelling of

plurals usually depends on what letter the singular noun ends in.

1. Regular Nouns

The plural form of most nouns is created simply by adding the letter 's' to

the end of the word .

dog– dogs house – houses bag – bags

Give examples for each.


a. Nouns that end in -ch, -x, -s, -sh, -ss; add '-es' to the end of the word.

bus – buses bush – bushes box – boxes

But there are some exceptions:

b. Most nouns ending in -o preceded by a consonant also form their

plurals by adding '-es' .

potato – potatoes tomato – tomatoes

However many newly created words and words with a Spanish or Italian origin

that end in -o just add an 's'

photo – photos piano – pianos

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taco – tacos


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c. If a singular noun ends in -y and the letter before the -y is a

consonant, change the ending to -ies to make the noun plural.

baby – babies puppy – puppies city – cities

d. If the noun ends with -f or -fe, the f is often changed to -ve before

adding the -s to form the plural version.

wife – wives wolf – wolves knife – knilves

Exceptions: roof – roofs belief – beliefs chef – chefs chief – chiefs

café – cafes brief – briefs proof – proofs


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e. Most nouns ending in 'is', drop the 'is' and add '-es'.

crisis – crises hypothesis – hypotheses analysis – analyses

f. If the singular noun ends in -us, the plural ending is frequently -i.

cactus – cacti focus – foci

g. If the singular noun ends in -us, the plural ending is frequently -i.

phenomenon – phenomena criterion – criteria


2. Irregular Nouns

There are also a lot of common nouns that have irregular plurals. Most

common nouns connected with human beings seem to be irregular.

child – children person – people man – men woman – women

Other irregular common nouns are:

foot – feet tooth – teeth mouse – mice goose – geese ox – oxen

Some nouns have identical plural and singular forms. This means they

do t change in spelling or form.

fish – fish aircraft – aircraft sheep – sheep deer – deer

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Write the plurals of following words:

1. chair ______________

2. cup _______________

3. glass _______________

4. book _______________

5. watch _______________

6. flat _______________

7. pen _______________

8. bed _______________

9. dog _______________

10. room _______________

11. knife _______________

12. dish _______________

13. city _______________

14. office _______________

15. desk _______________

16. box _______________

17. church _______________

18. wife _______________

19. fox _______________

20. kiss _______________

21. eye ______________

22. leg _______________

23. foot _______________

24. hand _______________

25. ear _______________

26. arm _______________

27. tooth _______________

28. knee _______________

29. finger _______________

30. head_______________


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Circle the correct form of plural verb for each sentence.

1. Three (student / students) went on the bus.

2. Patty ate two baked (potatoes /potatos).

3. The (monkies / monkeys) chattered in the jungle.

4. Many (wolves /wolfs) howl at night.

5. The (sheeps / sheep) are sheared each hear.

6. Sal bought six (brushs/ brushes) for gifts.

7. Six (peoples / people) ran in the race.

8. The (birdes / birds) sang in the tree.

9. The (children / childs) were playing.

10. The (foxs / foxes) built a den.

11. I have three (child, children).

12. There are five (man, men) and one (woman, women).

13. (Baby, Babies) play with bottles as toys.

14. I put two big (potato, potatoes) in the lunch box.

15. A few men wear (watch, watches).

16. I put a (memo, memos) on the desk.

17. I saw a (mouse, mice) running by.

18. There are few (bus, buses) on the road today.

19. How many (people, peoples) are coming to your party?

20. The herd had many (sheeps, sheep).


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Lesson 17 – Possessive Nouns

What is a possessive noun?

Many people have trouble distinguishing between possessive nouns and

plural nouns. Possessive nouns and pronouns demonstrate ownership or

some similar relationship over something else. Plural nouns indicate more

than one person, place or thing.

Possessive nouns typically include an apostrophe. For example:

Je ifer’s i agi atio ra wild as she pictured the

accident.

The kitte ’s toy is a ball of string.

My dad’s prese t is a coat from Paris.

Think of the apostrophe mark as a hook or hand reaching out to take

ownership of the object. Without the little hook or hand grabbing onto the s

or the next word, the noun is simply plural.

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Possessive Noun Rules


1. Add an apostrophe + s to most singular nouns and to plural nouns that

do not end in s . You ll use this rule the most, so pay particular attention to it. English has

some words that are plural but do not add an s . Words like children,

sheep, women and men are such words. These plural words are treated as

if they were singular words when making noun possessives.

Examples:

Si gular ou s: kitte s toy, Joe s ar, MLB s ruli g

Plurals ot e di g i s : o e s dresses, sheep s pasture, hildre s toys 2. Add an apostrophe only to plural nouns that already end in s .

You do t need to add an extra s to plural nouns that already end with the

letter s . Simply tuck the apostrophe onto the end to indicate that the

plural noun is now a plural possessive noun.

Examples:

Co pa ies orkers

Horses stalls

Cou tries ar ies


3. Making hyphenated nouns and compound nouns plural

Compound and hyphenated words can be tricky. Add the apostrophe + s to

the end of the compound words or the last word in a hyphenated noun.

Examples:

My mother-in-la s re ipe for eatloaf is y hus a d s fa orite. The U ited States Post Offi e s sta ps are a aila le i rolls or i pa kets.

4. Indicating possession when two nouns are joined together

If two nouns share ownership, indicate possession only once, and on the

second noun. Add the apostrophe + s to the second noun only.

Examples:

Ja k a d Jill s pail of ater features pro i e tly i the ursery rhy e. A ot a d Costello s o edy skit Who s O First is a lassi a t.

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5. Indicating possession when two nouns are joined, and ownership is

separate

When two nouns indicate ownership, but the ownership is separate, each

noun gets the apostrophe + s. The examples below may help you

understand exactly what this means

Examples:

Lu y s and Ri ky s dressing rooms were painted pink and blue.

(Each owns his or her own dressing room, and they are different rooms).

Senator O a a s and Senator Cli to s educations are outstanding.

(Each senator owns his or her education, but they attained separate

educations).

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Fill the blanks with the correct possessive form of the word in parenthesis.

1. The young ________ (man) plane finally took off from Kitty Hawk.

2. The Wright ________(brother) plane made its first historic flight in 1903.

3. A granite monument was erected to honor the Wright ________ (brother).

4. ________(Bess) drawings and ________(Louis) toys cluttered up the room.

5. The ________ (beaver) home was built early that year. (Meaning one beaver.)

6. The ________ (beaver) homes were built early.

7. The ________ (canary) food was put in the little dish beside him.

8. ________ (canary) songs keep loneliness out of many homes.

9. Bring home some companions for these ______________ (canary).

10. The ________ (elephant) are in the parade. See that to young ________(elephant) trunk.

11. ________(elephant) trunks are strong enough pick up small boys.

12. That ________(boy) father is taking them all to the circus tonight.

13. ________(potato) are grown in Idaho, Wisconsin, and other places.

14. One ________(farmer) crop was all destroyed but the ________ (potato).

15. A great deal is being done to protect ________ (farmer) rights


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1. The dogs / The dog s ollar is lue. 2. Aaro s / Aaro s frie d is a ed Ada . 3. I really like y gra d others / y gra d other s ookies. 4. If you a t to go to the o ies / the o ie s e should go y ar. 5. I really like to dri k soda usi g spiral stra s / stra s. 6. The irds / the ird s egg is lue. 7. I like the s ell of roses / rose s. 8. Dia o ds / Dia o d s are a girls / girl s est frie d. 9. Da id s / Davids mom is very tall.

10. My rothers / My rother s are t i s. 11. The le o s a idity / le o s a idity is too u h for y tu y. 12. The ars u pers / ars bumpers were locked in the traffic jam.

13. We should not blame our countries' governments / countries'

governments .

Decide which pair best completes the sentence.


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Singular and Plural Nouns with Possessive Nouns