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In the third part of the Introduction to Nouns we will look at plural forms of nouns. The presentation contains the following topics: • Singular and plural nouns • The spelling rules for plural nouns • Nouns that are always plural • Collective nouns
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Introduction to Nouns – part 3Introduction to Nouns – part 3
Singular vs. Plural NounsSingular vs. Plural Nouns
• SINGULAR vs. PLURAL NOUNS
In English plurals are formed by adding –s to the singular noun:
one pen two pens
one bulb two bulbs
one lesson two lessons
• SINGULAR vs. PLURAL NOUNS
If the singular noun ends in:
-s -sh -tch -x -o, the plural is formed by adding –es:
one bus two buses
one brush two brushes
one kiss two kisses
one notch two notches
one box two boxes
one tomato two tomatoes
REMEMBER!
• Words of foreign origin or abbreviated (shortened) words ending in
-o, take ‘s’ only:
one kilo two kilos (shortened from ‘kilogram’)
one kimono two kimonos (foreign word)
one photo two photos (shortened from ‘photograph’)
one piano two pianos (foreign word)
one soprano two sopranos (foreign word)
• SINGULAR vs. PLURAL NOUNS
If the singular noun ends in a consonant + (-y),
in the plural,
-y changes to –ie + s:
one story (‘r’ + y) two stories
one country (‘r’ +y) two countries
one baby (‘b’ + y) two babies
BUT:
one boy (‘o’ + y) two boys
• SINGULAR vs. PLURAL NOUNS
If the singular noun ends in:
-f
(except –ff) or -fe in the plural, –f changes to –v + es: one wife two wivesone life two livesone knife two knivesone half two halves
‘I respect myself.‘They respect themselves’
• SINGULAR vs. PLURAL NOUNS
Some nouns are always plural:
TROUSERS GLASSES SCISSORS SHEEP
• SINGULAR vs. PLURAL NOUNS
COLLECTIVE NOUNS like crew, family, team, staff can behave
– as singular if the people are treated as a unit:
• ‘Our team is working very hard to meet the deadline.’
– as plural if the people are treated as individuals:
• ‘Our team are getting drunk in the pub down the road.’
REMEMBER!
• The word ‘police’ is always plural and always takes a plural verb:
‘The police are investigating a series of allegations of fraud against Mr Archer.’
• SINGULAR vs. PLURAL NOUNS
Common IRREGULAR PLURALS:
one mouse many mice
one tooth many teeth
one foot many feet
one child many children
one man many men
one woman many women
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