Singular and Plural Nouns

Singular Nouns:

Definition: Singular nouns refer to one person, one place, one object or one idea. For examples:

  • girl
  • doll
  • park
  • thought
  • tower
  • town

Plural Nouns:

Definition: Plural nouns refer to more than one person, place, object or idea. For examples:

  • girls
  • dolls
  • parks
  • thoughts
  • towers
  • towns

Regular Nouns:

Rule 1: Most singular nouns make the plural by adding 's'. For examples:


Singular Plural
mat mats
rat rats
river rivers
house houses

Rule 2: When a singular noun ends in s, x, z, ch, sh, its plural form is made by adding es. For examples:


Singular Plural
bus buses
wish wishes
box boxes
pitch pitches

Rule 3: When a singular noun ends in y then y changes in to ies. For examples:


Singular Plural
city cities
spy spies
baby babies
penny pennies

Rule 4: When a singular noun ends in vowel+y then its plural form is made by adding s. For examples:


Singular Plural
key keys
donkey donkeys
boy boys
day days

Irregular Plural Nouns:

There are some nouns which do not follow the rules described above. They are called irregular plural nouns. For examples:


Singular Plural
foot feet
tooth teeth
woman women
man men
mouse mice
goose geese

Rule 5: For singular nouns ending in f or fe the plural form is made by replacing the f or fe with a v and adding es. For example:


Singular Plural
elf elves
wife wives
leaf leaves
life lives

Rule 6: Some nouns remain the same in singular and plural forms. For example:


Singular Plural
sheep sheep
fish fish
deer deer
species species

Rule 7: Some singular nouns ending in is make plural form by replacing is with es. For examples:


Singular Plural
analysis analyses
thesis theses
basis bases
crisis crises
diagnosis diagnoses

Rule 8: Some singular nouns ending in ix, make plural form by replacing ix with ices. For example:


Singular Plural
matrix matrices
helix helices
appendix appendices

Rule 9: Some singular noun ending in o make plural form by adding es. For example:


Singular Plural
hero heroes
potato potatoes
tomato tomatoes
echo echoes
buffalo buffaloes

Exceptions:

Singular Plural
memo memos
piano pianos
photo photos

Rule 10: When a singular noun ends in vowel+o then its plural form is made by adding s. For example:


Singular Plural
video videos
radio radios
zoo zoos
kangaroo kangaroos

Some nouns are used only in plural form. For example:

  • glasses
  • scissors
  • headphones
  • tweezers
  • jeans
  • pants