A noun is the name of a person, place, thing or idea. Because of the high volume of words which fall under the part of speech of “noun” in the English language, many kinds of nouns exist.
In this article we will look at singular and plural nouns. The word singular means “one” and plural means “more than one”. Most obviously, a singular noun is a noun that names one person, place, thing or idea, and a plural noun is a word which names more than one person, place, thing or idea.
A singular noun is an English word or phrase in its original form. The plural form of any noun is formed by changing the original word form slightly.
There are some rules to follow when changing nouns from singular to plural. We will look at that in a moment; first, let’s give some examples of singular and plural nouns side by side.
| Singular Noun | Plural Noun |
| Dog | Dogs |
| Desk | Desks |
| Tree | Trees |
| Duck | Ducks |
| Mango | Mangoes |
| Wife | Wives |
| Fly | Flies |
| King | Kings |
| Car | Cars |
| Country | Countries |
Now let’s try to use some of these nouns in sentences.
1. The dog barked at the man. (singular noun)
2. The dogs ate the food. (plural noun)
3. We have one desk in our office. (singular noun)
4. They have five desks in their office. (plural noun)
5. We planted a tree in the front yard. (singular noun)
6. They planted some trees in the backyard. (plural noun)
7. A duck flew over the house. (singular noun)
8. Some ducks are swimming in the pond. (plural noun)
9. I ate a mango. (singular noun)
10. John ate ten mangoes. (plural noun)
11. The man bought a ring for his wife. (singular noun)
12. The men bought presents for their wives. (plural noun)
13. The boy swatted the fly. (singular noun)
14. The girl chased the flies with her hands. (plural noun)
15. Very long ago, a King was the ruler of almost every nation. (singular noun)
16. Nowadays, Kings are very scare as head of a nation. (plural noun)
17. My brother bought a car. (singular noun)
18. I like spacious cars. (plural noun)
19. I live in a beautiful country. (singular noun)
20. There are many countries in the world. (plural noun)
There are some rules to follow when changing a noun from the singular to plural form:
1. If the singular form of the noun ends with s, z, ch, sh, or x, add es to form the plural. Examples:
Singular: bus, church, flash, box
Plural: buses, churches, flashes, boxes
2. If the singular form of the noun ends o, AND the second-to-last letter is a vowel, add s to form the plural. Examples:
Singular: stereo, radio, video
Plural: stereos, radios, videos
3. If the singular form of the noun ends in o, AND the second-to-last letter is a vowel:
a) USUALLY add es to form the plural, examples:
Singular: tomato, potato, mosquito
Plural: tomatoes, potatoes, mosquitoes
b) SOMETIMES add s to form the plural, examples:
Singular: avocado, photo, piano
Plural: avocados, photos, pianos
4. If the singular form of the noun ends in y, AND the second-to-last letter is a vowel, add s to form the plural, examples:
Singular: day, tray, turkey
Plural: days, trays, turkeys
5. If the singular form of the noun ends in y, AND the second-to-last letter is a consonant, you USUALLY change the y to i and add es. Examples:
Singular: fly, ability, mummy,
Plural: flies, abilities, mummies
6. If the singular form of the noun ends in f or fe:
a) USUALLY change f to v and add s OR es. Examples:
Singular: wife, leaf, loaf
Plural: wives, leaves, loaves
b) SOMETIMES add s. Examples:
Singular: roof, chief, belief
Plural: roofs, chiefs, beliefs
More on the noun:
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Article location: Patrickcarpen.com >> English >> English Language >> Grammar >> Parts of Speech >> The Noun
Keywords: singular nouns, plural nouns, singular and plural nouns, the noun, parts of speech, English, language
