SINGULAR AND PLURAL FORMS OF NOUNS

SINGULAR AND PLURAL NOUNS A NOUN names a person, place, thing, or idea. Usually, the first page of a grammar book tells you about nouns. Nouns give names of concrete or abstract things in our lives. As babies learn "mom," "dad," or "milk" as their first word, nouns should be the first topic when you study a foreign language.

What is a singular noun? The word singular, when used in grammar, means “noting or pertaining to a member of the category of the number found in many languages that indicates that a word form has one referent or denotes one person, place, thing, or instance.” A singular noun is a noun that refers to one, and only one, object or person. For example, the word girl is a singular noun

Plural Nouns Plural nouns are words used to indicate that there is more than one person, animal, place, thing, or idea. The difference between singular and plural nouns is simple once you know what to look for. Plurals are simply grammatical marker that tells the listener or reader that there is more than one of something (like frogs or bugs). Here, we take a look at singular and plural nouns, providing both singular noun examples and plural noun examples to help you recognize plural nouns when you see them.

Singular Noun Examples The following sentences contain singular nouns examples. 1. The boy had a baseball in his hand. 2. My horse prefers to wear an English saddle. 3. That cat never seems to tire of jumping in and out of the box. 4. You stole my idea and didn’t give me any credit. 5. Your mom is going to be upset about that broken lamp. 6. It’s not difficult to grow a tree as long as you give it plenty of water. 7. I can’t believe you let your dog stick his head out the window while you drive.

Plural Noun Examples The following sentences contain plural noun examples. 1. The boys were throwing baseballs back and forth between bases. 2. Our horses are much happier wearing lightweight English saddles. 3. Those cats never seem to tire of chasing one another in and out of those boxes. 4. You stole my ideas and didn’t give me any credit. 5. Our moms are going to be upset that we stayed out all night going to parties. 6. It’s not too difficult to grow trees as long as you provide them with plenty of water. I can’t believe you allow your dogs to climb all over the seats while you are driving.

For the plural form of most nouns, add s. bottle – bottles cup – cups pencil – pencils desk – desks sticker – stickers window – windows For nouns that end in ch, x, s, or s sounds, add es. box – boxes watch – watches moss – mosses bus – buses

For nouns ending in f or fe, change f to v and add es. wolf – wolves wife – wives leaf – leaves life – lives Some nouns have different plural forms. child – children woman – women man – men mouse – mice goose – geese Nouns ending in vowels like y or o do not have definite rules. baby – babies toy – toys kidney – kidneys potato – potatoes memo – memos stereo – stereos

Test your knowlwdge 1. Give the plural form of the singular noun donkey 2. Give the plural form of the singular noun thief 3. Give the plural form of the singular noun sky 3. Give the plural form of the singular noun branch 4. Give the plural form of the singular noun dress

5. Give the plural form of the singular noun fox 6. Give the plural form of the singular noun circus 7. Give the plural form of the singular noun match 8.. Give the plural form of the singular noun ash 9. Give the plural form of the singular noun wish 10. Give the plural form of the singular noun potato

11. Give the plural form of the singular noun loaf 12 Give the plural form of the singular noun hero 13. Give the plural form of the singular noun shelf 14. Give the plural form of the singular noun toy 15. Give the plural form of the singular noun country 16. Give the plural form of the singular noun valley

A few nouns have the same singular and plural forms. sheep – sheep deer – deer series – series species – species

Choose the correct form of the noun in each sentence. 1)I have three (child, children). 2)There are five (man, men) and one (woman, women). 3)(Baby, Babies) play with bottles as toys. 4)I put two big (potato, potatoes) in the lunch box. 5)A few men wear (watch, watches). 6)I put a (memo, memos) on the desk. 7)I saw a (mouse, mice) running by. 8)There are few (bus, buses) on the road today.

Transform each of the following words into plurals: Day Tax Taxi Lady Mountain Choose the correct plural for each of the words that follow: Choice: a. Choices b. Choices c. Choiceies Box a.Box b. Boxes c. Boxes Thief a.Thiefies a. Thiefs c. Thieves Army a.Armys b. Armies c. Army Owl a.Owls b. Owlies c. Owelds

Choose the best word to fit into each of the following sentences: 1. The men sharpened their _____________ before throwing them at the targets. A – knife B – knifes C – knives 2. Please eat the rest of your _____________. A – pease B – Peas C – Peies 3. I’d like you to stop leaving your ________________ on the floor. A – Socks B – Sockses C – Sox 4. We saw a lot of _________________ at the park. A – Deers B – Deeries C – Deer 5. This recipe calls for a lot of _____________. A – Tomatos B – Tomatoes C – Tomaties