Singular and plural nouns - English grammar Lessons guide

 Singular and plural nouns - English grammar Lessons guide

The difference between singular and plural nouns is easy to spot. When a noun indicates one only, it is a singular noun. When a noun indicates more than one, it is plural.

Singular and plural nouns - English grammar Lessons guide

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Singular Noun Examples

The following sentences contain singular nouns examples.

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

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Plural Noun Examples

The following sentences contain plural noun examples.

• The boys were throwing baseballs back and forth between bases.
• Our horses are much happier wearing lightweight English saddles.
• Those cats never seem to tire of chasing one another in and out of those boxes.
• You stole my ideas and didn’t give me any credit.
• Our moms are going to be upset that we stayed out all night going to parties.
• 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.

Regular nouns

Most singular nouns form the plural by adding -s.

Examples

Singular : boat, house, cat, river

Plural : boats, houses, cats, rivers, cats

A singular noun ending in s, x, z, ch, sh makes the plural by adding-es.

Examples

Singular : bus, wish, pitch, box

Plural : buses, wishes, pitches, boxes

A singular noun ending in a consonant and then y makes the plural by dropping the y and adding-ies.

Examples

Singular : penny, spy, baby, city, daisy

Plural : pennies, spies, babies, cities, daisies

Irregular verb

Some nouns have a plural form but take a singular verb.

Plural nouns used with a singular verb

news, athletics, linguistics, darts, billiards

Sentence

The news is at 6.30 p.m.

Athletics is good for young people.

Linguistics is the study of language.

Darts is a popular game in England.

Billiards is played all over the world.

Some nouns have a fixed plural form and take a plural verb. They are not used in the singular, or they have a different meaning in the singular. Nouns like this include: trousers, jeans, glasses, savings, thanks, steps, stairs, customs, congratulations, tropics, wages, spectacles, outskirts, goods, wits

Plural noun with plural verb

trousers, jeans, glasses

Sentence

My trousers are too tight.

Her jeans are black.

Those glasses are his.

Choose the best word to fit into each of the following sentences:

The men sharpened their _____________ before throwing them at the targets.

A – knife B – knifes C – knives

Please eat the rest of your _____________.

A – pease B – Peas C – Peies

I’d like you to stop leaving your ________________ on the floor.

A – Socks B – Sockses C – Sox

We saw a lot of _________________ at the park.

A – Deers B – Deeries C – Deer

This recipe calls for a lot of _____________.

A – Tomatos B – Tomatoes C – Tomaties

Answers: –C, –B, –A, –C, –B