A Look at Singular and Plural Nouns

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lucyinthesky

A Look at Singular and Plural Nouns

Author: lucyinthesky

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Forms of Nouns

A noun is a person, place or thing! Check out this Schoolhouse Rock video below!

Singular and Plural Nouns

A singular noun is describing only one person, place or thing.

(e.g. apple, boy, teacher, room) A plural noun describes more than one person, place or thing.

(e.g. apples, boys, teachers, rooms) One apple. Many apples.

How do you make a noun plural?

Rule #1: "S"

You usually make a noun plural by adding -s to the end of it. For example:

Singular Noun	Plural Noun
	-S
lamp	lamps
dog	dogs
flower	flowers
tree	trees
pencil	pencils

Rule #2: "-ES"

Rule #1 doesn't apply to every single noun out there! For words that ends in "z", "s", "sh", "ch" or "x", you should add the suffix "-es".

For example:

Singular Noun	Plural Noun
-S, -SH, -CH, -X, -Z	-ES
switch	switches
moss	mosses
fox	foxes
class	classes
church	churches

Why is it different from rule #1?

If you try add "-s" to such nouns as fox, bush, and bench, you'll realize you can't do this without creating an additional syllable. That's why such nouns form the plural by adding "-es" instead.

The foxes wait for their mother.

Rule #3: Words that end with a CONSONANT + "Y"

For words that end with the letter "-y" preceded by a consonant, in order to make it plural you must change the "y" to an "i", and then add "-es".

In other words:

Singular Noun	Plural Noun
CONSONANT + Y	-IES
summary	summaries
pony	ponies
story	stories
berry	berries
city	city
sky	skies

The weather forecast predicts blue skies for the rest of the afternoon.

Rule #4: Words that end with a VOWEL + "Y"

Nouns ending in y preceded by a vowel form their plurals, you simply add an -s.

For example:

Singular Noun	Plural Noun
VOWEL + Y	-S
toy	toys
day	days
turkey	turkeys
essay	essays
joy	joys
play	plays

Rule #5: Words that end with "O" - The tricky rule

In essence, there is no rule to follow here! Some words add "-es" while some add "-s". Some can use both suffixes. Most nouns ending in "O" preceded by a consonant is formed into a plural by adding "-es".

For example:

Singular Noun	Plural Noun
CONSONANT + O	-ES
motto	mottoes
potato	potatoes
hero	heroes
volcano	volcanoes

Most nouns ending in "O", preceded by a vowel, is formed into a plural by adding "-s".

Singular Noun	Plural Noun
VOWEL + O	-ES
folio	folios
cameo	cameos
studio	studios
portfolio	portfolios

But you will note there are many exceptions to the rule. Some nouns ending in "o" add an "-s" only, like "solo" becomes "solos" and "piano" becomes "pianos". Words like "misquito" and "tornado" you can use either "-s" or "-es" when pluralizing them.