3. Singular and Plural Nouns

 

 

Singular and plural nouns – There are two forms of nouns: singular and plural. A singular noun is used to refer to just one person, animal, thing or place. For two or more people, animals, places, or things, a plural noun is used. To make a regular noun plural, we add an –s or – es to the end (camel/camels, map/maps; echo/echoes) of the noun. A plural irregular noun has a different ending (hoof/hooves) or spelt differently from the singular noun (tooth/teeth).

 

 

Common endings of plural nouns:

Singular Plural How the plural is formed
daughter daughters By adding –s
class classes By adding –es to nouns ending –s
brush brushes By adding –es to nouns ending –sh
watch watches By adding –es to nouns ending –ch
box boxes By adding –es to nouns ending –x
potato potatoes By adding –es to nouns ending –o
piano pianos By adding –s to nouns ending –o
baby babies By changing –y to – ies
key keys By adding –s to some nouns ending –y
leaf leaves By changing –f to – ves
knife knives By changing –fe to – ves
roof roofs By adding –s to some nouns ending –f
safe safes By adding –s to some nouns ending –fe
tooth teeth By changing vowels
ox oxen By adding –en
child children By adding –ren
deer deer Some nouns have same singular and plural

 

(For more on singular and plural nouns, see List 1

 

 

There are nouns that are always plural.
Plural verbs must follow these nouns.
Jeans, knickers, pants, pyjamas, shorts, tights, trousers, stockings and underpants
 
Pincers, pliers, scissors, shears, tongs
Clogs, sandals, slippers, shoes, and sneakers
Glasses (spectacles), binoculars, goggles

arms, belongings, chopsticks, clothes, congratulations, contents, customs, earnings, goods, outskirts, remains, steps, surroundings, thanks, troops, tropics, wages, wits 

 

Examples:

  • These trousers I am wearing are handed down from my grandfather.

  • Pliers are a handy tool.

  • My garden shears trim the hedge very well.

  • My glasses are used only for reading. 

 

 

A pair of can be used with the above plural nouns to make them singular and take a singular verb.   

Examples:

  • This pair of purple trousers does not 

    match your yellow jacket..

     

  • This set of kitchen knives belongs to me.

  • A new pair of stainless steel scissors is what I need.

    .

     

     

 

 

Other nouns that are always plural.
 

Examples:

  • Clothes: My clothes need to be washed.
  • Earnings: Earnings in the agricultural sector have increased by 5% in the fourth quarter.
  • Cattle: Cattle are grazing all over the field.
  • Police: Police are charging him with the murder of the princess.
  • People: People in general are not very approachable. (Peoples when used in the plural (i.e. with '–s') refers to peoples from more than one race or nation, e.g. the peoples of Asia)
  • Football team: Liverpool are a very successful football team. (But Liverpool is a great city.)

 

 

Nouns which are plural in form but take a singular verb
The following plural nouns are used with a singular verb as they are treated as singular:
Acoustics, athletics, economics, gymnastics, linguistics, mathematics, mechanics, news, numismatics, measles, mumps, physics, politics, pyrotechnics and statistics.
 
 

Examples:

  • Economics: Economics was my favourite subject at school.
  • Gymnastics in her college involves exercises on bars, beam, floor, and vaulting horse.
  • News – The good news is that we have all been invited.
  • Diseases such as mumps, measles, etc: An infectious illness, mumps was common among children.
 
 
 
Measurements and amounts that are considered as a single unit:

 

Examples:

  • One hundred years is a century.

    One hundred years is a century.

  • Ten kilometres is 

     

     

  • Twenty dollars is not enough to buy a good shirt.

    .

  • Seven days in prison is all he got for shoplifting.