NOUN : RULES Let us look at some of the...
Read MoreNOUN : NUMBER
(Singular and Plural noun)
Number in noun tells us the count of nouns. It tells us the units of the noun. Noun-Number has two types: Singular and Plural.
Singular: It represents one unit or single noun. Example: table, cow, house, tooth, lake, child, mouse, etc.
Plural: It represents more than one unit or multiple nouns. Examples: tables, cows, houses, teeth, lakes, children, mice etc.
Now we observe that some plurals are made by simply adding suffix –s or –es to the singular noun. While is some the internal vowels of the singular nouns are changed and some the entire singular noun is changed. So, how to decide the correct plural for a noun?
There are certain rules that decide the formation of the plural form of various nouns. Let us learn about them in detail.
Ø In general, the plural of nouns is formed by simply adding suffix –s at the end:
| SINGULAR | PLURAL |
|---|---|
Pen | Pens |
Book | Books |
Girl | Girls |
Dog | Dogs |
Bag | Bags |
Desk | Desks |
Team | Teams |
Ø For nouns ending in -s, -sh, -ch or –x we add suffix –es to form plural:
| SINGULAR | PLURAL |
|---|---|
Bus | Buses |
Bench | Benches |
Fox | Foxes |
Wish | Wishes |
Watch | Watches |
Box | Boxes |
Mass | Masses |
Ø For nouns that end with two vowels, their plural is made by adding suffix –s at the end:
| SINGULAR | PLURAL |
|---|---|
Cuckoo | Cuckoos |
Zoo | Zoos |
Tree | Trees |
Bamboo | Bamboos |
Radio | Radiios |
Porfolio | Portfolios |
Bee | Bees |
Ø For nouns ending with –o we need to look at the letter preceding it. If the letter before that last letter -o is a consonant than to make plural, we simply add –es as suffix. And if the letter before it is a vowel than plural is made by adding suffix –s.(this case is same the case of two vowels at the end. The previous point: Point iii)
| SINGULAR | PLURAL |
|---|---|
Tomato | Tomatoes |
Mango | Mangoes |
Hero | Heroes |
Ratio | Ratios |
Potato | Potatoes |
Mosquito | Mosquitoes |
Volcano | Volcanoes |
EXCEPTIONS to this rule:
| SINGULAR | PLURAL |
|---|---|
Piano | Pianos |
Solo | Solos |
Photo | Photos |
Memo | Memos |
Tobacco | Tobaccos |
Casino | Casinos |
Dynamo | Dynamos |
Ø For nouns that end with –y there are two cases depending on the letter before it.
If the letter preceding –y is a consonant than we change –y to –ies to form the plural. And if the letter before it is a vowel than we simply add -s as suffix.
| SINGULAR | PLURAL |
|---|---|
Day | Days |
Key | Keys |
Family | Families |
Study | Studies |
Boy | Boys |
City | Cities |
Body | Bodies |
Ø For nouns that end with –f or –fe, these suffixes are replaced with –ves.
| SINGULAR | PLURAL |
|---|---|
Leaf | Leaves |
Knife | Knives |
Wife | Wives |
Thief | Thieves |
Shelf | Shelves |
Life | Lives |
Wolf | Wolves |
EXCEPTIONS to this rule:
| SINGULAR | PLURAL |
|---|---|
Chief | Chiefs |
Handkerchief | Handkerchiefs |
Cliff | Cliffs |
Roof | Roofs |
Belief | Beliefs |
Proof | Proofs |
Gulf | Gulfs |
Ø Some nouns form their plurals by changing their inside vowels:
| SINGULAR | PLURAL |
|---|---|
Tooth | Teeth |
Foot | Feet |
Goose | Geese |
Mouse | Mice |
Louse | Lice |
Woman | Women |
Man | Men |
Ø Some nouns take -en as suffix to form plurals:
| SINGULAR | PLURAL |
|---|---|
Ox | Oxen |
Child | Children |
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