Singular and Plural
Nouns
Grammar Guide
mgr Anna Waligórska – Kotfas
PWSZ Konin
A noun is:
a
person:
a teacher / a chef / a student / a doctor
 a place:
a city / a school / a beach / a kitchen
 a thing:
a bus / a table / a cow / a bed / a house
Common Nouns and Proper Nouns
A noun that names any
person, place, or thing
is a common noun.
a house
A noun that names a
particular person, place,
or thing is a proper noun.
the White House
Singular and Plural Nouns
A noun that names only
one person, place, or thing
is called a singular noun.
A noun that names more
than one person, place, or
thing is called a plural
noun.
a pencil
pencils
Plural Nouns: Rules
 Most
English nouns form the plural
with –s.
road  roads
bag
 bags
town  towns
girl
 girls
truck  trucks
Plural Nouns: Rules
 If
the singular form ends in s / x / z / ch /
sh, the plural is made by and adding –es
church  churches
crash  crashes
bus
 buses
box
 boxes
dish
 dishes
Plural Nouns: Rules
 If
the singular form ends in consonant + y,
the plural is made by changing y to i and
adding –es
baby  babies
lady
 ladies
party  parties
ferry
 ferries
Plural Nouns: Rules
 If
the singular form ends in vowel + y, the
plural is made by adding –s
day
 days
boy
 boys
donkey  donkeys
key
 keys
toy
 toys
Plural Nouns: Rules

If the singular form ends in consonant + o, the plural is
made by adding –es
potato

potatoes
tomato

tomatoes
hero

heroes
But:
 Some words ending in consonant + o, especially words
from other languages, take –s only
photo

photos
piano

pianos
kilo

kilos
Plural Nouns: Rules
 If
the singular form ends in vowel + o, the
plural is made by adding –s
radio  radios
video  videos
zoo
 zoos
Plural Nouns: Rules

If the singular form ends in –f / –fe , the plural is usually
made by adding –ves
calf

calves
half

halves
life

lives
leaf

leaves
But:
 Several words ending in –f and all those ending –ff just
take –s:
chief

chiefs
belief

beliefs
cliff

cliffs
Some words ending in –f take either plural ending: scarf 
scarfs/scarves. You can check irregular plurals in a dictionary.
Plural Nouns: Irregulars

Some nouns have special plural forms. Since
these words follow no special pattern, you must
learn them.
person
child
man /mæn/
woman /ˈwʊmən/
foot
tooth
mouse
goose








people
children
men /men/
women /ˌwɪm.ɪn/
feet
teeth
mice
geese
Nouns with no Singular Form

Some English nouns are more common in the plural
form. These occur in a number of categories:





clothing: clothes, jeans, trousers, pyjamas,
tools/equipment: scissors, glasses (= spectacles),
handcuffs
games: dominoes, darts, cards, bowls
subjects/activities: physics, maths, politics,
economics, aerobics, athletics
other: goods, remains, thanks, stairs, police
These nouns may have a singular form with a different
meaning, e.g.: a glass (= wine glass).