Singular, Plural,
Collective, and Possessive
Nouns
A singular noun names a person, place thing,
or idea.
A plural noun names more than one person,
place, thing or idea.

One author wrote a great book.
(singular nouns)

Some authors write a number of books.
(plural nouns)
Forming Plural Nouns
Singular
Rule
Sample Plural
shirt, hat
Add –s to most nouns
shirts, hats
bush, mix
Add –es to nouns ending in
s, ss, sh, ch, x, or z
bushes, mixes
alto, cello, piano
radio
Add –s to musical words ending in o
Add –s to nouns when the letter o is preceded by
a vowel
Add –es to nouns when the letter o is preceded
by a consonant
altos, cellos, pianos
radios
Add –s to nouns when the letter y is preceded by
a vowel
Add –ies to nouns when the letter y is preceded
by a consonant
monkeys, days
shelves, knives
roof, cuff
Change the f to a v and add –es to most nouns
that end in f or fe
Add –s to a few nouns that end in f or fe
sheep, tuna, deer
Some nouns keep the same spelling
sheep, tuna, deer
woman, foot
The plural forms of some nouns are irregular
women, feet
echo, hero
monkey, day
pony, fly,
shelf, knife
echoes, heroes
ponies, flies
roofs, cuffs
Collective Nouns
Collective noun is the name of a
number (or collection) of people,
animals, or things taken together and
spoken of as one whole. For example,
in the phrase "a pride of lions", pride is
a collective noun.
Subject & Collective Nouns
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audience
crowd
crew
jury
class
club
family
group
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chorus
orchestra
cast
band
choir
nation
committee
staff
Subject & Collective Nouns
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antelope/bison/elephants/cows/deer
ants
bees
birds/ducks/goats
chickens
coyotes/dogs
dolphins/whales
fish
frogs
hyenas
herd
colony
swarm
flock
brood
pack
pod
school
army
cackle
Collective Nouns Practice
1. The team is/are headed to the nationals since
winning the state finals.
2. The speech and drama team was/were happy
with their performances to the judge.
3. Nearly 25% of the population is/are Muslim.
4. The OMS faculty meets/meet on Monday
afternoons to discuss student concerns.
5. Our OMS staff works/work hard to meet their
goals and deadlines.
Collective Nouns
Answers –Practice Questions
1. The team is headed to the nationals since
winning the state finals.
Team is being used as a unit so a singular verb is
required.
Collective Nouns
Answers –Practice Questions
2. The speech and drama team were happy with
their presentations to the judge.
Team is plural because separate presentations
were given. Also, when the plural their is used,
the implication is that the collective noun is
being used as a plural.
Collective Nouns
Answers –Practice Questions
3. Nearly 25% of the population is Muslim.
The word population is a collective noun that
can take either a singular or plural verb,
depending on the intention of the author. The
intention here is to indicate that this percentage
represents a single group.
Collective Nouns
Answers –Practice Questions
4. The OMS faculty meets on Monday
afternoons to discuss student concerns.
Faculty, a collective noun, is acting as a single
unit in this sentence.
Collective Nouns
Answers-Practice Questions
5. Our OMS staff work hard to meet their goals
and deadlines.
Their is a clue that staff is not acting as a unit.
Therefore, the plural work is needed.

Make a list of ten singular
nouns.

Exchange papers and write the
plural form of each noun.
Bell Ringer
Correct any misspellings in the following
sentence:
Before the autumn leafs began to
fall, I took photoes of donkies,
gardens of radishs, and other things
we don’t see in the citys.
Bell Ringer Answers
Correct any misspellings in the following
sentence:
Before the autumn leaves began to
fall, I took photos of donkeys,
gardens of radishes, and other
things we don’t see in the cities.
Possessive Nouns
A noun that shows ownership or
possession is called a possessive
noun.
 Possessive nouns can be singular or
plural.

Using Possessive Nouns
A good way to check whether a noun is
possessive is to try using the noun in a whose
question.
For example, Molly’s boots are new. Molly’s is
possessive because we can ask, “Whose boots
are new?”
We then receive the possessive noun answer,
“Molly’s”
Forming Possessive Nouns
Nouns
To Form Possessive
Examples
Most singular nouns
Add an apostrophe and -s (‘s)
Karen has new skis.
Karen’s skis are new.
Singular nouns
ending in -s
Add an apostrophe (‘s)
Chris got new skis last year.
Chris’s skis are in the attic.
Plural nouns
ending in -s
Add an apostrophe (‘)
Many skiers wear goggles.
The skiers’ goggles are sturdy.
Plural nouns not
Ending in -s
Add an apostrophe and -s (‘s)
The men have warm sweaters.
The men’s sweaters are warm.
Using Possessive Nouns
Use a possessive noun to shorten the phrase.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
the flight of the geese
the cries of the children
wool from the sheep
the cottage of the family
the sting of a wasp
the wings of butterflies
geese’s flight
children's cries
sheep’s wool
family’s cottage
wasp’s sting
butterflies’ wings
Creative Writing
Using Possessive Nouns
Imagine you recently spent an afternoon
exploring a relative’s attic. Write a
friendly letter to a cousin telling him or her
about the interesting items you found.
Mention some items and their original
owners, such as grandparents, aunts, or
uncles. Underline at least five possessive
nouns in the letter.