Problems with Nouns
Singular or Plural????
Women?
Womans?
Woman?
Introduction
Problems with Nouns
Look at the sentences below. What’s wrong? Move your
“Bedrooms” should be
mouse over each sentence to see the answer.
plural because the
sentence says there are
1. I have three bedroom in my house.
The word “milks” is
three.
incorrect, because it is a
non-count noun and
cannot have an –s.
2. There are many milks in the refrigerator.
3. Those chair are in the wrong room.
4. There are five reds cars.
6. Your childs are beautiful.
5. Some of the class are at night.
7. Would you like a few milk?
Guideline #1
Count and Non-Count Nouns
In English, we have countable and non-countable nouns.
Some examples of countable and non-countable nouns are
below.
Countable Nouns
chair
More NonCountable
Nouns
Non-Countable Nouns
love
student
money
day
weather
song
food
computer
fruit
room
furniture
Guideline #2
Countable Nouns
Countable nouns can have singular and plural forms and
can be counted numerically. Most countable nouns can be
made plural by adding –s or –es.
book
books
3 books
box
boxes
2 boxes
Guideline #3
Non-Countable Nouns
Non-countable nouns have only one form and can’t be
counted numerically. Look at the examples below.
monies
one money
healths
two health
money
money
health
health
Guideline #4
Non-Countable Nouns
Non-countable nouns cannot take the plural –s or –es or
an article (a, an).
a furniture
furniture
furnitures
furniture
a news
news
newses
news
A singular noun names one
person, place, thing or idea.
A plural noun names more than
one person, place, thing, or
idea.
PLURAL
NOUNS
Most nouns in English are made into
plural nouns by adding an s to the
singular form, however, …………….
If the noun ends with an s, ch, sh,
x, or z, an es is added to make the
noun plural.
boxes
dishes
churches
Make the following nouns plural:
losses
box
loss
quizzes
dish
quiz
church
house
houses
•Add s to nouns ending in a
vowel and y.
key
keys
toy
toys
monkey
monkeys
Change y to an i and add es to nouns
ending in a consonant and y.
sky
skies
hobby
hobbies
penny
pennies
What about nouns that end in a
vowel?
Add an s to nouns ending in a vowel and o.
radio - radios
zoo - zoos
Add an s to musical terms ending in o.
cello - cellos
solo - solos
Nouns ending in a consonant and
o should be learned.
If you’re not sure, check the dictionary.
echo
echoes
potato
potatoes
tomato
tomatoes
zero
zeros, zeroes
hero
heroes
Some nouns
have special
plural forms.
For example ………….
Add s to many nouns ending in f, fe, or ff.
roof - roofs
cliff - cliffs
But, some nouns drop the f or fe and add ves.
calf – calves
life - lives
PLURALS of the nouns ending in –f / -fe or ff.
Belief – beliefs
Roof – roofs
Proof - proofs
Cuff – cuffs
Muff – muffs
Cliff – cliffs
Reef – reefs
Brief – briefs
Chief – chiefs
Kerchief – kerchiefs
Chef – chefs
Plaintiff – plaintiffs
Sheriff – sheriffs
Whiff - whiffs
Safe – safes
Fife - fifes
Giraffe – giraffes
Gulf – gulfs
Dwarf – dwarfs
Leaf – leaves
Self - selves
Half – halves
Shelf – shelves
Thief – thieves
Wolf – wolves
Calf – calves
Hoof – hooves
Beef - beeves
Wife – wives
Life – lives
Knife – knives
Self - selves
Scarf – scarfs
scarves
Wharf – wharfs
wharves
A chef came to sheriff as a plaintiff to his chief, because he had a belief
that his chief opened his safe and stole four things: a handkerchief with
a picture of giraffes on a roof, a fife which makes a whiff while on the
reefs, a muff that he found once on a cliff and his favourite briefs.
Sheriff said that without proofs he couldn’t put cuffs on chef’s chief.
Some nouns have irregular plural forms!
child – children
woman – women
man – men
person – people
tooth - teeth
goose – geese
foot – feet
mouse – mice
louse – lice
ox – oxen
PLURALS of the nouns from Latin and Greek
us – i
is – es
nucleus –
thesis –
nuclei
theses
syllabus –
crisis - crises
syllabi
focus – foci
fungus - fungi
cactus - cacti
on – a
phenomenon –
phenomena
criterion criteria
X – ices
index – indices
appendix appendices
Some nouns have identical singular and
plural forms.
deer - deer
scissors - scissors
For compound words, the most important
word is usually made plural.
son-in-law / sons-in-law
board of health/boards of health
Add an ‘s to form the plural of letters or
numbers used as a noun.
A – A’s
100 – 100’s
…..QUIZ TIME…..
Write the plural form of each of these nouns.
1. teacup
6. Department of Justice
2. goose
7. daughter-n-law
3. Iroquois
8. leaf
4. class
9. hobby
5. auto
10. donkey
CHECK YOUR ANSWERS.
1. teacups
6. Departments of Justice
2. geese
7. daughters-in-law
3. Iroquois
8. leaves
4. classes
9. hobbies
5. autos
10. donkeys
Guideline #6
Noun Quantifiers
Words like, a few, a little, much, any, some, and many
are used differently depending on whether the noun in the
sentence is count or non-count.
a few
count nouns
a few bananas
a little
non-count nouns
a little flour
(Continued)
Noun Quantifiers
many
count nouns
many chairs
much
non-count nouns
much furniture
some
non-count nouns
count nouns
some furniture
some chairs
(Continued)
Noun Quantifiers
Any is used in negative sentences with count and non-count
nouns. Notice the difference in plural and singular verbs.
any
count nouns
There aren’t
any chairs.
any
non-count nouns
There
isn’t any furniture.
Guideline #7
Agreement with Demonstrative Adjectives
Remember to make demonstrative adjectives (this, that, these, those) agree
with the nouns they modify.
This/That
singular
These/Those
these room
these rooms
this rooms
this room
plural
Guideline #8
Nouns and “of phrases”
A countable noun is always plural after an “of phrase” that shows quantity. A
non-count noun is always singular after an “of phrase.”
plural
Some of the chairs are broken.
“of phrases”
singular
Some of the furniture is broken.
Click here to see a list of
common “of phrases.”