Singular & Plural Nouns: Definitions, Rules and Examples

What are Nouns?

Nouns are words that refer to people, places, things, or ideas.

What are Singular and Plural Nouns?

Singular Noun:

The singular form of a word is used when referring to one object, while the plural form of a word is used when referring to more than one object. The word “individual” is an example of a singular noun.

Plural Noun:

Plural nouns are words that have more than one meaning. Some examples include “cell,” “chips,” and “cells.”

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Examples of Singular & Plural Nouns

A singular noun is a word that only refers to one thing, like “frog”. A plural noun is a word that refers to more than one thing, like “frogs”.

Some examples of singular and plural nouns are:

* hat – hats

* woman – women

* frog – frogs

Examples of singular nouns in Sentences

  • On the table is a book that is being read.
  • A dog jumps at the thief in the middle of the night.
  • She used an egg to make an omelet.
  • The color of his sweater is particularly appealing.
  • In a lecture, a teacher is instructing students on a story.
  • A story is not suitable for publication in a book.
  • This is a one-bedroom apartment.
  • An apple is beneficial to one’s health.
  • The youngster was holding a play in his hand.
  • My horse choses to ride with an English saddle on his back.
  • Your mother is going to be upset because of the broken lamp.

Examples of plural nouns in sentences

  • I am the mother of two boys and three girls.
  • Every morning for breakfast, I eat two large boiled potatoes.
  • In my class today, I received a large number of memos.
  • I noticed that dogs were trailing behind the cat.
  • From Varanasi, there were only a few buses that went to Lucknow.
  • On the occasion of my birthday, I was given some lovely cups.
  • I have a lot of stickers that you can use as well.
  • There are numerous windows in my lovely home.
  • I enjoy having a large number of pencils in my pencil box.
  • The sight of flying birds in the sky is extremely appealing.

7 Rules of Singular and Plural Nouns

We are going to discuss some rules on how to make a Plural from a Singular.

Rule No 1:

IF a word end at alphabet ‘o’ then we will add ‘es’ to make their plural form. Singular and Plural Noun Rules

Singular

Plural

Singular

Plural

Buffalo Buffaloes Echo Echoes
Hero Heroes Mango Mangoes
Potato Potatoes Tomato Tomatoes
Veto Vetoes Zero Zeroes / Zeros

Note: Keep these exceptions in mind

Singular

Plural

Singular

Plural

Auto Autos Kilo Kilos
Photo Photos Piano Pianos
Studio Studios

 

Rule No 2:

Add ‘s’ for making the Plural of these words.

Singular

Plural

Singular

Plural

School Schools Room Rooms
Girl Girls Road Roads
Book Books Pen Pens
Tree Trees Town Towns
Pond Ponds

 

Rule No 3:

If a noun ends at these alphabets, then add ‘es’ to make their plurals.

(x,z,s,ss,sh,ch)

Singular Plural Singular Plural
Box Boxes Bus Buses
Waltz Waltzes Flash Flashes
Dish Dishes Fox Foxes
Class Classes Brush Brushes
Guess Guesses Lunch Lunches
Ash Ashes Tax Taxes

 

Rule No 4: Singular and Plural Noun Rules

If a Word ends with the alphabet ‘y’ and there is a consonant before ‘y’ then replace ‘y’ with ‘ies’.

Singular

Plural

Singular

Plural

Party Parties Family Families
Theory Theories Lady Ladies
Cherry Cherries Country Countries
Pony Ponies Jelly Jellies
Baby Babies City Cities
Berry Berries Lily Lilies
Fly Flies Penny Pennies

 

Rule no 5:

If a word ends with the alphabet ‘y’ and there is a ‘Vowel’ before ‘y’ then use add ‘s’ to make the plural of that word.

Singular

Plural

Singular

Plural

Key Keys Boy Boys
Way Ways Joy Joys
Bay Bays Ray Rays
Toy Toys Valley Valleys

 

Rule No 6:

If a word ends with ‘f’ or ‘fe’ then replace them with ‘ves’ to make plurals. Singular and Plural Noun Rules

Singular

Plural

Singular

Plural

Wife Wives Elf Elves
Leaf Leaves Shelf Shelves
Calf Calves Wolf Wolves
Thief Thieves Self Selves
Life Lives Knife Knives
Half Halves Scarves Scarves

Note: Do not apply this rule to these words.

Singular

Plural

Singular

Plural

Chef Chefs Cliff Cliffs
Roof Roofs Handkerchief Handkerchiefs
belief Beliefs chief chiefs

 

Rule No 7:

To make Plural of these nouns just change their vowels

Singular Plural Singular Plural
Woman Women Foot Feet
Tooth Teeth Mouse Mice
Goose Geese Louse Lice

Note:

These words are the same in Singular and Plural Form. Singular and Plural Noun Rules

Singular

Plural

Singular

Plural

Sheep Sheep deer deer
Fish Fish people people
Hundred Hundred Thousand Thousand
Swine Swine Aircraft Aircraft
Offspring Offspring Innings Innings
Dozen Dozen Score Score
million million Billion Billion

 

List of 100 common Singular and Plural Nouns in English

100 common Singular and Plural Nouns in English

List of 100 common Singular and Plural Nouns in English

Singulars

Plurals

Singulars

Plurals

fly flies copy copies
Son in law Sons in-laws scratch scratches
dictionary dictionaries spy spies
fungus fungi half halves
curriculum curricula tax taxes
stitch stitches hippopotamus hippopotami
loaf loaves foot feet
pass passes wash washes
domino dominoes index indexes
aquarium aquaria beach beaches
sheep sheep wharf wharves
person people cherry cherries
motto mottoes series series
tomato tomatoes mess messes
hoax hoaxes child  children
thesis theses penny pennies
oasis oases chateau chateaux
abyss abysses life lives
syllabus syllabi hoof hooves
tornado tornadoes reflex reflexes
wife wives quiz quizzes
man men party parties
memorandum memoranda nanny nannies
baby babies thief thieves
bacterium bacteria shelf shelves
waltz waltzes elf elves
potato potatoes volcano volcanoes
moose moose arch arches
leaf leaves fish fish
emphasis emphases neurosis neuroses
mouse mice Runner up Runners up
echo echoes bus buses
try tries poppy poppies
nucleus nuclei hero heroes
axe axes story stories
woman women city cities
alumnus alumni fax faxes
iris irises dwarf dwarves
sheaf sheaves batch batches
octopus octopi mango mangoes
crisis crises circus circuses
plateau plateaux lady ladies
tooth teeth species species
atlas atlases deer deer
kiss kisses analysis analyses
cod cod brush brushes
flush  flushes church churches
scarf scarves watch watches
splash splashes knife knives

 

Which Nouns Are Plural?

The word “noun” is the name of a person, place, or thing. Nouns are either singular or plural.

  • Nouns that end in -s are always singular.
  • Nouns that end in -es are always plural.

What is the plural of fish?

The plural of fish is fish. In the vernacular, the plural of fish is often used as a collective term for fish of any species. However, this is not exactly correct.

What is the plural of octopus?

In some cases, the singular and plural forms of an animal are different. The plural of octopus is octopi.

What is the plural of hair?

There are many ways to say the plural of hair. Most words that end in ‘s’ take a ‘es’ ending. However, there are some exceptions such as mice, pigs and sparrows.

What is the plural of tooth?

The plural form of tooth is teeth.

What is the plural of tomato?

The plural of tomato is tomatoes. There are two words in the English language that end in ‘a’. One is the word ‘antelope’ and the other is ‘antibodies.

Why do we Still use Singular Nouns when they can be made Plural?

Singular nouns are usually used when the name of an object is unknown to the writer. For example, “A book” or “a pen.”

However, they can be made plural and some people might be using them incorrectly.

The main reason for using singular nouns is that it’s easier to read and comprehend than a sentence with a plural noun. However, some people use them incorrectly because they have no idea how to make them plural.

What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Singular or Plural Nouns?

Singular nouns are words that refer to one person, place, or thing. Plural nouns are words that refer to more than one person, place, or thing.

Singular nouns are typically used for people and things that have a singular identity (a single focus), such as “boy” or “apple.” Plural nouns can include people and things with multiple identities (multiple focuses), such as “boys” or “apples.”

Singular nouns typically refer to a single person, place, or thing. It is the most common type of word in English. Singular nouns can be used to refer to a singular object like “pen,” but they can also be used for an abstract concept like “love.”

Infographics (Singular and Plural Noun Rules)

Singular and Plural Noun Rules

Singular and Plural Noun Rule

Singular and Plural Noun Rules

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