LEARN ENGLISH - SINGULAR - PLURAL

 FORMING PLURAL NOUNS 

 A noun is said to be Singular, if it refers to one thing. 

Ex: Book , Ball 

 A noun is said to be Plural , if it refers to more than one thing. Ex: Books , Balls 

 As a general rule , the plural of a noun is formed by adding –S to the Singular  form. 

 But this rule does not apply in all cases. 

RULE:1 

Noun ending in –s ,-x , -z, -sh , or – ch we add - es. 

Bench – Benches 

Tax – taxes 

Class _ classes 

RULE:2 

( i) Noun ending in -y ( CONSONANT BEFORE IT ) We add –ies Army – armies 

Baby – babies 

 Duty – duties 

( ii) If -y [ VOWEL BEFORE IT ] We add –S 

 Boy – boys 

 Key – keys 

 Ray – rays .

RULE:3 

( i) Noun ending in – O , [ CONSONANT BEFORE IT ], We add – es.  Buffalo – buffaloes 

 Echo – echoes 

 Negro – negroes 

( ii) If --O[ VOWEL BEFORE IT ] We add – S, 

Bamboo – bamboos 

Radio – radios 

Cuckoo – cuckoos 

RULE:4 

(i) Noun ending in –f , or –fe , We change to –ves. 

Calf – calves 

Knife – knives 

Wolf – wolves 

(ii) But some noun ending in –f or –fe , form their plural in the normal way , -S Dwarf – dwarfs 

Safe – safes 

Roof – roofs 

RULE:5 

(i) Some nouns have irregular plurals 

Child – children  

Ox – oxen  

Man – men

(ii) some nouns -oo , changes into –ee. 

Foot – feet 

Goose – geese 

Tooth – teeth 

(iii) In some cases, 

Louse – lice 

Mouse – mice 

RULE : 6 

(i) Compound noun generally forms the plural by adding – S to the principal  word 

Daughter – in –law – daughters – in –law 

Passer – by – passers –by 

Step –son – step – sons 

(ii) In some cases , Compound nouns take a double plural. 

Man – servant – men – servants 

Woman – teacher – women – teachers 

Woman – servant – women – servants 

TIPS: 

 is-es um – a a – ae   us – i oo – ee ix - ices NOTE: 

Some nouns have the same form for the plural and singular.  Deer , Sheep , fish , dozen , score, hundred , 

 thousand , news , civics, politics, Physics,  

 Mathematics, thanks, scissors , trousers, pants, measles, mumps.

SINGULAR - PLURAL 

Child - children memorandum - memoranda Deer - deer phenomenon - phenomena Fish - fish stratum - strata Foot - feet cactus - cacti Goose - geese focus - foci Knife - knives fungus - fungi Leaf - leaves nucleus - nuclei Man - men radius - radii Mouse - mice stimulus - stimuli Octopus - octopi axis - axes Person - people analysis - analyses Sheep - sheep basis - bases Tooth - teeth crisis - crises Wife - wives diagnosis - diagnoses

Woman - women hypothesis - hypotheses Means - means ellipsis - ellipses Beau - beaux oasis - oases Bureau - bureaux paralysis - paralyses Tableau - tableaux parentheses - parenthesis Bacterium - bacteria synthesis - syntheses Corpus - corpora synopsis - synopses Criterion - criteria thesis - theses Datum - data appendix - appendices index -indices/indexes washerman - washermen Matrix - matrices / matrixes torch - torches Face - faces bunch - bunches Ear - ears switch - switches Eye - eyes stitch - stitches Shoulder - shoulders splash - splashes Hands - hands wash - washes

Arm - arms patch - patches Leg - legs I - we Finger - fingers duck - ducks Toe - toes doll - dolls Knee - knees pet - pets Glass - glasses tree - trees Box - boxes road - roads Bush - bushes house - houses Bench - benches bench - benches Bus - buses brother - brothers Gas - gases bush - bushes Dress - dresses flame - flames Class - classes class - classes Buzz - buzzes hole - holes Quiz - quizzes cloth - clothes Fox - foxes branch - branches

Dish - dishes curve - curves Arch - arches group - groups Church - churches color - colors Day - days scarf - scarves 

Hat - hats bunny - bunnies Lady - ladies fifty - fifties Cap - caps elf - elves Leaf - leaves lice - louse Loaf - loaves gas - gases Elf - elves ass - asses Hal - halves Wife - wives Self - selves Shelf - shelves Life - lives Louse - lice This - these That - those She/he - they Army - armies Key - keys Leaf - leaves

Branch - branches Monkey - monkeys Fairy - fairies Fly - flies Duty - duties Puppy - puppies Father-in-law - fathers-in –law 

Mother – in –law - mothers-in-law 

Passer-by - passers-by 

Step mother - step mothers 

Governor –general – governors – general

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