- Regular Plural Nouns
- "s" Rules
- Irregular Plural Nouns
- Read and Practise
SINGULAR AND PLURAL FORMS OF NOUNS
SPELLING RULES:
REGULAR PLURAL NOUNS:
1. To make a singular noun plural, add "s".
a book ...... books an apple ..... apples a boy ...... boys
a car ….. cars a shop ….. shops
- My books are on the table.
- They are doctors.
- We are two sisters.
2. Words ending "ch, sh, x, s, ss ": add "es".
a box .... boxes a glass .... glasses
a bus .... buses a match ... matches
- The buses are always late.
- All the classes are full.
- Those boxes are not very heavy.
3. Singular nouns ending in “y”:
§ Words ending in consonant + y change y ... i + es .
a baby ........ babies a secretary ........ secretaries
a city ........ cities a lady .......... ladies
- The dictionaries are on the desk.
- Cairo and İstanbul are large cities.
§ but vowel + y : add only "s".
a boy ….. boys a monkey ….. monkeys
a holiday ….. holidays a tray ….. trays
- Autumn days in İzmir are usually rainy.
- Where are the boys?
4. If the word ends in "f" or "fe", change to "-ves".
a half .... halves a wolf ... wolves a thief ... thieves
a shelf ... shelves a wife …. wives
- These knives are very dull.
- The shelves are full of books.
- He has got two wives.
exceptions:
dwarf … dwarfs Chif … chiefs roof … roofs
belief … beliefs giraffe … giraffes chef … chefs
safe … safes gulf … gulfs proof … proofs
handkerchief ..... handkerchiefs
5. The words ending in “0”:
§ We also add "es" to a few words ending in "o".
a potato ..... potatoes a tomato .... tomatoes
echo …. Echoes hero …. Heroes
- The tomatoes are very delicious.
- Are they the heroes of the novel?
§ We add “s” to these words.
Kilo … kilos photo … photos
piano … pianos solo … solos
Zoo … zoos radio … radios
studio … studios tattoo … tattoos
- We have got two kilos of potatoes.
- She has three tattoos on her arm.
§ We add either “s” or “es” to some words.
Zero … zeros/zeroes
volcano … volcanos/volcanoes
tornado … tornados/tornadoes
Mosquito …mosquitoes/mosquitos
- Zeros/es are very bad for a student.
- Volcanos /es are very dangerous.
IRREGULAR PLURAL NOUNS:
1. A) Some nouns have irregular plural forms.
A woman … women a man … men
a mouse … mice a tooth … teeth
a foot … feet a child … children
a person … people a policeman … policemen
a policewoman .. policewomen an ox … oxen
a louse … lice a die … dice
- Those women are the school presidents.
- Where are the oxen?
- Are they policemen?
B) Some nouns in singular are the same in plural forms.
a goose … geese a fish … fish
a sheep … sheep a deer … deer
a hair … hair a trout … trout
a salmon … salmon a plaice … plaice (pisi balığı)
a hovercraft … hovercraft a mackerel … mackerel (uskumru)
- There are some sheep in the meadow.
- Look at those deer
- Trout are very delicious.
2. Some borrowed words (esp. Latin) have their plural forms in different ways.
an oasis … oases a stimulus … stimuli
a crises … crises A nucleus … nuclei
a parenthesis … parentheses an index … indexes/indices
a criterion … criteria a datum … data
a formula … formulae
- The sentence is full of parentheses.
- Crises in the world are so important.
- The data in the computer are missing.
- Are these formulae in the book?
3. Some nouns are always plural. They are called plural nouns.
stairs … stairs belongings … belongings
scissors … scissors congratulations … congratulations
means … means contents … contents
police … police surroundings … surroundings
goods … goods glasses … glasses
trousers … trousers pants … pants
clothes … clothes troops … troops
cattle … cattle tights … tights
- Telephone is a means of communication.
- Where are my reading glasses?
- It’s a pair of scissors.
- Are they your new pair of trousers?
- Are the goods in the lorry?
4. Initials can be made plurals in two ways:
UFO … UFOs / UFO’s VIP … VIPs … VIP’s
- UFOs are still a mystery.
