Singular and Plural Nouns For beginners

Learn how to form and use singular and plural nouns, like 'cat' and 'cats'. Easy explanations, clear examples, and practice exercises included.

grammatical number nouns plural nouns singular nouns

"Singular and Plural Nouns" in English Grammar

What Are Singular and Plural Nouns?

A singular noun refers to just one person, place, thing, or idea. But a plural noun refers to more than one person, place, thing, or idea.

Formation

Most plural nouns are formed by adding '-s' to the end of a singular noun. For example:

Singular Nouns	Plural Nouns
cat	cats
boy	boys
cup	cups
pencil	pencils
desk	desks
apple	apples

Spelling

If a singular noun ends in s, x, z, ch, or sh, the plural form is created by adding '-es'.

Singular Nouns	Plural Nouns
church	churches
boss	bosses
dish	dishes
box	boxes
quiz	quizzes

If a singular noun ends in a consonant followed by '-y', the plural form is created by replacing the '-y' with '-ies'. For example:

Singular Nouns	Plural Nouns
city	cities
baby	babies

Irregular Nouns

Some nouns have irregular plural forms. For example:

Singular Nouns	Plural Nouns
man	men
woman	women
child	children
tooth	teeth
foot	feet
fish	fish
sheep	sheep

Verb Agreement

When using nouns as subjects, it's important to use singular verbs with singular nouns and plural verbs with plural nouns. Pay attention to the examples:

Example

Your eyes are blue.

A glass is on the table.

Quiz:

Which of the following is the correct plural form of the word "city"?

citys

cities

citie

citieses

Match each word with the correct plural ending.

cat

baby

fish

dish

-s

irregular form

-ies

-es

Fill in the blanks with the correct plural form of the nouns in parenthesis.

The

are playing soccer. (boy)

There are five

in the box. (pencil)

We visited three

last summer. (country)

He ate three

for lunch. (sandwich)

She saw three

in the street. (man)

Fill out the table with the correct singular and plural forms:

Singular noun	Plural noun
teacher
	countries
	teeth
brush
sheep

Which sentence uses the correct verb form with the singular and plural noun?

The children is playing outside.

The box is on the table.

This city are beautiful.

The quizzes is difficult.

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What Are Singular and Plural Nouns?
- Spelling
Irregular Nouns
Verb Agreement
Quiz
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