Singular and Plural Nouns - Rules and Examples

You can probably recall that nouns are words that name people, animals, places, things, and ideas. Here, we will take a closer look at singular and plural nouns. Provide examples and give you the information you need for using singular and plural nouns.

Singular Nouns

When you are talking about one person, animal, place, or thing, use a singular noun.

a ship	a train	a flower	a woman
a bicycle	a boy	a bus	a comb
a girl	a letter	a key	a map
a swing	a van	a photograph	a slide
a refrigerator	an owl	an airplane	an envelope

➤ Use a or an before singular nouns.

➤ Use an before words beginning with vowels(a, e, i, o, u)

an axe	an igloo	an egg	an envelope
an orange	an umbrella	an ice cream	an uncle

➤ But some words do not follow this rule. For example, use a (not an) before these words that begin with u:

a uniform a university

➤ Use a before words beginning with the other letters of the alphabet, called consonants.

a basket	a rainbow	a bowl	a monster	a car
a pillow	a hill	a house	a watch	a zoo

➤ But some words do not follow this rule. For example, use an (not a) before these words that begin with h:

an heir an honour an hour

Plural Nouns

When you are talking about two or more people, animals, places, or things, use plural nouns.

➤ Most nouns are made plural by adding -s at the end.

Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
star	stars	doll	Dolls
bat	bats	egg	Eggs
mug	mugs	flower	flowers
fan	fans	fork	forks
cap	caps	game	games
bird	birds	lamb	lambs
broom	brooms	nest	nests
camel	camels	camel	camels
pen	pens	desk	desks
photo	photos	shirt	shirts
desk	desks	shirt	shirts

➤ Some plural nouns end in -es.
When the last letters of the singular nouns are ch, sh, s, ss, or x, usually add -es to form the plural.

Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
bus	buses	glass	glasses
brush	brushes	watch	watches
fox	foxes	beach	beaches
branch	branches	box	boxes
bush	bushes	church	churches
dish	dishes	dress	dresses
witch	witches	sandwich	sandwiches

➤ Some plural nouns end -ies. Nouns like these are made plural by changing y to i and adding -es.

Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
butterfly	butterflies	canary	canaries
lily	lilies	baby	babies
candy	candies	cherry	cherries
diary	diaries	dictionary	dictionaries
fairy	fairies	family	families
fly	flies	lady	ladies
library	libraries	puppy	puppies
story	stories	strawberry	strawberries

➤ What if there is a vowel before the y? In that case, add -s to form the plural.

Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
key	keys	turkey	turkeys
tray	trays	chimney	chimneys
cowboy	cowboys	day	days
donkey	donkeys	jersey	jerseys
kidney	kidneys	monkey	monkeys
toy	toys	trolley	trolleys

➤ If a noun ends in -f, often change f to v and add -es.

Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
calf	calves	loaf	loaves
elf	elves	shelf	shelves
half	halves	thief	thieves
leaf	leaves	wolf	wolves

➤ Often nouns that end in -f, just need -s to form the plural.

Singular	Plural	Plural	Plural
chef	chefs	chief	chiefs
cliff	cliffs	roof	roofs
sheriff	sheriffs	handkerchief	handkerchiefs

➤ For some words that end in -f, the plural can be spelt in two different ways.

Singular	Plural
dwarf	dwarfs or dwarves
hoof	hoofs or hooves
scarf	scarfs or scarves

➤ With some words that end in -fe, change f to v and add -s.

Singular	Plural
knife	knives
life	lives
wife	wives

* But only add -s to giraffe to form the plural.

➤ If a noun ends in -o, just add -s to form the plural.

Singular	Plural
a rhino	rhinos
a kangaroo	kangaroos
a hippo	hippos
a video	videos
a zoo	zoos

➤ But with some nouns that end in -o, add -es to form the plural.

Singular	Plural
a flamingo	flamingoes
a tomato	tomatoes
a potato	potatoes
a hero	heroes

➤ With some nouns that end in -o, add either -s or -es to form the plural.

Singular	Plural	Plural
a mango	mangoes	mangos
a mosquito	mosquitoes	Mosquitos
a zero	zeroes	zeros
a buffalo	buffaloes	baffalos

➤ Some plural nouns do not follow the -s rule. They don't end in -s, -es, -ies, or -ves. Instead, the word changes form.

Singular	Plural
mouse	mice
goose	geese
child	children
man	men
ox	oxen
tooth	teeth
woman	women
foot	feet

* The plural of the mouse that you use with your computer is either mice or mouses.

➤ Some plural nouns are same as the singular noun.

Singular	Plural
sheep	sheep
reindeer	reindeer
fish	fish
bison	bison
deer	deer

* You can use fishes as the plural of fish when you are talking about different kinds of fish.
All the fishes of the Pacific Ocean.

➤ Some nouns are always plural.

binoculars	goggles	pliers
pants	pajamas	shorts
trousers	sandals	scissors
sneakers	slippers	stockings
jeans	spectacles

* Another word for spectacles is glasses.

➤ You can make these plural nouns singular by using a pair of.

a pair of binoculars	a pair of spectacles
a pair of googles	a pair of jeans
a pair of shorts	a pair of pliers
a pair of slippers	a pair of sandals

I hope this explanation will help you to understand singular and plural nouns better.

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