Singular Plural Nouns Definitions Rules Examples

Singular and plural nouns

Most nouns can change from singular to plural with the simple addition of an -s or an -es at the end of the noun. However, some nouns choose to be difficult, and can have a wide range of different endings when changed to their plural form.

Nouns used only in the singular

Some nouns are used only in the singular, even though they end in -s. These include: the names of academic subjects such as classics, economics, mathematics/maths, physics; the physical activities gymnastics and aerobics; the diseases measles and mumps; and the word news:

Examples:

1. Maths was never my best subject at school.
2. Aerobics is great fun – you should try it!

Nouns used only in the plural

Some nouns only have a plural form. They cannot be used with numbers. They include the names of certain tools, instruments and articles of clothing which have two parts.

Tools and instruments

• binoculars ,headphones,sunglasses

Clothing

• jeans, pajamas, shorts

Examples

• I’ve got new sunglasses. Do you like them?
• He always wears shorts, even in the winter.

A pair of

We can use pair of to refer to one example of these nouns:

• I bought a new pair of binoculars last week.
• That old pair of trousers will be useful for doing jobs in the garden.

We can use pair of to refer to one example of these nouns:

• They’re advertising two pairs of glasses for the price of one.
• I bought three pairs of shorts for the summer.

Other nouns which are always plural in form

belongings ,outskirts

Examples

• Please ensure that you take all your belongings with you as you leave the aircraft.
• They live on the outskirts of Frankfurt, almost in the countryside.
• My clothes are wet. I’ll have to go upstairs and change.
• She spent all her savings on a trip to South America.

Collective nouns (group words)

Some nouns refer to groups of people (e.g. audience, committee, government, team). These are sometimes called collective nouns. Some collective nouns can take a singular or plural verb, depending on whether they are considered as a single unit or as a collection of individuals:

audience ,crew,public,government

Compare

1-seen as a single unit

• The audience was larger than average and the concert was a success.
• The government is hoping that online voting will attract more young people to vote.

2-seen as individuals

• The audience were all cheering wildly.
• The government are all very nervous about the report, which will be published tomorrow.

The Basics of Irregular Plural Nouns

What is a regular noun?

A regular noun can be made plural by simply adding -s or -es to the end of the word. For example, a regular noun like pickle becomes plural by adding an -s to the end of the word, creating the plural noun pickles.

What is an irregular plural noun?

An irregular plural noun is a noun that becomes plural in a way other than adding -s or -es to the end.

For example,

Another

example

Or, nouns like sheep or scissors look exactly the same whether these nouns are referring to one or one hundred wooly sheep or sharp scissors.

What is the relationship between regular and irregular plural nouns?

Regular and irregular noun endings are both used by writers to show whether a noun is plural. Although the endings of these nouns are very different from one another, their purpose is the same.

For example

Take a look at this sentence that uses both regular and irregular plural nouns:

Example:

Joe’s dad bought two bikes for his children over the weekend.

• Bikes is a regular plural noun that uses an -s ending to show that multiple bikes were purchased.
• Children is an irregular plural noun that uses an -ren ending to show that Joe’s dad has more than one child.

5 Tips for Understanding Irregular Nouns

Tip #1. If the noun ends in -us, change the ending to -i to make an irregular plural noun

• For example, a biologist might compare the nuclei of several different cells rather than a single nucleus.
• Or, when you graduate from high school, you are considered an alumnus, but everyone in your graduating class as a group would be referred to as alumni.

Tip #2. If the noun ends in -f or -fe, change the ending to -ves to make an irregular plural noun

• For example, a single leaf may fall from the tree in your front yard, but there are still several leaves attached to the tree’s branches.
• Or, a chef may have several knives in his kitchen, but he has one particular knife that he prefers to use most often.
• Unfortunately, there are some exceptions to this rule. For example, the plural of chief becomes chiefs, not chieves. Remember these exceptions so that they do not trip you up in your writing.

Tip #3. If the noun ends in -um or -on, change the ending to -a to make an irregular plural noun

• For example, there is a difference between witnessing one natural phenomenon and several natural phenomena.
• Or that a collection of information is called data while one piece of information is called a datum?

Tip #4. Some nouns change vowels when they become irregular plural nouns

• For example, the names of several animals change vowels in their plural form, such as mouse/mice or goose/geese.
• Likewise, one man joined by another becomes two men, while one woman becomes two women in the plural form.

Tip #5. Some nouns do not change at all when they become irregular plural nouns

Nouns like rice, deer, sheep, or moose look exactly the same whether they are in their singular or plural form. Therefore, have to use other context clues in their sentences to communicate which form is being used.

• For example: Suzanne had her name written on a grain of rice at last week’s fair.
• We are able to figure out that the singular form of rice is being used in this sentence because the singular form of the regular noun, grain, gives us that clue.