What are singular and plural nouns?
Singular nouns denote a single person, place, thing, or idea, whereas a plural noun indicates two or more of the identified noun(s).
Rules for singular and plural nouns
The general rule is that most singular nouns are made plural by adding an -s, -es, or -ies to the end of the word. However, there are a variety of irregular nouns whose spelling changes when making the singular form plural.
The following English grammar rules apply when turning a singular noun into a regular plural noun:
| Singular Noun Endings | Rule | Singular Example | Plural Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Most nouns | Add an -s | cat | cats |
| ‑s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, or -z | Add an -es | fox | foxes |
| -s or -z | May need an additional -s or -z | gas | gasses |
| -f or -fe | Change to -ve and add an -s | wolf | wolves |
| Consonant and -y | Change -y to -ies | puppy | puppies |
| Vowel and -y | Add an -s | bay | bays |
| -o | Add an -es | tomato | tomatoes |
| -us | Replace with an -i | octopus | octopi |
| -is | Replace with an -es | hypothesis | hypotheses |
| -on | Replace with an -a | criterion | criteria |
Some singular nouns do not change at all when pluralized. Examples of nouns that are both singular and plural include the following:
| aircraft | concrete | furniture | luggage | scissors |
| binoculars | deer | grapefruit | moose | sheep |
| cattle | eyeglasses | homework | oxygen | shrimp |
| chalk | fish (numbers of) | jeans | pants | sugar |
| clothing | food | knowledge | police | wood |
A few nouns change their vowel sound when transforming from singular to plural. Unfortunately, there is no specific rule that helps to identify these irregular plural nouns. Therefore, they generally have to be memorized.
Some of the more common of these irregular nouns include the following:
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
| child | children |
| foot | feet |
| goose | geese |
| man | men |
| mouse | mice |
| person | people |
| tooth | teeth |
| woman | women |
Singular and plural noun examples
The following is a list of the singular and plural forms of some of the most common nouns:
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| area | areas | man | men |
| business | businesses | party | parties |
| case | cases | person | people |
| change | changes | service | services |
| child | children | side | sides |
| company | companies | state | states |
| country | countries | system | systems |
| day | days | thing | things |
| development | developments | time | times |
| end | ends | way | ways |
| eye | eyes | week | weeks |
| fact | facts | woman | women |
| family | families | word | words |
| government | governments | work | works |
| group | groups | world | worlds |
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