Topic 16

Topic 16

Singular and Plural Noun

A singular noun means ‘one’ in number.

A plural noun means ‘more than one’ in number.

A)  ‘s’ is suffixed to the word to make it plural generally.

      Regular Form

               One                                   Many

               car                                    cars

               pen                                   pens

               eraser                                erasers

               bottle                                bottles

B)  ‘es’ is suffixed to the words which end in ‘s, z, x, ch, sh or o*

               One                                    Many

         (s, z, x, ch, sh, o)                       ( es )

               class                                   classes

               buzz                                    buzzes

               box                                     boxes

               watch                                  watches

               brush                                  brushes

               tomato                                tomatoes

             *piano                                  pianos

C)  If the words end in ‘y’ and the letters before ‘y’ are ‘a, e, i,

      o, u’, suffix ‘s’ to the word.

             

               One                                     Many

         (vowel + y)                                ( ys)                         

               toy                                       toys

               boy                                       boys

               way                                      ways

               day                                       days

D)  If the words end in ‘y’ and the letters before ‘y’ are not ‘a,

     e, i, o, u’, drop ‘y’ and suffix ‘ies’.

               One                                      Many

         ( consonant + y)                          ( ies)

             baby                                     babies                                     

               lady                                      ladies                             (42)

               lorry                                      lorries

               city                                        cities

E)  If the words end in ‘f’ or ‘fe’, and they are to be replaced by

     ‘ves’ to form plural               

               One                                       Many

              (f  /  fe)                                 ( ves)   

              knife                                      knives

              leaf                                        leaves

              loaf                                        loaves

              wife                                        wives

              life                                          lives             

              thief                                        thieves

             * (f)                                         (fs)

              chief                                        chiefs

              roof                                         roofs

              cliff                                          cliffs

              dwarf                                       dwarfs

F)  Some words have the plural form to be very different from the singular

    form.

               One                                     Many    

               mouse                                 mice

               goose                                  geese

               child                                   children    

                         

G)  Some words have the same form for both singular and plural noun.

                One                                  Many

                deer                                  deer

                sheep                                sheep                       

                aircraft                              aircraft                                     

H) Some words singular in form but plural in meaning.

                One                                  Many

                 --                                     cattle

                 --                                      police

                                                        people                       (43)

Topic 16     Singular and Plural forms of the Nouns

Exercise 77

Write out the plural forms of the following words.

1.  child                 ____________________

2.  man                 ____________________

3.  woman             ____________________

4.  mouse              ____________________

5.  lady                  ____________________

6.  glass                 ____________________

7.  brush                ____________________

8.  girl                    ____________________

9.  cat                    ____________________

10. mango              ____________________

11. lady                  ____________________

12. story                 ____________________

13. fly                     ____________________

14. foot                   ____________________

15. thief                  ____________________

16. loaf                   ____________________

17. knife                 ____________________

18. wolf                  ____________________

19. wife                  ____________________

20. leaf                   ____________________

Exercise  78

Write out the plural form  of the following words.

1.  goose                ____________________

2.  tooth                 ____________________

3.  watch                _____________________

4.  bush                  _____________________

5.  school                _____________________

6.  computer           _____________________

7.  goat                  _____________________

8.  duck                  _____________________

9.  tomato               _____________________

10.  potato              ______________________

11.  shelf                ______________________

12.  yourself            ______________________

13.  lorry                 ______________________

14.  ring                  ______________________

15.  dress                ______________________

16.  puppy               ______________________                             (