3. Singular and Plural Nouns

Singular  and plural nouns  – There are two forms of nouns: singular  and plural . A singular noun is used to refer to just one person, animal, thing or place. For two or more people, animals, places, or things, a plural noun is used. To make a regular noun plural, we add an –s  or – es  to the end (camel/camels, map/maps; echo/echoes) of the noun. A plural irregular noun has a different ending (hoof/hooves) or spelt differently from the singular noun (tooth/teeth).

Common endings of plural nouns:

Singular Plural How the plural is formed
daughter daughters Add –s
class classes Add –es to nouns ending –s
brush brushes Add –es to nouns ending –sh
watch watches Add –es to nouns ending –ch
box boxes Add –es to nouns ending –x
potato potatoes Add –es to nouns ending –o
piano pianos Add –s to nouns ending –o
baby babies Change –y to – ies
key keys Add –s to some nouns ending –y
leaf leaves Change –f to – ves
knife knives Change –fe to – ves
roof roofs Add –s to some nouns ending –f
safe safes Add –s to some nouns ending –fe
tooth teeth Change vowels
ox oxen Add –en
child children Add –ren
deer deer Some nouns have same singular and plural

(For more on singular  and plural nouns, see List 1)

There are nouns that are always plural.

Plural verbs must follow these nouns.

  • Jeans, knickers, pants, pyjamas, shorts, tights, trousers, stockings and underpants
  • Pincers, pliers, scissors, shears, tongs
  • Clogs, sandals, slippers, shoes, and sneakers
  • Glasses (spectacles), binoculars, goggles
  • arms, belongings, chopsticks, clothes, congratulations, contents, customs, earnings, goods, outskirts, remains, steps, surroundings, thanks, troops, tropics, wages, wits

Examples:

  • These trousers  I am wearing are handed down from my grandfather.
  • Pliers are  a handy tool.
  • My garden shears trim  the hedge very well.
  • My glasses are  used only for reading.

A pair of  can be used with the above plural nouns to make them singular and take a singular verb.  Â

Examples:

  • This pair of purple trousers do not match your yellow jacket.

  • This set of kitchen knives belongs  to me.

  • A  new pair of stainless steel scissors is what I need.

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Other nouns that are always plural.

Examples:

  • Clothes: My clothes need  to be washed.
  • Earnings: Earnings  in the agricultural sector have  increased by 5% in the fourth quarter.
  • Cattle: Cattle are  grazing all over the field.
  • Police: Police are  charging him with the murder of the princess.
  • People: People  in general are  not very approachable. ( Peoples  when used in the plural (i.e. with '–s') refers to peoples from more than one race or nation, e.g. the peoples of Asia)
  • Football team: Liverpool are  a very successful football team. (But Liverpool is  a great city.)

Nouns which are plural in form but take a singular verb

The following plural nouns are used with a singular verb as they are treated as singular:

Acoustics, athletics, economics, gymnastics, linguistics, mathematics, mechanics, news, numismatics, measles, mumps, physics, politics, pyrotechnics and statistics.

Examples:

  • Economics: Economics was  my favourite subject at school.
  • Gymnastics in her college involves exercises on bars, beam, floor, and vaulting horse.
  • News – The good news is  that we have all been invited.
  • Diseases such as mumps, measles, etc: An infectious illness, mumps was  common among children.
Measurements and amounts that are considered as a single unit:

 

Examples:

  • One hundred years is  a century.

    One thousand years is  a millenia .
  • Ten kilometres is
  • Twenty dollars is  not enough to buy a good shirt..
  • Seven days  in prison is  all he got for shoplifting.