1. Overview:
Singular and plural nouns are words that name people, places, things, or ideas. A singular noun refers to one item, while a plural noun refers to more than one item. We use plural nouns to talk about more than one person, place, thing, or idea.
2. Cases of Usage:
Case 1: Regular nouns (add -s)
When nouns are regular, we add -s to make them plural.
Example: cat → cats; pet → pets; book → books.
Case 2: Nouns ending in -s, -x, -z, -ch, -sh (add -es)
For nouns that end with -s, -x, -z, -ch, or -sh, we add -es to make them plural.
Example: box → boxes; bush → bushes; church → churches.
Case 3: Nouns ending in -y (change -y to -ies)
If a noun ends in a consonant plus -y, we change -y to -ies.
Example: baby → babies; country → countries; dictionary → dictionaries.
Case 4: Nouns ending in -f and -fe (change to -ves)
For some nouns that end in -f or -fe, we change -f or -fe to -ves.
Example: leaf → leaves; wife → wives; shelf → shelves.
Exceptions: Some nouns remain the same (e.g., roof → roofs, chief → chiefs).
Case 5: Irregular nouns (change forms)
Some nouns do not follow the rules. They have special plural forms.
Example: man → men, woman → women, tooth → teeth, foot → feet, mouse → mice, child → children; person → people.
3. Additional Notes:
Common mistakes include forgetting to add -es for nouns ending in -s, -x, -z, -ch, or -sh and not changing -y to -ies correctly. Remember to practice these exceptions to use them correctly.
