Singular and Plural Nouns

A noun names a person, place, thing, or idea.

Usually, the first page of a grammar book tells you about nouns. Nouns give names of concrete or abstract things in our lives. As babies learn "mom," "dad," or "milk" as their first word, nouns should be the first topic when you study a foreign language.

For the plural form of most nouns, add s.

bottle                    – bottles

cup                         – cups

pencil                    – pencils

desk                      – desks

sticker                   – stickers

window                – windows

For nouns that end in ch, x, s, or s sounds, add es.

box                        – boxes

watch                    – watches

moss                     – mosses

bus                         – buses

For nouns ending in f or fe, change f to v and add es.

wolf                       – wolves

wife                       – wives

leaf                        – leaves

life                          – lives

Some nouns have different plural forms.

child                       – children

woman                                 – women

man                       – men

mouse                  – mice

goose                    – geese

Nouns ending in vowels like y or o do not have definite rules.

baby                      – babies

toy                         – toys

kidney                  – kidneys

potato                  – potatoes

memo                   – memos

stereo                   – stereos

A few nouns have the same singular and plural forms.

Sheep                   – sheep

deer                      – deer

series                    – series

species                                 – species

Sample  

Choose the correct form of the noun in each sentence.

1)I have three (child, children).

2)There are five (man, men) and one (woman, women).

3)(Baby, Babies) play with bottles as toys.

4)I put two big (potato, potatoes) in the lunch box.

5)A few men wear (watch, watches).

6)I put a (memo, memos) on the desk.

7)I saw a (mouse, mice) running by.

8)There are few (bus, buses) on the road today.

Answers 

1) children

2) men, woman

3) Babies

4) potatoes

5) watches

6) memo

7) mouse

8) buses