Let’s Learn Singular and

Plural

By Haslinda MidySK St Mary Papar

Things in the classroom, at the playground and at the

restaurant

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

Nouns give names of concrete or abstract things in our lives.

For the plural form of most nouns, add ‘s’.

book – booksruler – rulerspencil – pencilstable – tablesduster – dusterswindow – windows

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

box – boxesfox - foxeswatch – watchesglass – glassesbus – buses

Singular (only one) / Plural (more than one)

‘s’monkey - monkeysboy - boystable - tablesball - ballsfork - forksbook - booksfrog - frogsfan -fansbed - beds

‘es’glass - glassesbus -buseswatch - watchesdress - dressesbox - boxesfox - foxeschurch -

churchesbench - benchesmoss - mosses

Give the plural forms of the following words.

Singular Plural

chair

basket

bag

eraser

sharpener

shoe

ruler

desk

pen

bottle

Exercise 1

Give the plural forms of the following words.

Singular Plural

box

fox

church

hutch

glass

grass

bus

wolf

leave

life

Exercise 2

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

wolf – wolveswife – wivesleaf – leaveslife – lives

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

baby – babiestoy – toyskidney – kidneyspotato – potatoes

Note : when a vowel is in front of the ‘y’, the ‘y’ does not change; the ‘y’ only change when a consonant is in front of the ‘y’.

‘ies’lady - ladiesbaby - babieslorry - lorriessky - skiespuppy -

puppiescandy - candiesferry - ferries

‘ves’leaf - leaveself - elvesknife - knivesloaf - loavescalf - calveswife - wivesshelf - shelveslife - lives

Give the plural forms of the following words.

Singular Plural

baby

butterfly

lorry

knife

wife

life

buffalo

tomato

potato

fly

Exercise 3

Some nouns have different plural forms.

child – childrenwoman – womenmouse – micegoose – geesetooth – teethfoot - feetox – oxenlouse – liceman - men

Give the plural forms of the following words.

Singular Plural

ox

man

louse

tooth

child

goose

mouse

policeman

woman

fireman

Exercise 4

Singular Plural

chair chairs

basket baskets

bag bags

eraser erasers

sharpener sharpeners

shoe shoes

ruler rulers

desk desks

pen pens

bottle bottles

Answers to Exercise 1

Answers to Exercise 2

Singular Plural

box boxes

fox foxes

church churches

hutch hutches

glass glasses

grass grasses

bus buses

wolf wolves

leaf leaves

life lives

Answers to Exercise 3

Singular Plural

baby babies

butterfly butterflies

lorry lorries

knife knives

wife wives

life lives

buffalo buffaloes

tomato tomatoes

potato potatoes

fly flies

Answers to Exercise 4

Singular Plural

ox oxen

man men

louse lice

tooth teeth

child children

goose geese

mouse mice

policeman policemen

woman women

fireman firemen

Now try some more exercises

1. My mother bought a new ________ . (car, cars)2. The ______ is kept on the table. (pens, pen)3. Ram loves to read _______. (books, book)4. Suzana has five ________. (apple, apples)5. How many ______ are there in your purse? (things, thing)6. The ______ is sitting on the table. (cats, cat)7. There are countless ________ in the sky. (stars, star)8. How many _________ are there in your class? (students,

student)9. A rainbow has even ________ . (colour, colours)10.Sita has a black _______ . (dogs, dog)11. There are two _____ playing in the yard. (cat, cats)12. I borrowed some ______ at the library yesterday. (book,

books)13. I found seven _____ in the chicken coop. (eggs, egg)14.There were two ______ on the lake at the sunset. (boats,

boat)15. I helped my dad washed his ______ this morning. (cars, car)

Fill in the blanks with the correct answers)

Good luck