Saturday, January 13, 2018

Rajarata University of Sri Lanka Faculty of Technology/Faculty of Applied Sciences English-Grammar D.N. Aloysius

SINGULAR AND PLURAL NOUNS
REGULAR NOUNS

Plural nouns are words used to indicate that there is more than one person, animal, place, thing, or idea. 

Most singular nouns form the plural by adding -s.
EXAMPLES
Singular
Plural
boat
boats
house
houses
cat
cats
river
rivers
A singular noun ending in s, x, z, ch, sh makes the plural by adding-es.
EXAMPLES
Singular
Plural
bus
buses
wish
wishes
pitch
pitches
box
boxes
A singular noun ending in a consonant and then y makes the plural by dropping the y and adding-ies.
EXAMPLES
Singular
Plural
penny
pennies
spy
spies
baby
babies
city
cities
daisy
daisies
IRREGULAR NOUNS
There are some irregular noun plurals. The most common ones are listed below.
EXAMPLES
Singular
Plural
woman
women
man
men
child
children
tooth
teeth
foot
feet
person
people
leaf
leaves
mouse
mice
goose
geese
half
halves
knife
knives
wife
wives
life
lives
elf
elves
loaf
loaves
potato
potatoes
tomato
tomatoes
cactus
cacti
focus
foci
fungus
fungi
nucleus
nuclei
syllabus
syllabi/syllabuses
analysis
analyses
diagnosis
diagnoses
oasis
oases
thesis
theses
crisis
crises
phenomenon
phenomena
criterion
criteria
datum
data
Some nouns have the same form in the singular and the plural.
EXAMPLES
Singular
Plural
sheep
sheep
fish
fish
deer
deer
species
species
aircraft
aircraft
IRREGULAR VERB/NOUN AGREEMENT
Some nouns have a plural form but take a singular verb.
Plural nouns used with a singular verb
Sentence
news
The news is at 6.30 p.m.
athletics
Athletics is good for young people.
linguistics
Linguistics is the study of language.
darts
Darts is a popular game in England.
billiards
Billiards is played all over the world.
Some nouns have a fixed plural form and take a plural verb. They are not used in the singular, or they have a different meaning in the singular. Nouns like this include: trousers, jeans, glasses, savings, thanks, steps, stairs, customs, congratulations, tropics, wages, spectacles, outskirts, goods, wits
Plural noun with plural verb
Sentence
trousers
My trousers are too tight.
jeans
Her jeans are black.
glasses
Those glasses are his.


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