Numbers of Nouns
Number Nouns:
There are two types of nouns according to their number i.e. the singular and plural.
1. Singular Nouns
A noun that denotes one person, place or a thing is called a singular noun. As;
Bird, pen, book, chair,computer, etc
2. Plural Nouns
A noun that denotes more than one person, place or thing is called a plural noun. As;
Pens, desks, birds, trees, kites, etc.
How Plural are Formed
1. We usually make singular nouns plural by adding ‘s’ to the singular nouns.
Singular | Plural |
Arm | Arms |
Aunt | Aunts |
Ant | Ants |
Bag | Bags |
Bangle | Bangles |
Bowls | Bowls |
Basket | Baskets |
Bucket | Buckets |
Brother | Brother |
Bottle | Bottles |
Bamboo | Bamboos |
Crow | Crows |
Crime | Crimes |
Chocolate | Chocolates |
Chief | Chiefs |
Door | Doors |
Dustbin | Dustbins |
Egg | Eggs |
Ear | Ears |
Elephant | Elephants |
Flag | Flags |
Fan | Fans |
Girl | Girls |
Goat | Goats |
Hat | Hats |
Hut | Huts |
Iron | Irons |
Jug | Jugs |
Jacket | Jackets |
Kite | Kites |
Kitten | Kittens |
Lamp | Lamps |
Map | Maps |
Mat | Mats |
Nest | Nests |
Nose | Noses |
Orange | Oranges |
Plate | Plates |
Pen | Pens |
Quilt | Quilts |
Ring | Rings |
Register | Registers |
Star | Stars |
Soap | Soaps |
Tub | Tubs |
Table | Tables |
Van | Vans |
Window | Windows |
2. The nouns ending in “-sh”, “-ch”, “-ss”, “-x”, form their plural by adding “-es” to them.
For Example:
Singular | Plural |
Box | Boxes |
Bush | Bushes |
Branch | Branches |
Church | Churches |
Class | Classes |
Dress | Dresses |
Princess | Princesses |
Fox | Foxes |
Tax | Taxes |
Punch | Punches |
Glass | Glasses |
Ass | Asses |
Watch | Watches |
Bench | Benches |
Dish | Dishes |
Bitch | Bitches |
Hero | Heroes |
Bus | Buses |
3. Most of the nouns ending in “-o” also form plurals by adding “-es” to them.
For Example:
Singular | Plural |
buffalo | buffaloes |
Echo | Echoes |
Mango | Mangoes |
Potato | Potatoes |
4. A few nouns ending in “-o” merely add “-s”.
For Example:
Singular | Plural |
Commando | Commandos |
Ratio | Ratios |
Photo | Photos |
Logo | Logos |
Piano | Pianos |
Solo | Solos |
5. The nouns ending in “-y” preceded by a consonant, form their plural by changing “-y” into “-i” and adding “-es”.
For Example:
Singular | Plural |
Baby | Babies |
Army | Armies |
City | Cities |
Lady | Ladies |
Pony | Ponies |
Story | Stories |
Country | Countries |
Fairy | Fairies |
Family | Families |
Hobby | Hobbies |
6. The nouns that have a vowel before the “-y” are made plural simply by adding “-s” to them.
For Example:
Singular | Plural |
Boy | Boys |
Day | Days |
Key | Keys |
Chimney | Chimneys |
Valley | Valleys |
Donkey | Donkeys |
Toy | Toys |
Monkey | Monkeys |
Guy | Guys |
Barlay | Barlays |
Ray | Rays |
7. Some nouns ending in (“-f” , “-fe”) form their plural by changing (“-f” , “-fe”) into (-v) adding (-es).
For Example:
Singular | Plural |
Calf | Calves |
Leaf | Leaves |
Life | Lives |
Loaf | Loaves |
Midwife | Midwives |
Knife | Knives |
Shelf | Shelves |
Shef | Sheves |
Thief | Thieves |
Wolf | Wolves |
Wife | Wifves |
8. But some nouns that end in “f” are made plural simply by adding “s” to them.
For Example:
Singular | Plural |
Chief | Chiefs |
Roof | Roofs |
Handkerchief | Handkerchiefs |
Cliff | Cliffs |
9. A few nouns form their plurals by changing one or more vowels in them.
For Example:
Singular | Plural |
Child | Children |
Foot | Feet |
Louse | Lice |
Man | Men |
Woman | Women |
Mouse | Mice |
Goose | Geese |
Ox | Oxen |
Tooth | Teet |
10. A compound noun generally forms its plural by adding (-s) to the principal word.
For Example:
Singular | Plural |
Commander in chief | Commanders in chief |
Daughter in law | Daughters in law |
Son in law | Sons in law |
Step son | Step sons |
Step daughter | Step daughters |
Step father | Step fathers |
Step mother | Step mothers |
Maid servant | Maid servants |
Passer by | Passers by |
Looker on | Lookers on |
Hanger on | Hangers on |
Grand father | Grand fathers |
Grand mother | Grand mothers |
11. The plural form of some nouns remains the same as the singular form.
For Example:
Singular | Plural |
Fish | Fish |
Fruit | Fruit |
Hair | Hair |
rice | rice |
Wheat | Wheat |
Water | Water |
Sheep | Sheep |
Deer | Deer |
Aircraft | Aircraft |
Cattle | Cattle |
Army | Army |
News | News |
Police | Police |
work | work |
Herd | Herd |
Fleet | Fleet |
Crowd | Crowd |
Furniture | Furniture |
Poem | Poem |
For in-depth understanding of noun checkout Introduction of Noun and Errors in the use of Nouns
Hopefully, your concept about Numbers of Nouns is clear now, This lecture is part of the whole series of English Grammar by Miss Nabila Gulzar, For Other Lectures Click Here also We have an Essay on every topic, Check the complete list here. If you are Studying in Matric Free Video Lectures of Maths, Physics and English are here, and if we got you covered for I.COM Business Maths also.