Singular and plural in English

Singular and plural in English

In English, singular nouns are divided into countable nouns and uncountable nouns.

Countable nouns can be used in the singular  and the plural . Uncountable nouns do not have a plural.

Rules for spelling plural nouns

Most nouns end in -s in the plural. The ending -es is added in such cases.

• If the base of the noun ends in -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -х: a bus — buses; a lunch — lunches; a class — classes; a watch — watches; a bush — bushes; a box — boxes
• If the base of the noun ends in -y with a preceding consonant, then -u changes to -i: a story — stories; a fly — flies
• If the base of the noun ends in -o with a preceding consonant: a hero — heroes; a tomato — tomatoes

Exceptions: a piano — pianos; a photo — photos; a solo — solos.

• In some singular nouns ending in -f or -fe, in the plural -f changes to -V with the addition of the ending -es; the letter combination -ves is pronounced as [vz]: a leaf — leaves; a wife — wives; a shelf — shelves; a wolf — wolves; a half – halves; a calf — calves; a knife — knives; a life — lives.
• The set of other nouns of this type is formed according to the general rule: adding the ending -s, without changing f to v: a kerchief — kerchiefs; a safe — safes; a chief — chiefs; a roof — roofs.

Individual cases of formation of the plural of nouns

• The plural of some nouns is formed by changing the root vowel (without adding an ending): a man — men; a tooth — teeth; a woman — women [‘wimin]; a goose — geese; a foot — feet; a mouse — mice.
• The plural noun child has the form children.
• The plural of the noun ох is formed using the ending -en: oxen.
• The nouns sheep, deer, swine, fish, fruit and the names of some types of fish have the same form in the singular and plural:
  • He caught a lot of fish

Pay attention: The form fishes is used when talking about different types of fish; the form fruits when it comes to different types of fruit.

• Some nouns of Latin and Greek origin retain the plural forms they had in these languages: a phenomenon — phenomena; a crisis — crises; a radius — radii.
• In complex nouns, only the main noun takes the plural form: a daughter-in-law — daughters-in-law; a school-mate — school-mates.
• If a compound noun is formed from other parts of speech, the plural ending is added at the end of the word: forget-me-not — forget-me-nots (forget-me-nots); merry-go-round — merry-go-rounds (carousels).
• In the English language, there are nouns that are used only in the singular (names of substances and abstract concepts: chalk, silver peace courage, etc.) or only in the plural (names of objects consisting of two equal or similar parts: tongs , spectacles, trousers, scissors, etc.).

Please note: Some nouns in the English language are used only in the singular, and the corresponding nouns in the Ukrainian language have singular and plural forms or only plural forms: advice; knowledge; information; news; progress; money.

The number of nouns in Ukrainian and English may not match: goods, clothes, contents, wages, etc.
Some nouns that mean a set can agree with a singular or plural predicate, depending on their meaning. Such nouns include: army, audience, band, class, company, crowd, family, government, team, union etc. In this case, the number of the predicate verb depends on which shade of meaning is meant: a group of people as a whole or individual members of the group:

• Our family is very old (The whole genus is meant).
• Our family are happy with presents (To every member of the family).

Video – Singular and Plural Nouns for Kids