Nouns: NUMBER

Course – BDFTSubject – English Communication and Life Skills

Unit – 1

Nouns: Number

• Nouns: Number – A word which indicateswhether a noun is singular or plural is knownas number.

• A noun has two numbers:

a) The Singular Number

b) The Plural Number

Kinds of Nouns: Number

• A noun that denotes one person or thing,is said to be in the Singular Number; as,boy, book, pencil, tree, river, etc.

• A noun that denotes more than oneperson or thing, is said to be in the PluralNumber; as boys, books, pencils, trees,rivers, etc.

• Thus, there are two numbers in English –the Singular and the Plural.

How are Plurals formed?

• Singular denotes ‘one’ and Plural denotes ‘more than one’.

RULE: 1• Nouns ending with ‘ch’, ‘sh’, ‘x’, ‘s’, ‘ss’ form their plurals by

adding “es” to the singular:

• “es” is pronounced as ‘iz’

Batch – batches Brush – brushes Box – boxes Glass – glasses

Branch – branches Dish – dishes Tax – taxes Class - Classes

Catch – catches Bush - bushes Fax - faxes Cross - crosses

Inch – inches Church – churches Sandwich –Sandwiches

Kiss – kisses

Patch – patches Match – matches Beach – beaches Lass - lasses

Torch – torches Peach – Peaches Crash – crashes Guess - guesses

Bench – benches Watch - watches Reflex – reflexes Address -addresses

Bunch – Bunches Ash - Ashes Virus – viruses Atlas – atlases

EXCEPTION TO RULE: 1• Ox – ends in x but we add “en” to make it Plural.

• Ox – Oxen. Stomach – ends in ch but we add “s” stomachs.

• Other words:

Wax - waxes Fox – foxes Wish – Wishes Bus – Buses

Loss – Losses Pitch – Pitches Gas – Gases Dress - Dresses

RULE: 2• Nouns ending in “o” add “es” to make Plural.

Tomato – tomatoes Volcano – volcanoes

Potato – potatoes Motto – mottoes

Cargo – cargoes Avocado – avocadoes

Hero – heroes Domino – dominoes

Echo – echoes Dingo – dingoes

Buffalo – buffaloes Veto – vetoes

Mango – mangoes Embargo - embargoes

Mosquito - mosquitoes Negro - negroes

Cargo - Cargoes

Dingo - Dingoes

Domino - Dominoes Volcano - Volcanoes

Negro - Negroes

Avocado – Avocados/Avocadoes

Exceptions to Rule: 2Canto – Cantos Memento –

MementosCommando -Commandos

Kilo – Kilos Logo – Logos Bamboo – bamboos

Solo – Solos Ratio - Ratios Eskimo - Eskimos

Piano – Pianos Radio - Radios Kangaroo –Kangaroos

Photo – Photos Stereo – Stereos Video - Videos

Continued – Exceptions to Rule 2Zoo – zoos Patio – Patios Taco – Tacos

Casino – Casinos Zero – Zeros Sombrero -Sombreros

Sombrero - Sombreros

Taco - Tacos

Kangaroo - Kangaroos

Patio - Patios

Eskimo - Eskimos

RULE: 3• Nouns ending in ‘y’, preceded by a consonant, form

plural by removing ‘y’ and adding “ies”

Lady - Ladies City - Cities Baby - Babies Army – Armies

Story - Stories Pony - Ponies Body - Bodies Country –Countries

Copy - Copies Cry - Cries Duty - Duties Family –Families

Diary – Diaries Fairy – fairies Fly - flies Reply – replies

Berry - berries Party - parties Jelly – Jellies Belly – Bellies

Cherry –cherries

Daisy - daisies Ferry - ferries Remedy –remedies

Exceptions to Rule: 3Day - days Ray - Rays Monkey – Monkeys

Play – plays Key - Keys Donkey - Donkeys

Boy - boys Delay - delays Toy – toys

Joy - Joys Chimney - Chimneys Valley - Valleys

RULE: 4• Nouns which end in ‘f’ or ‘fe’ add “ves” to

make plural:

Leaf – Leaves Wife - Wives Life - Lives Thief – thieves

Loaf - Loaves Half - Halves Calf - Calves Knife – Knives

Self - Selves Wolf - Wolves Shelf - Shelves Elf - Elves

EXCEPTION TO RULE: 4Chief - Chiefs Handkerchief -

handkerchiefsDwarf – dwarfs

Belief - beliefs Roof - roofs Proof – proofs

Cliff - Cliffs Gulf - gulfs Safe – Safes

Cuff – cuffs Giraffe – Giraffes Reef – reefs

Hoof – hoofs Earmuff - earmuffs Dandruff –dandruffs

Cliff - Cliffs Reef - Reefs

Gulf - Gulfs Earmuff - Earmuffs

Dandruff - Dandruffs Hoof - Hoofs

Important• Sometimes a word may completely change its

form when a plural is made:

Child - children Man - men Woman – women

Goose - geese Mouse - mice Louse – lice

Tooth - teeth Foot - feet Person – people

Fungi - fungus Datum - data Cactus – Cacti

Radius - radii Formula –formulae/formulas

Agendum –agenda

Brother - brethren Medium - Media Syllabus –Syllabi/syllabuses

Some words may same the same in their Singular and Plural forms:Deer - Deer Sheep - Sheep Scissors – Scissors

News - News Information - Information Series – Series

Trousers - Trousers Socks - Socks Shorts – Shorts

Goods - Goods Valuable - Valuables Spectacles – Spectacles

Surroundings -Surroundings

Eatables - Eatables Billiards – Billiards

Wages - Wages Rice - rice Luggage – Luggage

Furniture - Furniture Dozen – dozen Hundred – hundred

Thousand – thousand Water - Water Jeans – Jeans

Exercise 1This - These

• This is a box.

• These are boxes.

• This is a lady.

• These are ladies.

• This is a story.

• These are stories

• This is a knife.

• These are knives.

That - Those• That is a potato.

• Those are potatoes.

• That is a pen.

• Those are pens.

• That is a buffalo.

• Those are buffaloes.

• That is a leaf.

• Those are leaves.

Exercise 2One - Many

• One glass – many glasses.

• One dish – many dishes.

• One tomato – many tomatoes.

• One army – many armies.

• One wife – many wives.

• One pencil – many pencils.

• One mouse – many mice.

• One louse – many lice.

One - Some

• One school – some schools.

• One brush – some brushes.

• One watch – some watches.

• One mango – some mangoes.

• One hero – some heroes.

• One city – some cities.

• One match – some matches.

• One mosquito – some mosquitoes.

Exercise 3There is …

• There is one branch in this tree.

• There is a sharpener on the table.

• There is an eraser in my bag.

• There is a cow in the field.

• There is a leaf on the road.

• There is a mobile in the shop.

There are …

• There are many/few branches in this tree.

• There are many/some sharpeners on the table.

• There are erasers in my bag.

• There are cows in the field.

• There are leaves on the road.

• There are mobiles in the shop.

Recourses/References

• Advanced English Grammar by Wren and Martine

• https://www.google.co.in/search?q=images+noun+plural+and+singular&biw

• www.google.co.in/search?q=images+noun+plural+and+singular

• www.google.co.in/search