Singular and Plural Nouns

Noun 

• A noun names an object, person or place. 

Singular and Plural Nouns 

• When a noun is singular, it means there is only one of them. When a noun is plural, it means there is more than one. 
• Singular nouns: Boy, elephant, gift, grape, monkey, etc. 
• The letter ‘s’ is added to the end of each word to show that they are more than one/ they are plural. 
• Plural nouns: Boys, elephants, gifts, grapes, monkeys 

Note: The students will come across irregular plural nouns on a regular basis, and hence, the teacher should introduce irregular plural (different spellings) in year 3 and year 4. 

Some Exceptions to the Rule 

Not all plural nouns end with ‘s’. They could end with ‘ies’,  ‘ves’, ‘es’. 

Some nouns end in ‘y’. So, to make them plural, remove the ‘y’ and add ‘-ies’,  

• Baby – babies 
• Party – parties  

But, be careful. 

Before adding ‘ies’, check the letter before ‘y’. 

If the letter before y is a consonant, then add ‘ies’. 

• Jelly – jellies 
• Sky – Skies 
• Baby – Babies  

(Here ‘l’, ‘k’, and ‘b’ were consonants, so we added ‘ies’.) 

But, if the letter before ‘y’ is a vowel, then add ‘s’. 

• Boy – Boys 
• Guy – Guys 
• Toy – Toys  

(Here ‘o’, ‘u’, and ‘b’ were vowels, so we added ‘s’.) 

If a noun ends in ‘f’ or ‘fe’, then make it plural by removing the ‘f’ or ‘fe’ and adding ‘ves’: 

• Calf  – calves 
• Knife – knives 

If a noun ends in s / ss / ch / sh / x, then add ‘-es’ to make it plural. 

• Bus – Buses 
• Address – Addresses 
• Church – Churches 
• Brush – Brushes 
• Fox – Foxes 

If a noun ends in ‘o’, then add ‘es’. 

• Echo – echoes 
• Mango – Mangoes 
• Tomato – Tomatoes 

Also, be careful with some words. 

The plural nouns of child, man, woman are: 

• Children, men, women. 
• The plural of sheep and fish are sheep and fish. 
• So, the rules are not applicable everywhere.