SINGULAR AND PLURAL
- Singular noun names one person, place, thing, or idea.
- Plural noun names more than one person, place, thing, or idea.
- There are a few basic rules to remember when it comes to turning a singular noun into a plural noun.
- Most singular nouns need an 's' at the end to become plural.
Some
exceptions are there to make a singular
into plural, they are listed below
1 A + E
If any singular word ends
with a letter “A” add “E” with it.
Eg:
Alga = Algae
Formula = Formulae
The other words of this
examples are - Amoeba, Antenna, Nebula, Vertebra
2 H + ES
If any word ends with the
letter “H” add “ES” to make it plural
Eg:
Bench = Benches
Wish = Wishes
The other words for this examples
are Bush, Church, Dish, Marsh, Match, Pitch, Watch, etc
3 O +ES
If the given word ends with
a letter “O” add “ES” to make it plural
Eg:
Mango – Mangoes
Tomato – Tomatoes
The other words for this
examples are Buffalo, Echo, Embargo, Hero, Mosquito, Potato, Torpedo, Volcano
4 O + S =
In some cases we have to add
“S” with the word ending with “O”
Eg:
Logo - Logos
Photo - Photos
The other examples are Eskimo,
Halo, Memo, Piano, Stereo, Studio, zero
5 SS + ES
if the word ends with the
letters “SS” add “ES” to make it plural
Eg:
Class - Classes
Glass - Glasses
Moss - Mosses
Truss - Trusses
6 US+ ES
If the word ends with the
letters “US” add “ES” to make it plural
Eg:
Bus - Buses
Virus - Viruses
The other examples are Apparatus,
Cactus, Hippopotamus, Octopus, Syllabus
7 X + ES
If the word ends with a
letter “X” add “ES”
Eg:
Box - Boxes
Tax - Taxes
The other examples are Apex,
Appendix, Fox, Index, Matrix, Prefix, Shopping complex, Suffix
8 Y + S
If the given word ends with
a letter “Y” add “S”.
Eg:
Boy - Boys
Day - Days
Key - Keys
Toy - Toys
Donkey – Donkeys
Monkey – Monkeys
Till now we saw what are the
letters help to make the Singular word into Plural by adding to the root word.
Now we are going to see the
letters which are going to replace the end letter of the root word to make it
Plural.
1 UM - A
If the given word ends with
the letters “UM” replace them with the letter “A”
Eg:
Datum - Data
Medium – Media
The other examples are Addendum,
Bacterium, Curriculum, Dictum, Memorandum, Ovum,
Stadium,
Stratum
2 ON - A
If any word ends with “ON”
replace them with the letter “A”
Eg:
Criterion – Criteria
Phenomenon – Phenomena
3 US - I
Eg:
Focus - Foci
Fungus – Fungi
Radius - Radii
The other examples are Alumnus,
Bacillus, Nucleus, Stimulus, Terminus
4 FE - VES
Eg:
Knife - Knives
Life - Lives
Wife - Wives
5 F - VES
Eg:
Calf - Calves
Leaf - Leaves
Thief - Thieves
The other examples are Elf,
Half, Loaf, Proof, Scarf , Shelf, Wolf
6 Y - IES
Eg:
Baby - Babies
City - Cities
Lady - Ladies
The other examples are Company,
Copy, Country, Dairy, Daisy, Diary, Enemy, Injury, Industry, Lorry, Penny, Spy,
Story, Surgery, etc…
7 IS - ES
Eg:
Basis = Bases
Crisis = Crises
The other examples are Diagnosis,
Ellipsis, Oasis, Paralysis, Premises, Synopsis, Synthesis, Thesis
8 OUSE –ICE
Eg:
Louse - Lice
Mouse – Mice
9 OO - EE
Eg:
Foot - Feet
Goose - Geese
Tooth - Teeth
Child = Children
Bureau = Bureaux/Bureaus
Ox = Oxen
Man = Men
Woman = Women
Person = People
This = These
That = Those
Spoonful = Spoonfuls
Son-in-law = Sons-in-law
Daughter-in-law = Daughters-in-law
Father-in-law = Fathers-in-law
Mother-in-law = Mothers-in-law
Brother-in-law = Brothers-in-law
Sister-in-law = Sisters-in-law
Governor general = Governors
general
Man of war = Men of war
Passer by = Passers by
Inspector general = Inspectors
general
Dining Room = Dining
rooms
Man servant = Men
servants
Woman student = Women
students
Words which are similar in
Singular and Plural:
Advice, Bison, Bourgeois, Corps,
Deer, Education, Environment, Furniture, Grammar, Hair, Information, Innings,
Knowledge, Luggage, Means, Moose, News, People, Poetry, Police, Poultry,
Scenery, Scissors, Series, Sheep, Shorts, Species, Sugar, Swine, Thunder,
Wheat, You .