English Plural
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When we talk about "singular" we are talking about one thing (one man, one apple, one bicycle). When we talk about "plural", we are talking about more than one thing (2 men, 4 apples, 6 bicycles).
How to Form the Regular Plural
The regular plural in English is very simple. The rule is to add an "s" at the end of the noun.Examples:
singer - singers pig - pigs mug - mugs apple - apples bill - bills
(First, read the article about the exceptions, then go to "Exercises")
Plural Forms - Exceptions
For some nouns, there are certain exceptions.
1. The Plural Ending "-ves"
This ending is used for nouns with the following two endings:
vowel + f
vowel + fe
To form the plural, "-f" or "-fe" is replaced with "-ves".
Examples:
leaf - leaves life - lives loaf - loaves
hoof - hooves shelf - shelves
Some exceptions to the rule are:
roof - roofs safe - safes
2. The Plural Ending "-es"
This plural is used for words that end with a hissing sound (ch, sh, s, x, z). Instead of a simple "s", the ending "-es" is attached to the end of the noun.
Examples:
pouch - pouches lash - lashes tax - taxes
coach - coaches bus - buses
3. The Plural Ending "-oes"
This plural is used for many nouns with the ending consonant + o.
Examples:
halo haloes silo - siloes motto - mottoes
Some exceptions to the rule are:
photo - photos piano - pianos radio - radios
4. The Plural Ending "-ies"
When a noun ends with "y", the "y" is replaced with "-ies" to form the plural.
Examples:
puppy - puppies French fry - French fries supply - supplies
city - cities fly - flies observatory - observatories
5. Plural = Singular
Some nouns look the same no matter whether we are talking about one or many of them.
Examples:
sheep fruit information fish
moose carp salmon
We saw all the salmon swim against the stream.
Dried fruit are a great healthy snack.
6. No Singular
Some words only exist in plural form, even though we are talking about a single thing. Mostly, these are grammatically treated as plural words within a sentence.
Examples:
savings
The Smiths used up their savings to travel around the world.
glasses
I gave Tom his glasses so he could read to me.
7. Plural Words Behaving Like Singular Words
Some plural words behave like singular words. Although the noun is plural, the verb acts as if it was singular.
Examples:
The United States
The United States has not commented on the matter yet.
Darts
Darts is a difficult game, but Mike loves it.
Robotics
Robotics was the only thing Ken was interested in.
8. Irregular Plural Forms
As usual, some nouns simply refuse to follow any of these rules.
Examples:
man - men woman -women child - children
person - people tooth - teeth goose - geese
mouse - mice datum - data crisis - crises
focus - foci
English Plural