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Plural Nouns: Definition, Rules, Examples, Usage, Worksheet

Plural Nouns:  Most singular nouns are made plural Nouns by just putting an – s toward the end. There are various principles of pluralization based on the fact of what letter a noun closes in. Irregular nouns don’t observe plural thing guidelines, so they should be retained or looked into in the word reference.

Plural Nouns Definition

The word plural is characterized as ‘connecting with or comprising a class of syntactic structures typically used to signify multiple or in certain dialects more than two’ and ‘connecting with, comprising of, or containing multiple or more than one kind or class’, as per the Merriam-Webster dictionary. So a noun that comprises or connects with beyond what one individual, spot or thing can be characterized as a plural noun.

Plural Nouns Rules

There are numerous plural noun rules, and because we use nouns so regularly while composing, knowing every one of them is significant! The right spelling of plurals as a rule relies upon what letter the singular noun closes in.

  1. To make regular nouns plural, add ‑s to the end.
  • cat – cats
  • house – houses

2 If the singular noun ends in ‑s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, or -z, add ‑es to the end to make it plural.

  • truss – trusses
  • bus – buses
  • marsh – marshes
  • lunch – lunches
  • tax – taxes
  • blitz – blitzes
  1. In some cases, singular nouns ending in -s or -z, require that you double the -s or -z prior to adding the -es for pluralization.
  • fez – fezzes
  • gas –gasses (note that gases is also an acceptable, and more commonly used, spelling of this plural noun)

4 If the noun ends with ‑f or ‑fe, the f is often changed to ‑ve before adding the -s to form the plural version.

  • wife – wives
  • wolf – wolves

Exceptions:

  • roof – roofs
  • belief – beliefs
  • chef – chefs
  • chief – chiefs
  1. If a singular noun ends in ‑y and the letter before the -y is a consonant, change the ending to ‑ies to make the noun plural.
  • city – cities
  • puppy – puppies
  1. If the singular noun ends in -y and the letter before the -y is a vowel, simply add an -s to make it plural.
  • ray – rays
  • boy – boys
  1. If the singular noun ends in ‑o, add ‑es to make it plural.
  • potato – potatoes
  • tomato – tomatoes

Exceptions:

  • photo – photos
  • piano – pianos
  • halo – halos

With the unique word volcano, you can apply the standard pluralization for words that end in -o or not. It’s your choice! Both of the following are correct:

  • volcanoes
  • Volcanos
  1. If the singular noun ends in ‑us, the plural ending is frequently ‑i.
  • cactus – cacti
  • focus – foci
  1. If the singular noun ends in ‑is, the plural ending is ‑es.
  • analysis – analyses
  • ellipsis – ellipses
  1. If the singular noun ends in ‑on, the plural ending is ‑a.
  • phenomenon – phenomena
  • criterion – criteria
  1. Some nouns don’t change at all when they’re pluralized.
  • sheep – sheep
  • series – series
  • species – species
  • deer –deer

You need to see these nouns in context to identify them as singular or plural. Consider the following sentence:

Example: Mark caught one fish, but I caught three fish.

However, when it comes to fish, things can get a little complicated.

Plural Noun And Tense Forms

S. No. Tense Plural Form
1 Simple Present Tense
These cars are wonderful.
All the broken doors are fixed.
2 Present Continuous Tense
The children are playing cricket in front of our house.
The teachers are attending a meeting now.
3 Present Perfect Tense
The students have been asked to submit their assignments before 9 a.m. on Tuesday.
The dogs from the street have been rescued and put in adoption centres.
4 Present Perfect Continuous Tense
The college students have been waiting for an industrial visit for so many months now.
All the employees have been doing the job really well.
5 Simple Past Tense
The teachers were late for class.
The meetings for the day were cancelled due to the commotion in the building.
6 Past Continuous Tense
All the residents were being evacuated.
The rivers in the area were overflowing due to the heavy rainfall yesterday.
7 Past Perfect Tense (remains the same for singular and plural nouns)
The police had been on the hunt for these robbers for a month now.
The shops had been closed because of the protest.
8 Past Perfect Continuous Tense (remains the same for singular and plural nouns)
The people had been waiting for this for so many years.
The scientists had been working day and night to find a cure for COVID – 19.
9 Simple Future Tense (remains the same for singular and plural nouns)
The meteors will hit the Earth’s surface.
These birds will migrate to the North during the Summer.
10 Future Continuous Tense
(remains the same for singular and plural nouns)
The singers will be performing at a live concert next week.
The accessories for the event will be arriving on Tuesday.
11 Future Perfect Tense
(remains the same for singular and plural nouns)
The politicians will have taken their oaths by this time tomorrow.
The newspapers will have circulated by the time you decide what to do with this article.
12 Future Perfect Continuous Tense
(remains the same for singular and plural nouns)
This Thursday, we will have been living in New York for a year.
On this annual day, the children will have been performing this piece for the tenth time.

Plural Nouns Examples

Plural Noun Examples in Subject-Verb Agreement

While utilizing plural nouns, take care to change the action word appropriately so the sentences don’t look grammatically mistaken. The action words structures utilized alongside a plural noun incorporate, are (straightforward current state), were (basic past tense), are+verb+ing, were+verb+ing, have+past participle, have+been+past participle, will+have+verb+ing and will+have+past participle.

Examples:

  • None of the students has completed their homework. (Group of people)
  • All the rescued animals have been returned to their natural habitats safely. (Group of different animals)
  • The textbooks and notebooks are kept on the shelves. (Objects)
  • All schools in the city are shut down due to the political protests carried out in and around the city.

Plural Nouns List

More singular nouns with their plural forms are listed below.

Singular nouns Plural nouns
analysis analyses
status status/statuses
moose moose
crisis crises
fish fish / fishes
series series
appendix
appendixes / appendices
Mr. / Mr / Mister
Misters / Messrs. / Messrs
sheep sheep
bus
buses / US also busses
formula
formulae / formulas
life lives
apparatus apparatuses
deer deer
ox oxen
focus focuses / foci
basis bases
platypus platypuses
cactus cacti / cactuses
sheep sheep
analysis analyses
woman women
equipment equipment
dice dice
leaf leaves
life lives
phenomenon phenomena
staff staff
alumnus alumni
genius geniuses
radius radii / radiuses
staff staff
alumnus alumni
software software
data data
addendum addenda
virus viruses
synopsis synopses
mongoose mongooses
genus genera
formula
formulae / formulas
roof roofs
phenomenon phenomena
medium
media / mediums
business businesses
datum data
chassis chassis
crisis crises
hero heroes
axis axes

Plural Nouns Worksheet

If you already read the article to this part, now it is time to test your knowledge. Try to answer the plural forms of the following words and at last match your answer with the sheet.

Plural Nouns

 

Plural Nouns Worksheet

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FAQs

What is the most typical approach to make a noun plural?

Most singular nouns take the -s ending to become plural.

Why is it vital to learn how do you make plural nouns?

Not just because we need to talk about one and many, but also because the singular and plural forms of nouns are vital. Additionally, they are significant because of the subject-verb agreement rule, which dictates that the verb in a sentence depend on the grammatical number of the noun that serves as the sentence's subject.

Do all nouns have a plural form?

Not every noun has a plural form.

Why is it crucial to understand how singular and plural nouns differ?

The difference between the two tenses must be understood or shared properties in nouns will go unrecognised.

Does a plural noun follow each other?

When there is a number before the noun, every can be followed by a plural noun.

Which nouns are singular only?

Uncountable nouns, on the other hand, cannot be counted. They only exist in their singular form; you cannot add a s to make them plural.

How would you define plural?

A plural noun is the form of a noun used to show there are more than one. Most nouns can be made plural by simply adding -s or -es to the end.

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