Singular and plural nouns
Grammar rules with examples.
We normally make the plural by adding -s to the and of a noun (car - cars, window - windows). There are, however, a lot of exceptions to this rule.
boss - bosses, baby - babies, potato - potatoes, knife - knives, datum - data
Singular and plural with different meanings 1
Singular and plural with different meanings 2
Different plural forms can sometimes have different meanings.
indexes = tables of contents / indices = collections of information in alphabetical order
brothers = siblings / brethren = members of the same comunity
Some singular forms can have different meanings than plural forms.
arm = part of human body / arms = weapons
content = amount of a substance / contents = everything that is contained within something
wood = material / woods = small forest
Singular only 1 + Singular only 2
Some nouns are only used in a singular form and the plural does not exist.
information, happines, damage, homework, advice, mathematics, fireworks
Other nouns are only used in a plural form and the singular does not exist.
clothes, scissors, headphones, earnings, outskirts, belongings
Irregular plural 1 + Irregular plural 2
Most plural nouns are formed by -s ending. There are, however, a lot of English nouns that have irregular plural forms.
life - lives, syllabus - syllabi, hero - heroes, crisis - crises, bacterium - bacteria, foot - feet
- A 14-minute video by a British teacher explaining the difference between singular and plural nouns (for intemediate learners of English).
Exercises on singular and plural nouns:
Singular and plural nouns exercises
- PDF worksheets to download
- online exercises with answers
See also:
English nouns Countable and uncountable nouns, compound nouns, proper nouns and group nouns.