Singular and plural nouns
grammar rules

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Singular and plural nouns

Grammar rules with examples.

Singular and plural nouns

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

Plural only 1 + Plural only 2

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

Video tutorial

  • 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.

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