Singular and Plural Nouns

Singular and Plural Nouns

Notes On Generalizations For Spelling/Forming Plural Nouns.

Singular vs. Plural A singular noun names one person, place, thing, or idea.

• One cat, one store, one item A plural noun names two or more persons, places, things, or ideas. • Two cats, four stores, fifteen items

Generalizations for forming plural

nouns:

1. For most singular nouns, add s.

Singular teacher street pencil book elephant

Plural teachers streets pencils books elephants

Generalizations for forming plural

nouns:

2. For nouns ending with s, x, z, sh, or ch, add es.

Singular gas wax waltz dish church

Plural gases waxes waltzes dishes churches

Generalizations for forming plural

nouns:

3. For nouns ending with a consonant and y, change the y to i and add es. For nouns ending with a vowel and y, add s.

Singular sky army penny boy alley

Plural skies armies pennies boys alleys

Generalizations for forming plural

nouns:

4. For some nouns ending with f or fe, add s. For others, change the f to v and add s or es. (You will need to memorize the spellings for such words or look them up in a dictionary to check.

Singular belief roof loaf life knife

Plural beliefs roofs loaves lives knives

Generalizations for forming plural

nouns:

These are a little more tricky . . .

5. For nouns that end with o, add s or es. (Again, you would need to memorize the spellings of such words or look them up in a dictionary to double-check.) —One trick to remember: if it has to do with sound (“music”), just add s.—Ex: cello. piano, radio

Singular cello piano

Plural cellos pianos

radio zoo potato / tomato

radios zoos potatoes / tomatoes

Generalizations for forming plural

nouns:

6. Some nouns have irregular plural forms. You will have to memorize the spelling for irregular plurals. Singular

Plural

child

children

foot

feet

tooth

teeth

mouse

mice

man / woman

men / women

Generalizations for forming plural

nouns:

7. A few nouns have the same singular and plural forms. Singular

Plural

sheep Chinese moose grapefruit

sheep Chinese moose grapefruit

deer salmon

deer salmon

Generalizations for forming plural

nouns:

8. A few nouns have only plural forms.

Plural scissors jeans

savings dues

Generalizations for forming plural

nouns:

9. A few nouns that end with s look plural but are considered singular.

Singular measles news economics dues

Generalizations for forming plural

nouns:

Compound Nouns 10. For most compound nouns, make the most important word plural.

•

For a compound noun written as one word, make the last part plural.

•

For a compound noun written with hyphens or as separate words, make the key word plural.

Generalizations for forming plural

nouns:

One word compound nouns

Separate words Hyphenated compound nouns

Singular

Plural

billboard cupful campground

billboards cupfuls campgrounds

maid of honor

maids of honor

attorney-at-law step-brother Great-grandma

attorneys-at-law step-brothers Great-grandmas

Generalizations for forming plural

nouns:

11. Letters, numbers, symbols, and words used as words are made plural by adding an apostrophe (‘) and s. Singular

Plural

# A 25 and

#’s A’s 25’s and’s

& ABC & 123

&’s ABC’s & 123’s

Using a Dictionary: Nouns that are made plural in other ways besides just adding -s or -es can be looked up in a dictionary to check the correct spelling. Sample Dictionary entries:

dic-tion-ar-y (dik’ she ner’ e), n., pl. –aries, a book containing words of a language, usually arranged alphabetically, with their meanings, pronunciations, etymologies, etc. en-try (en’ tre), n., pl. -tries. 1. entrance. 2. the act of recording something in a book, register, etc. 3. the item so recorded. 4. a person or thing entered in a contest. 5. a word, phrase, etc. listed alphabetically in a dictionary or reference book, usually with its definition or explanation.

Multiple Choice Which 2 words correctly complete these sentences? We bought a pair of _____ and some _____ at the yard sale.

A.

ski . . . dishes

B.

skis . . . dishs

C.

skies . . . dish

D.

skis . . . dishes

CORRECT! We bought a pair of _skis_ and some _dishes_ at the yard sale.

Multiple Choice One of her _______ is studying _______ in the wild.

A.

hobbys . . . monkeyes

B.

hobbyes . . . monkies

C.

hobbies . . . monkeys

D.

hobbys. . . monkees

CORRECT! One of her _hobbies_ is studying _monkeys_ in the wild.

Multiple Choice A team of ______ pulled a wagon with three _______ inside.

A.

ox . . . woman

B.

oxen . . . women

C.

oxes . . . women

D.

oxens . . . womans

CORRECT! A team of _oxen_ pulled a wagon with three _women_ inside.

Multiple Choice Near the campsite they saw two _______ and several ________.

A.

deer . . . moose

B.

deers . . . moose

C.

deers . . . mooses

D.

deer . . . meese

CORRECT! Near the campsite they saw two _deer_ and several _moose_.

Newspaper Nouns Use a newspaper or magazine article for this activity: •In the article, find at least 25 singular nouns. Circle them with a colored pencil. •On your own paper, make a T-chart. . . on the left side write “Singular” and write “Plural” on the right side of the T-chart.

•List the singular nouns you found in the article on the left side of the T-chart, then write the correct plural form of each on the right side.

Scoring Guide:

You should find at least 25 singular nouns. Each of the plural nouns formed correctly from these 25 singular nouns is worth 4 points, for a total of 100. Opportunity for BONUS points: For every 5 additional singular nouns you identify, list, and form the plural of correctly, you can earn one bonus point.—up to a maximum of 5 bonus points (i.e. it takes 25 additional singular nouns correctly made plural to earn all 5 bonus points—but you can do it!!!)

Scoring Guide: 4 points each = total points 100

100% = 25 singular nouns identified and listed with plural form spelled correctly. 96% = 24 singular nouns identified and listed with plural form spelled correctly. 92% = 23 singular nouns identified and listed with plural form spelled correctly. Etc.

Grading:

A = 90-100%, B = 80-89%, C = 70-79%, D = 60-69%, F = Below 60%