SINGULAR AND PLURAL NOUNS

REGULAR NOUNS
Most singular nouns form the plural by adding -s.

EXAMPLES

Singular Plural

boat boats

house houses

cat cats

river rivers

A singular noun ending in s, x, z, ch, sh makes the plural by adding-es.

EXAMPLES

Singular Plural

bus buses

wish wishes

pitch pitches

box boxes

A singular noun ending in a consonant and then y makes the plural by dropping the y and adding-ies.
EXAMPLES

Singular Plural

penny pennies

spy spies

baby babies

city cities

daisy daisies

IRREGULAR NOUNS
There are some irregular noun plurals. The most common ones are listed below.

EXAMPLES

Singular Plural

woman women

man men

child children

tooth teeth

foot feet

person people
Singular Plural

leaf leaves

mouse mice

goose geese

half halves

knife knives

wife wives

life lives

elf elves

loaf loaves

potato potatoes

tomato tomatoes

cactus cacti

focus foci

fungus fungi
 Singular Plural

nucleus nuclei

syllabus syllabi/syllabuses

analysis analyses

diagnosis diagnoses

oasis oases

thesis theses

crisis crises

phenomenon phenomena

criterion criteria

datum data

Some nouns have the same form in the singular and the plural.

EXAMPLES

Singular Plural

sheep sheep
 Singular Plural

fish fish

deer deer

species species

aircraft aircraft

IRREGULAR VERB/NOUN AGREEMENT

Some nouns have a plural form but take a singular verb.

Plural nouns used with a singular verb Sentence

news The news is at 6.30 p.m.

athletics Athletics is good for young people.

linguistics Linguistics is the study of language.

darts Darts is a popular game in England.

billiards Billiards is played all over the world.

Some nouns have a fixed plural form and take a plural verb. They are not used in the singular, or they
have a different meaning in the singular. Nouns like this include: trousers, jeans, glasses, savings,
thanks, steps, stairs, customs, congratulations, tropics, wages, spectacles, outskirts, goods, wits
 Plural noun with plural verb Sentence

trousers My trousers are too tight.

jeans Her jeans are black.

glasses Those glasses are his.

Nouns used only in the singular

Some nouns are used only in the singular, even though they end in -s. These include:
the names of academic subjects such as classics, economics, mathematics/maths,
physics; the physical activities gymnastics and aerobics; the
diseases measles and mumps; and the word news:

Maths was never my best subject at school.

Aerobics is great fun – you should try it!

 
Nouns used only in the plural

Some nouns only have a plural form. They cannot be used with numbers. They include
the names of certain tools, instruments and articles of clothing which have two parts.

Tools and instruments

binoculars headphones sunglasses

glasses scissors tweezers

Clothing

jeans pyjamas tights

 knickers shorts trousers

pants

I’ve got new sunglasses. Do you like them?

He always wears shorts, even in the winter.

A pair of

We can use pair of to refer to one example of these nouns:

I bought a new pair of binoculars last week.

That old pair of trousers will be useful for doing jobs in the garden.

We use pairs of to refer to more than one example of this type of noun:

They’re advertising two pairs of glasses for the price of one.

I bought three pairs of shorts for the summer.

Other nouns which are always plural in form

belongings outskirts

clothes premises (buildings)

congratulations savings (money)

earnings stairs

goods surroundings

likes/dislikes thanks

Please ensure that you take all your belongings with you as you leave the aircraft.
They live on the outskirts of Frankfurt, almost in the countryside.

My clothes are wet. I’ll have to go upstairs and change.

She spent all her savings on a trip to South America.

 
Collective nouns (group words)

Some nouns refer to groups of people (e.g. audience, committee, government, team).

These are sometimes called collective nouns. Some collective nouns can take a
singular or plural verb, depending on whether they are considered as a single unit or as
a collection of individuals:

audience crew public

committee enemy team

company government Manchester United

Compare

seen as a single unit seen as individuals

The audience was larger than average

The audience were all cheering wildly.
and the concert was a success.

The government is hoping that online The government are all very nervous

voting will attract more young people about the report, which will be
to vote. published tomorrow.

Manchester United are looking
Manchester United is the world’s most
forward to meeting Valencia in the
famous football club.
final next week.

In general, a plural verb is more common with these nouns in informal situations.