Nouns in the English language can be classified as singular or plural depending on how many there are. A noun is a simple word that describes a person, place, people and things. Continue reading this blog to learn more about plural nouns, including definitions, and how to use them with examples and explanations.
Nouns in the plural are used to denote the existence of more than one individual, animal, location, thing, or idea. Once you know what to look for, distinguishing between singular and plural nouns is straightforward. Here, we examine singular and plural nouns and provide both singular and plural noun examples to aid in your understanding of plural nouns.
What are Singular and Plural nouns?
To understand how to use the noun and at what place, firstly you need to understand the meaning and explanation of Singular and Plural nouns. Understanding nouns will help you in framing good English sentences, as it is a part of English Grammer rules to abide by.
Plural Noun
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definitions of the word plural include “relating to or constituting a class of grammatical forms usually used to denote more than one or more than one items, place, animals, things or ideas.” Therefore, a noun can be referred to as a plural noun if it refers to or includes more than one individual, location, or object.
Example – The boys were throwing pebbles in the river.
Singular Noun
A singular noun has the same definition as a noun in general. A singular noun is defined as “a word that refers to a person, place, thing, event, substance, or quality” by the Cambridge Dictionary. According to the Collins Dictionary, a noun is a term that is used to refer to a person or thing which is denoted as an individual.
Example – The boy was throwing a pebble in the river.
Here, both examples are different. The first sentence is talking about a group of boys which is plural whereas, the second sentence is talking about a single boy which is singular.
How to change the singular noun to a plural noun
A common noun can be turned plural by adding an “s,” “e,” “ies,” or “ve.” Some common nouns maintain their identity in both solitary and plural versions. Some other plural nouns do not fit into any other categories. We refer to them as irregular nouns. Moreover, by changing the spelling of these common nouns or by adding a suffix to the base word, they can be rendered plural.
Adding ‘s’
Firstly, most nouns can be changed from singular to plural by simply adding an ‘s’. The majority of the things you can notice if you glance about your current environment are presumably nouns that can be completed with just an “s.”
Example – Dog – dogs or Table – Tables
Adding ‘es’
When the sentence ends in a buzzing or hissing sound, it is replaced by ‘es’. The ‘es’ is generally added at the end of a sentence to mark it plural. You can also use es when a sentence ends with an ‘o’.
Example – Box – Boxes or Bus – Buses or Mango – Mangoes
Adding ‘ves’
When a singular noun is ending with an ‘f’ or ‘fe’ it is replaced with ‘ves’ to make it plural. Understand it with an example.
Example – Wolf – wolves or wife – Wives
Adding ‘ies’
When a singular noun is ending with a ‘y’ it is replaced with ‘ies’ to make it a plural noun. Understand it with an example.
Example – City – Cities or Puppy – Puppies
Adding ‘i’
At last, when a sentence or a noun is ending with an ‘us’, they are replaced with an ‘i’ to make it plural. Understand it with an example.
Example – Syllabus – Syllabi or Fungus – Fungi
Rule to use Plural Noun in Sentences
Using plural nouns properly is a great and major step in writing a sentence grammatically correct. The different forms of verbs and tenses are used with different forms of nouns. To change a singular sentence to plural you need to make adjustments in the tense as well as the verb. Most importantly, the verbs used in plural form are –
- are (simple present tense),
- were (simple 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 –
- All the rescued & safe animals have been returned to their home place safely. (Group of different animals)
- The textbooks and notebooks are kept properly cleaned on the table. (Objects)
- All schools in the city are shut down due to the new Covid-19 viruses spreading around the city.
Importance of Singular and Plural Noun
When writing or speaking about one and many, it’s crucial to use the singular and plural forms of nouns. They are also crucial as the verb in a sentence depends on the number of nouns in the subject of the sentence. This idea explains these nouns’ definitions with clear examples and how to use them in sentences.
- Helps to frame a good sentence
- The sentence appears grammatically correct
- The sentences are understandable and easy to read
- Finally, the students will learn the English language thoroughly
Conclusion
In this blog, you must have read about the rules for plural nouns and how to utilize them. Moreover, reading is not enough to learn about Grammar, you need continuous practice. Unfortunately, some nouns, as mentioned in the article, stray from the norm, which we will enlist in our other blog. It is preferable if you made every effort to learn them and use this theory. Also, you must practice quizzes and free online worksheets to learn English grammar thoroughly. You can also use the grammar checker to know if the sentence you have written is grammatically correct or not.
