Singular and Plural Nouns

What Are Singular and Plural Nouns?

In English, a singular noun names one person, place, thing, or idea (e.g., book, child, city). A plural noun names more than one (e.g., books, children, cities). Knowing how plurals are formed helps you choose the right spelling and the right verb form.

Below you’ll find the most useful rules, clear examples, and common pitfalls—so you can feel confident before you start the exercises.

Quick Rules at a Glance

• Most nouns add -s: book → books, car → cars.
• Add -es after ch, sh, s, x, z: bus → buses, box → boxes, church → churches, quiz → quizzes.
• Consonant + y: change y to -ies: city → cities, baby → babies. (Vowel + y just add -s: day → days.)
• Many words ending in -f/-fe become -ves: leaf → leaves, knife → knives. (Common exceptions: roof → roofs, chief → chiefs.)
• Words ending in -o: often add -es (tomato → tomatoes, hero → heroes), but many take just -s (piano → pianos, photo → photos).
• Some plurals are irregular: man → men, child → children, mouse → mice.
• Some nouns don’t change in the plural: sheep, deer, aircraft, species.
• Some nouns are usually plural-only: scissors, jeans, binoculars (a pair of scissors for one).
• Uncountable nouns stay singular: advice, information, furniture, news (→ the news is).

Spelling Rules with Clear Examples

Compound Nouns

With compounds, pluralize the main noun:

• mother-in-law → mothers-in-law
• editor-in-chief → editors-in-chief
• passerby → passersby

Collective Nouns (team, family, class)

Collective nouns can take singular or plural verbs depending on meaning:

• Singular when the group acts as one unit: The team is winning.
• Plural when members act individually (more common in UK English): The team are arguing.

Countable vs. Uncountable (for Quantifiers)

• Use many / few / fewer with countable plurals: many books, few errors, fewer cars.
• Use much / little / less with uncountables: much information, little time, less noise.
• A lot of / lots of work with both: a lot of apples / a lot of water.

Singular-Only and Plural-Only Nouns

• Singular-only (uncountable): advice, information, luggage, furniture, homework, news (The furniture is new.)
• Plural-only: scissors, trousers, jeans, glasses, thanks, belongings (These trousers are new.)
• Use a pair of for one item of plural-only objects: a pair of scissors, a pair of jeans.

Tricky Usage Notes

• Data and media: plural in formal/scientific writing (the data are), but often treated as singular in everyday English (the media is).
• Criteria and phenomena are plural; the singular forms are criterion and phenomenon.
• Don’t confuse plurals with possessives: 2000s (decade) vs. 2000’s (possessive or contraction).
• Its (possessive) vs. it’s (it is / it has): not related to plurals.

Watch the Verb!

Match verb number to the noun that truly controls it:

• The list of items is on the desk. (list is singular, even though items is plural.)
• The items on the list are important.

Mini Check (Warm-Up)

Change each noun to its correct plural: leaf, hero, city, bus, child, photo. (Answers: leaves, heroes, cities, buses, children, photos.)

Now Try the Exercises

Ready to practice? Work through the exercises below to test your understanding. If you get stuck, come back to this guide and review the rule that fits your example.