Angela has taught middle and high school English, Business English and Speech for nine years. She has a bachelor's degree in psychology and has earned her teaching license.
Nouns are perhaps the most used part of speech in the English language. Each sentence we use usually has multiple nouns. A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing or idea. For example, dog, chair, mailman, and hallway are all nouns.
A singular noun is any noun that names a single object. The examples above are all singular nouns. A plural noun names two or more objects. Examples of plural nouns include flowers, boxes, children, and hands. When you change a singular noun into a plural noun, there are some vital rules you must follow in order to use correct spelling. Let's look at those rules.
For most nouns there is one simple rule to follow: add the letter -s to the end of a singular noun. From the examples given earlier in this lesson, the word dog will become dogs in the plural form, and chair will become chairs. Here are some other examples:
There are many words that, either for phonetic reasons or spelling reasons, it is not realistic to just add -s to the end of a word to make it plural. For some words, you must add an -es. Many words that end with -s, -sh, -ss, -z, -x, or -ch, need to have -es added at the end to make them plural nouns. For example, the singular word class becomes classes. Take a look at these additional examples:
In addition to those endings, some words that end with the letter -o also add an -es. For example, tomato becomes tomatoes, echo becomes echoes and potato becomes potatoes. However, this is not the rule for all words ending with -o. Some words only add an -s. The word zero becomes zeros, zoo becomes zoos, and solo becomes solos. For these words, you just have to learn which ones follow which rule.
Another rule for nouns with specific endings is for words that end with the letter -y. For these nouns, change the y to an i and add -es. Here are some examples of this rule:
However, note that not all nouns ending with -y follow this rule. For example, the word hallway ends with a vowel before the letter -y, so you do not have to change the -y. You simply add an -s to make it hallways. Additional examples of this are as follows:
Lastly, nouns that end with an -f or -fe must also change their spelling. For these words, change the -f or -fe to a -v and then add -es. So shelf becomes shelves, calf becomes calves, and knife becomes knives.
It is important to note that when learning the mechanics of the English language, there are always exceptions to each rule. The same goes for rules for plural nouns. In general, follow these spelling changes, but there are some words that do not follow these rules. When in doubt, check the spelling in a dictionary.
Lastly, there are some words that don't follow any rules at all. These are irregular nouns. For example, some nouns do not add an -s or any other letters; instead, they stay exactly the same. Words like fish, moose, deer and buffalo all stay the same in the plural form. The context of the sentence is the only way to know if they are plural or singular.
Other irregular nouns change the spelling in unpredictable ways. For example, the singular goose becomes geese in the plural form. Mouse changes to mice. For these types of nouns, you have to memorize the irregular spellings. Here are a few more examples:
To review, a noun is a part of speech that names a person, place, thing, or idea. Nouns can either be singular or plural. In the plural form, the spelling sometimes changes.
The main rule to follow is to add the letter -s to the end of the noun. However, nouns that end in -s, -sh, -ss, -z, -x, -ch, and sometimes -o need to have an -es added at the end to make them plural. Another rule to follow is for nouns that end in -y; change the y to an i and then add -es. Also, for nouns that end in -f or -fe, change the f or -fe to a v and add -es.
Lastly, there are some irregular nouns that don't follow these rules. Some nouns don't change spelling at all, and use the singular spelling interchangeably with the plural, like the word moose. Others have unpredictable spelling patterns, such as the word child changing to children.
Remember, these are the general rules for changing a singular noun to a plural one, but there are exceptions to every rule. If you ever doubt the spelling, always consult a dictionary.
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Common Core ELA Grade 7 - Language: Standards11 chapters | 81 lessons
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