5-1 Singular & Plural Nouns

Josh has 1 daughter.
Peter has 2 daughters.

Singular Nouns

A / An = 1 thing or person

A

a before b / c / d / f / g / h / j / k / l / m / n / p / q / r / s / t / v / w / x / y / z

• I have a brother.
• John is a manager.
• Susan is a nice person.

An

an before a / e / i / o / u

• Geoff is an accountant.
• He drives an expensive car.
• She works in an office.

• See you in an hour!

• There's a university in this city.

Plural Nouns

...s

Add an s if there are 2 or more of a noun:

• bicycles
• photos
• dogs
• jobs
• streets
• brothers
• teams

...es

Add es if the noun is plural and ends with ...s / ...sh / ...ch / ...x

• addresses
• glasses
• buses
• beaches
• boxes

...ies

If a noun is plural and ends with ...y, change the y to ies

• country → countries
• nationality → nationalities
• baby → babies
• university → universities
• city → cities

...ves

If a noun is plural and ends with ...f or ...fe, change the f / fe to ves

• knife → knives
• wife → wives
• leaf → leaves
• shelf → shelves

Special Nouns

Some plural nouns do not end with an s:

• tooth → teeth
• foot → feet
• child → children
• person → people
• man → men
• woman → women

Verbs

If a noun is singular, it needs a singular verb. Use a plural verb if the noun is plural:

• Students studies study English in the school.
• Six construction workers is are working on the building.
• My sister are is playing video games.
• My dog always sleep sleeps.