🎓Core English
LESSON 4
Singular and Plural Nouns
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Singular and plural nouns, including irregular plural nouns, is lesson 4 of the core English learning path.
Single and Plural Nouns
If you want to figure out if a noun is singular or plural, then a
- singular noun talks about only one thing like saying “one cat” or “a book”, whereas the
- plural noun talks about more than one thing like saying “many cats” or “some books”.
Irregular Plural Nouns
Plural Nouns
When there is more than one of an item, a noun, then there is a plural form of the nouns. Here are some examples:
- Flower
- Boat
- Woman
- City
- Umbrella
- Address
- Knife
- Sandwich
- Family
- Foot
- Potato
- Holiday
- Flowers
- Boats
- Women
- Cities
- Umbrellas
- Addresses
- Knifes
- Sandwiches
- Families
- Feet
- Potatoes
- Holidays
Regular Nouns
Most nouns add –s when there is more than one, e.g. one elephant, two elephants
- one flower, two flowers
- one week, two weeks
- one place, two places
- one pot, two pots
Irregular Nouns
- Single: leaf, child, fungus, mouse, sheep
- Plural: leaves, children, fungi, mice, sheep
Irregular nouns do not just add -s, and there are several, irregular forms of the plural nouns.
- one person, two people
- one sheep – two sheep
- one deer – two deer
- one fish – two fish
- one dozen – two dozen
- one series – two series
- one species – two species
- one headquarters – two headquarters
- one crossroads – two crossroads
- A man – men
- A woman – women
- A child – children
- An ox – oxen
- A mouse – mice
- A louse – lice
- A foot – feet
- A tooth – teeth
- A goose – geese
–f to-ves
leaf, loaf, calf -> leaves, loaves, calves
–en
child, ox -> children, oxen
base plurals
sheep, fish, bison -> sheep, fish, bison
vowel changes
foot, woman, man, tooth, goose, mouse, louse
feet, women, men, teeth, geese, mice, lice
foreign plurals
Greek
- is->es, thesis – > theses
- on->a, criterion, criteria
Latin – fungus, cactus -> fungi, cacti
- a->ae, larva-> larvae (larvas)
- us–> I, fungus-> fungi (funguses)
- um->a, datum-> data
- ex->ices, index-> indices (indexes)
Plural Nouns Exercise #1
Enter the plural nouns to describe the pictures
- 0 – boxes
- 1 – ______
- 2 – ______
- 3 – ______
- 4 – ______
- 5 – ______
- 6 – ______
- 7 – ______
- 8 – ______
- 9 – ______
- 10 – ______
- 11 – ______
Plural Nouns Exercise #2
Which of these terms is a correct plural noun (Y- yes) and which of these are incorrect (N- no) ?
- knives – Y
- matchs – N
- countries
- wishes
- wives
- mans
- tooths
- citys
- potatoes
- tomatos
- potatos
- mice
- matches
- cities
- teeth
- mouses
- countrys
- knifes
- wishs
- men
- familys
- wifes
- tomatoes
- families
Countable and Uncountable Nouns
Source: https://thisbugslife.com/2015/08/30/countable-and-uncountable/
see more about countable and uncountable nouns
Conversation Practice
Pre-Conversation Vocabulary:
- Countable nouns: apple, sandwich, cookie, burger, salad
- Uncountable nouns: water, coffee, juice, tea, rice
- Classifiers: a bottle of, a cup of, a slice of, a glass of, a piece of
- student #1 say sentences for Student A
- student #2 say sentences for Student B
- practice the conversation
coffee shop
Student A: Hi, I would like to order, please.
Student B: Sure! What would you like?
Student A: Can I have a cup of coffee and a slice of cake?
Student B: Anything else?
Student A: Yes, I’d like a bottle of water too.
Student B: Great, and for me, I will have a sandwich and a glass of juice.
Student A: Would you like a cookie with that?
Student B: No, thanks. That will be all.
restaurant
Student A: Let’s look at the menu. What do you feel like eating?
Student B: I think I’ll have some rice and a salad.
Student A: That sounds good. I might get a burger and a piece of pie.
Student B: Are you going to have a drink with that?
Student A: Yes, I’ll have a glass of water. What about you?
Student B: I’ll have a cup of tea.