Lesson 1: Singular and Plural Nouns

It’s a common fact that singular nouns form into the plural by adding the letter -s.

List a couple of examples to show the students the difference between singular and plural.

(train --> trains), (house --> houses), (horse --> horses), (car --> cars), (plane --> planes)

-A singular noun ending in s, x, z, ch, sh makes itself plural by adding -es. (box à boxes),

(bench -> benches), (ash -> ashes), (bus -> buses), (buzz -> buzzes)

-A singular noun ending in a consonant and then y makes the noun plural by dropping the ‘y’ and adding ‘-ies.’

(baby -> babies), (cherry -> cherries), (candy -> candies), (party -> parties)

-There are some irregular noun plurals that don’t have a specific rule of usage but which come up every now and then.

(woman -> women), (man -> men), (mouse -> mice), (half -> halves)

-Some nouns have the same form in both the singular form and the plural form, and don’t make any changes in their structure.

(deer, sheep, fish, aircraft)

-Some nouns have a plural form but only take a singular verb form.

(news --> Have you seen the news report today?), (sports --> The sports team has had a lot of success on the field lately), billiards --> (Billiards is a popular game all over the world.)

-Some nouns have a fixed plural form and take a plural verb. They are not used in the singular, or they don’t have a different meaning in the singular.

Plural nouns like these include: trousers, jeans, glasses, savings, thanks, steps, stairs, customs, congratulations, tropics, wages, spectacles, outskirts, goods, wits