THE NOUN - NUMBER

(1.Singular Number, 2.Plural Number)

Definition :

Numbers are often used before nouns to tell you exactly how many people or things there are.

Numbers are adjectives, too. They tell us how many people, animals, or things there are. Sometimes they are called adjectives of quantity.

e.g.

I have two childrens		We bought three books
two princes	seven elves	sixteen snails
one giant	a hundred	many more

1. Singular Number :

Definition :

A noun that denotes only ONE person or thing is said to be in the SINGULAR NUMBER.

e.g.

Book

Basis

Index

2. Plural Number :

Definition :

A noun that denotes MORE THAN ONE person or thing is said to be in the PLURAL NUMBER.

e.g.

Books

Bases

Indices

Formation of Plurals

The usual construction of plural nouns from singular nouns is to add -s to the end of a word.

e.g.

Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Bird	Birds	Boy	Boys
Dog	Dogs	Chair	Chairs
Cat	Cats	Table	Tables
Cow	Cows	Desk	Desks

Nouns ending in -s, -sh, -ch, -o, -x, or -z form the plural by adding -es to the singular; as,

e.g.

Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Bus	Buses	Match	Matches
Brush	Brushes	Tax	Taxes
Mango	Mangoes	Hero	Heroes
Buzz	Buzzes	Kis	Kisses

A few nouns ending in -o merely add -s; as,

e.g.

Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Dynamo	Dynamos	Piano	Pianos
Ratio	Ratios	Memento	Mementos
Photo	Photos	Stereo	Siereos
Logo	Logos	Canto	Cantos
video	videos	zoo	zoos
kangaroo	kangaroos	hippo	hippos

Nouns ending in -y, preceded by a consonant, form their plural by changing –y into –i and adding –es,

e.g.

Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
City	Cities	Duty	Duties
Baby	Babies	Lady	Ladies
Army	Armies	Story	Stories

Nouns ending in -y, preceded by a vowels, form their plural by adding –s to the singular,

e.g.

Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Boy	Boys	Day	Days
Monkey	Monkeys	Key	Keys
Toy	Toys	Way	Ways

Nouns ending in -f or -fe form their plural by changing -for -fe into v and adding -es ; as,

e.g.

Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Calf	Calves	Thief	Thieves
Leafe	Leaves	Knife	Knives
Self	Selves	Wife	Wives

some nouns that end in f are made plural simply by adding s.

e.g.

Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
chief	chiefs	handkerchief	handkerchiefs
roof	roofs	cliff	cliffs

Some nouns that end in f can be made plural in two ways.

e.g.

Singular	Plural	Plural
scarf	scarfs	scarves
hoof	hoofs	hooves
wharf	wharfs	wharves
dwarf	dwarfs	dwarves

Irregular nouns :

A few nouns form their plural by changing the inside vowel of the singlar; as,

e.g.

Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Man	Men	Thief	Thieves
Woman	Women	Tooth	Theeth
Analysis	Analyses	Goose	Geese

A few nous form their plural by adding –en to singular: as

e.g.

Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Ox	Oxen	Child	children

Some nouns have the singular and the plural alike.

e.g.

Sheep	Deer	Swine	Cod
Trout	salmon	aircraft	spacecraft
Series	species	pair	score
Hundred	thousand (when used after numerals)	gross

Some nouns are used only in the plural.

These nouns are always plural.

e.g.

Scissors	Spectacles	Tongs	Trousers
Drawers	Draughts	Jeans	pyjamas
Mumps	Measles	Billiards	Assets
thanks	tidings	aims	riches
shorts	pants	binoculars	scissors

Some nouns are used commonly in Singular.

The following nouns look plural but are in fact singular

e.g.

Civics	Maths	News	Physics
electronics	measles	billiards	Politics

Certain collective Nouns though singular in form, are always used as plurals: as

e.g.

poultry

cattle

people

gentry

Some nouns given different meaning when they are in singular and plural.

e.g.

Singular	Meaning	Plural	Meaning
Air	Gas around us	Airs	unnatural manners
Good	Fine, nice	Goods	Luggage
Copper	a kind of metal	Coppers	police men
Wood	Timber	Woods	forest
Compass	Range	Compasses	an instrument for drawing circles
Respect	Regard	Respects	Compliments
Physic	medicine	Physics	natural science
Force	strength	Forces	troops

The plural form for numbers and letters is made by adding apostrophe and s.

e.g.

do’s and don’ts

Two 2’s are four