Plural Nouns and Their Formation

Study Notes

Plural Nouns

Plural nouns represent more than one person, place, thing, or idea.
Most plural nouns end in "s" or "es".
Irregular plural nouns have unique plural forms (e.g., child – children).

Forming Plural Nouns

Regular Plurals: Add "s" to the singular noun (book – books, method – methods).
Plural Nouns Ending in Consonant + "y": Change "y" to "ies" (theory – theories, supply – supplies).
Plural Nouns Ending in "s", "ss", "sh", "ch", "x", or "z": Add "es" (bus – buses, boss – bosses, lunch – lunches).
Plural Nouns Ending in "z": Double the "z" and add "es" (quiz – quizzes).
Plural Nouns Ending in "f" or "fe": Often change "f" or "fe" to "ves" (knife – knives, thief – thieves). Exceptions exist (roof – roofs, belief - beliefs, chef – chefs, chief – chiefs).
Plural Nouns Ending in "o": Add "es" (potato – potatoes, tomato – tomatoes). Exceptions exist (photo – photos, piano – pianos, halo – halos).
Unchanged Plurals: Some nouns remain the same in the plural form (sheep – sheep, series – series, deer – deer, aircraft – aircraft, algebra – algebra, speech – speech, research – research).
Irregular Plurals: Certain nouns have irregular plural forms (man – men, woman – women, child – children, tooth – teeth, foot – feet, mouse – mice).

Articles

Use "a" or "an" before meals, days, and months (e.g., "I had lunch with my friend").
Use "a" or "an" before "next" or "last" + days, weeks, months, etc (e.g., "See you next Friday").
Use "a" or "an" before continents, cities, or countries (e.g., "He went to Africa and visited Botswana, Swaziland and Zambia").

Description

This quiz covers the rules for forming plural nouns in English, including regular and irregular forms. Learn how to correctly change singular nouns ending in various letters to their plural counterparts. Test your knowledge on specific examples and exceptions!