Nouns

Regular and Irregular Plural Nouns
(a) song - songs	The plural of most nouns is formed by adding final -s.
(b) box - boxes	Final -se is added to nouns that emd in -sh, -ch, -s, -z, -x
(c) baby - babies	The plural of words that end in a consonant + -y is spelled -ies.
(d) man - men woman - women child - children ox - oxen foot - feet goose - geese man - men woman - women child - children	The nouns in (d) have irregular plural forms that do not end in -s.
(e) echo - echos hero - heroes potato - potatoes tomato - tomatoes	Some nouns that end in -o add -es to form the plural
(f) auto - autos gheto- ghetos kangaroo - kangaroos kilo - kilos memo - memos photo - photos piano - pianos radio - radios solo - solos soprano - sopranos studio - studios tattoo - tattoos video - videos zoo - zoos	Some nouns that end in -o. add only -s to form plural
(g) memento - mementoes / mementos mosquito - mosquitoes / mosquitos tornado - toenadoes / tornados volcano - volcanoes / volcanos memo - zeroes / zeros	Some nouns that end in -o.either -es / -s to form the plural (with -es being the more usual plural form).
(h) calf - calves half - halves knife - knives leaf - leaves life - lives loaf - loaves self - selves shelf - shelves thief - thieves wolf - wolves scarf - scarves / scarfs	Some nouns that end in -f or -fe are changed to -ves
(i) belief - beliefs chief - chiefs cliff - cliffs roof - roofs	Some nouns that end in -f simply add -s to form the plural.
(j) one deer - two deer one fish - two fish one means - two means one offspring - two offspring one series - two series one sheep - two sheep one shrimp - two shrimp one species - two species	Some nouns have the same singular and plural form. One deer is ... Two deer are ...
(k) criterion - criteria phenomenan - phenomena (l) bacterium - bacteria curriculum - currecula datum - data medium - media memorandum - memoranda (m) analysis - analyses basis - bases crisis - srises hypothesis - hypotheses parenthesis - parentheses thsis - theses	Some nouns that English has borrowed from other languages have foreign plurals In (l), the singular forms . datum and medium are not commonly used. The plural form data and media are used informally for both singular and plural.

Click on Start quiz to begin. A word will appear above the table. Add it to the appropriate list by clicking on the box in the table where you think it should go. Repeat until you've sorted all the words.

 

 

-s	-es	-ves	NO CHANGE

Match each singular noun with its plural. Write the correct letter in the box.

1.	Bacterium			a	Bases
2.	Criterion			b	Phenomena
3.	Phenomenon			c	Curricula
4.	Curriculum			d	Hypotheses
5.	Datum			e	Crises
6.	Medium			f	Criteria
7.	Analysis			g	Parentheses
8.	Basis			h	Media
9.	Crisis			i	Bacteria
10.	Hypothesis			j	Data
11.	Parenthesis			k	Analyses
12.	Thesis			l	Thesis

Nouns as Adjectives
(a) The soup has vegetables in it. It is vegetable soup. (b) The building has offices in it. It is an office building.	When a noun is used as an adjective, it is in its singular form. INCORRECT: vegetables soup. NOTE: Adjectives do not take a final -s INCORRECT: beautifuls picture.
(c) The test lasted two hours. It was a two-hour test. (d) Her son is five years old. She has a five-year-old son.	When a noun used as a modifier is combined with a number expression, the noun is singular and a hyphen (-) is used. INCORRECT: She has a five years- old son.

Complete the sentences with the words in italics. Include a hyphen (-) as necessary.

1.	They sell shoes at that store. It is a store.
2.	My garden has flowers in it. It is a garden.
3.	This soup is madefrom black beans. It is a black soup.
4.	People can buy special food in small jars for babies. It is called food.
5.	Dr. Adams is a psychologist for children. She is a psychologist.
6.	At a formal dinner, there are usually two forks on the table. The smaller fork is for salad. It is a fork.
7.	In tropical climates, sometimes it is necessary to hang a net over a bed to protect the sleeper from mosquitos / mosquitos. It is called a net.
8.	The plane was late. We had a two-hour wait. We waited for .
9.	My brother is ten years old. I have a brother.
10.	Arm and dog are three-letter words. Each word has .

Possessive Nouns
Singular Noun	Possessive Form	Explanation
(a) the girl (b) Tom (c) my wife (d) a lady (e) Thomas	the girl's coat Tom's coat my wife's coat a lady's coat Thomas's / Thomas' coat	To express possesseion - the idea of belonging to someone or something, add an apostrophe (') and -s to a singular noun: The girl's coat is in the closet.
		Note in (e): If a singular noun ends in -s, there are two possible forms: Add an apostrophe and s : Thomas's coat. Add only an apostrophe: Thomas' coat.
Plural Noun	Possessive Form	Explanation
(f) the girls (g) their wives (h) the ladies (i) the man (j) my children	the girls' coat their wives' coat the ladies' coat the men's coat my children's coat	Add only an apostrophe to a plural noun that ends in s: The girls' coats are in the closet. Add an apostrophe (') and -s to a plural noun that do not end in -s: The men's coat is in the closet.
(k) Alan and Lisa's apartment is on the third floor. (l) Tom's and Joe's apartments are on the second floor.		Note the apostrophe usage in (k) and (l): In (k), only the final name has an apostrophe. The apartment belongs to both Alan and Lisa. In (l), Tom and Joe have different apartmens. Both names have apostrophes.

Complete the sentences. Use the possessive form of the nouns in italics.

1.	The (boy) names are George and Liam.
2.	The (boy) name is Paul.
3.	The (children) toys are all over the floor.
4.	I fixed the (child) bike and he rode away.
5.	The (baby) baby's toys fell on the floor. She wants them.
6.	The (baby) toys fell on the floor. They want them.
7.	(Bess) last name is Young.
8.	(Mrs. Thomas) husband does the dinner dishes when she cooks.
9.	We went to (Jack and Larry) house for dinner.