Grammar: Nouns – Singular and Plural

 

1. Objective

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

• Understand what a noun is.
• Identify singular and plural nouns.
• Form the plural of regular and some irregular nouns.
• Use singular and plural nouns correctly in sentences.

2. Explanation

What is a noun?
A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea.

Examples:

• Person: teacher, doctor, Ali
• Place: school, park, market
• Thing: book, pen, table
• Idea: love, happiness, courage

3. Singular and Plural Nouns

• Singular noun: Names one person, place, thing, or idea.
• Examples: cat, book, apple, child
• Plural noun: Names more than one person, place, thing, or idea.
• Examples: cats, books, apples, children

4. How to form plural nouns

A. Regular nouns

1.     Add -s to most nouns:

o    cat → cats

o    pen → pens

2.     Add -es to nouns ending in s, x, z, ch, sh:

o    bus → buses

o    box → boxes

o    watch → watches

o    dish → dishes

3.     Change -y to -ies if a noun ends with a consonant + y:

o    baby → babies

o    city → cities

4.     Change -f or -fe to -ves for some nouns:

o    leaf → leaves

o    knife → knives

B. Irregular nouns
Some nouns do not follow regular rules:

• child → children
• man → men
• woman → women
• tooth → teeth
• foot → feet
• mouse → mice

5. Examples in Sentences

1.     Singular: The cat is sleeping.
Plural: The cats are sleeping.

2.     Singular: I have one book.
Plural: I have three books.

3.     Singular: A child is playing.
Plural: The children are playing.

6. Exercises

Exercise 1: Change the singular nouns to plural.

1.     dog → ______

2.     box → ______

3.     baby → ______

4.     leaf → ______

5.     man → ______

Exercise 2: Fill in the blanks with the correct singular or plural noun.

1.     I see two ______ (cat/cats) in the garden.

2.     She has one ______ (book/books) on her desk.

3.     The ______ (child/children) are playing football.

4.     There are many ______ (dish/dishes) on the table.

5.     A ______ (mouse/mice) is in the kitchen.

Exercise 3: Circle the correct form of the noun.

1.     The (pen/pens) are on the desk.

2.     We saw three (fox/foxes) in the forest.

3.     I bought two (knife/knives) for the kitchen.

4.     The (woman/women) are singing.

5.     The (city/cities) are very big.

7. Answers

Exercise 1:

1.     dogs

2.     boxes

3.     babies

4.     leaves

5.     men

Exercise 2:

1.     cats

2.     book

3.     children

4.     dishes

5.     mouse

Exercise 3:

1.     pens

2.     foxes

3.     knives

4.     women

5.     cities