Number of Nouns:
Number of Nouns: Nouns can be either SINGULAR (one) or PLURAL
(more than one). Below are some common rules for making nouns plural.
Adding “s” When the “s” sound can be conveniently attached without
making an additional syllable, “s” only is used: boy, boy-s; girl, girl-s ;
lion, lion-s; elephant, elephant-s.
Adding “es” But when the “s” sound cannot be conveniently attached
without making an additional syllable, “es” is used: fox, fox-es;
church, church-es.
When “ch” is sounded as a hard “k”, “s” only is added:
monarch, monarch-s.
Words that end in “o”
“o” with plural “oes” Examples: buffalo = buffaloes, domino = dominoes,
echo = echoes, hero = heroes, potato = potatoes, tornado = tornadoes.
“o” with plural “os” Examples: embryo = embryos, solo = solos,
portfolio = portfolios, bravo = bravos.
It should be observed that those which take a plural in “os” are mostly
foreign words.
Nouns ending in “f”, “fe”, and “ if” These as a general rule change the
“f” into “v” before the plural ending: leaf, leaves; wife, wives; wolf, wolves.
But nouns ending in “ ief”, “oof”, “ff”, or “rf”, usually take simple “s”:
brief, briefs; chief, chiefs; grief, griefs.
Nouns ending in “y” If the final “y” not immediately preceded by a vowel
it is changed into “ies”: lady, ladies; country, countries.
Nouns ending in “y” But when a vowel immediately precedes the “y”, the
“y” remains unchanged: boy, boys; day, days; chimney, chimneys.
Change in the body of the word: man, men; woman, women; foot, feet;
goose, geese; tooth, teeth.
Plurals in “n” or “en” ox, oxen; child, children.
The plural the same as the singular sheep, sheep; deer, deer; swine,
swine. series, series
Irregular vs. Regular Nouns: Regular nouns are nouns that form their
plurals by adding either “s” or “es.” Irregular nouns make their plural by
doing anything else.
Compound Nouns Some difficulty is presented by a few compound words.
When the last element is an Adjective, describing a preceding Noun, the
plural sign is usually attached to the noun: as: court-martial, courts-martial;
knight-errant, knights-errant.
But when two nouns are united, the last noun usually takes the plural,
major-generals.
In modern English study, we sometimes say to make the “most important”
word plural; such as: sister-in-law = sisters-in- law.
Nouns That Stay Single in Form. Some nouns, owing to the nature of their
meaning, are used only in the singular number. Such are the names of
materials or substances: wine water, oxygen, gold, silver; and of qualities :
bravery, hardness, wit, humor.
Nouns used only in the Plural Form Names of many common instruments
which have two parts forming a kind of pair: bellows, scissors, pincers,
shears, tongs, spectacles.
Names of certain articles of dress formed in a similar manner: trousers,
drawers, breeches.
Names of diseases and ailments, showing themselves by many marks or
symptoms: measles, mumps.
Names of games: billiards.
Nouns from Foreign Languages: A number of nouns 'borrowed from
foreign languages without change, retain their proper plurals.
Examples: formula = formulae, radius = radii, datum = data, parenthesis =
parentheses, vertex = vertices, cherub = cherubim.
- --------------------------------------------- Making Nouns Possessive
Possession shows ownership. There are three ways to make a noun
possessive.
*You must first look at the noun and ask: “Is the noun singular or plural?”
If the noun is singular then you add an apostrophe then an “s” (‘s) to the
end of it. (This applies to ALL singular nouns.) Example: dog = dog’s,
child = child’s, Mrs. Janes = Mrs. Janes’s
If the noun is plural you need to look at the last letter of the word.
If the last letter is an “s”, you just add an apostrophe (‘) on the end of the
word. Example: marbles = marbles’, students = students’.
If the last letter is not an “s”, you should add an apostrophe and then an “s”
(‘s) on the end of the word. Example: children = children’s,
oxen = oxen’s.
Compound Words: You should look at the last word only. If it is singular,
add an (‘s) to the end of it. If it is plural, use the two options stated above.
Example: sisters-in-law = sisters-in-law’s.
Separate and Joint Possession
Separate possession means that two or more people own things
independently. Each owner should get their own form of possession:
Example: Janice and Maria compositions were both awarded first place.
In this sentence you can tell that Janice had a composition and Maria had
one also. (The verb is also a clue.) Each of the owners should be made
possessive.
Janice’s and Maria’s compositions were both awarded first place.
Joint possession means that two or more people are sharing things jointly.
Example: Jim and Mary market sells cheese and crackers.
In this sentence you can tell that Jim and Mary share one market together.
In this case, you should only make the second noun possessive.
Jim and Mary’s market sells cheese and crackers.
- ----------------------------------------------