Reading VI:

Pluralization of Regular Nouns

Name:___________________________________________

I. Objective: Use the plural form of regular nouns in sentences

II. Discussion
A noun can be recognized by its singular and plural forms. Singular nouns name one person,
animal, place, or thing. Plural nouns name more than one person, animal, place, or thing.
Most regular nouns form their plural by adding -s or -es to their singular form.

Read and study the rules for making the plural form of nouns.

Rule 1 Add -s to most nouns.

Examples: Singular Plural
disease diseases
plant plants
planet planets

Rule 2 If a noun ends in s, sh, ch, x, or z, add -es.

Examples: Singular Plural
gas gases
dish dishes
fox foxes
beach beaches

Rule 3 If a noun ends in consonant y, change y to i and add -es.

Examples: Singular Plural
activity activities
bunny bunnies
story stories
baby babies

Rule 4 If a noun ends in y but preceded by a vowel, add -s.

Examples: Singular Plural
keys keys
tray trays
monkey monkeys

For some nouns ending in for fe, add -S;

Rule 5
for others, change for fe to v and add -es.
Examples: Singular Plural Singular Plural
reef reefs leaf leaves
belief beliefs loaf loaves
chief chiefs calf calves
 Rule 5 For some nouns ending in f or fe, add -s;
for others, change f or fe to v and add -es.
Examples: Singular Plural Singular Plural
roof roofs self selves
cliff cliffs knife knives
handkerchief handkerchiefs life lives

For most nouns ending in -o, add -s.

Rule 6
Examples: Singular Plural Singular Plural
piano pianos solo solos
photo photos gazebo gazebos

For nouns with a vowel before the final -o, just add -s
Examples: Singular Plural
zoo zoos
radio radios
studio studios
embryo embryos

There are common nouns ending in -o that are always spelled with -es in the plural.
Examples: Singular Plural
tomato tomatoes
hero heroes
domino dominoes
potato potatoes

There are common nouns ending in -o that are always spelled with -es in the plural.
Singular Plural
cargo cargos or cargoes
volcano volcanos or volcanoes
mango mangos or mangoes
zero zeros or zeroes
tornado tornados or tornadoes
flamingo flamingo or flamingoes
motto mottos or mottoes
avocado avocados or avocadoes
echo echos
mosquito mosquitos

Rule 7 The following nouns are always in the plural form.

Examples: scissors tongs

trousers shears
tweezers
 Rule 8 Some nouns are always singular in form.
news mathematics ethics

Rule 9 Compound words form their plural by adding -s or -es to the important words in the
compound
Examples: Singular Plural
son-in-law sons-in-law
maid of honor maids of honor
teacher-in-charge teachers-in-charge

III. Application

A. Give the plural form of each noun. Write your answer on the line.

1. beach ___________________________14. echo _________________________

2. trousers ___________________________14. piano _________________________

3. potato ___________________________15. glass _________________________

4. fly ___________________________16. goose _________________________

5. wax ___________________________17. shelf _________________________

6. brush ___________________________18. turkey _________________________

7. roof ___________________________19. Roy _________________________

8. pitch ___________________________20. belief _________________________

9. life ___________________________21. sheaf _________________________

10. penny ___________________________22. mouse _________________________

11. person ___________________________23. foot _________________________

12. deer ___________________________24. species _________________________

13. half ___________________________25. Chinese_________________________

B. Complete each sentence. Fill in the blank/s with the plural form of the noun/s in parentheses.
(Spaniard) 1. Before the ________________________ arrived here, women were
highly respected and revered.

(mother, home) 2-3. ___________________ were considered “light of the

__________________.”

(chore) 4. They took care of all household ___________________.

(teacher) 5. They were the first ________________________.

(treasure, box) 6-7. As wives, they were in charge of the family ________________
which were often secured in gilded______________.

(priestess) 8. Some women served as good ________________________.

(bamboo) 9. They were likened to ________________________ because they were

able to adjust well to their environment.

(member) 10. When walking together with family ________________________,

women came first while men followed.

C. Write the plural form of each noun and use it in your own sentence.
Given Plural Form Sentence
binoculars

editor-in-chief

plateau

cheese

cargo

potato

news

statistics

handkerchief
B. Write the plural form of these nouns.

Singular Plural Singular Plural

magazine wish

ranch attorney

ally elf

belief embryo

torpedo solo