Nouns

Compound nouns: plurals

noun+noun in one word
last part of the compound noun
policemen
noun (expressing a measure ending in-ful)
last part of the compound noun
spoonfuls
noun expressing a measure, a price, a quantity
no plural ending
15-minute break
noun+noun in two words hyphenated or not
last part of the compound noun
bus drivers
verb+noun
on the noun
swimming pools
preposition or adverbial particle+noun in one word
on the noun
bystanders
noun+preposition or adverb particle
first part of the compound noun
fathers-in-law
verb+preposition in one word or in two hyphenate words
on the preposition
takeovers
Execption: first part in a compound noun can be man, women, gentleman (both parts
become plural)
menservants, gentlemen farmers women teachers exception: man-eaters, woman
haters
execption: when the first part of the compound noun describe the second part, only the
second part become plural in form
bus drivers, gas-meters, deputy-sheriffs
exception: courts material, notaries public (the first noun is plural, as the second part
of the compound describes the first part)
the second part of a compound noun describes the first part , only the first part
becomes plural in form: commanders-in-chief, brothers-in-law
Nouns: irregular plurals
different form in the plural
child: children
die:dice
foot:feet
goose:geese
louse:lice
man:men
mouse:mice
ox:oxen
tooth:teeth
woman:women
same singular and plurals
fish
salmon
sheep
deer
chinese
singular form but used as plurals nouns
people,police,vermin
no singular forms and always used with plural verbs ending in s
names of clothes, tools, or instruments having two legs or side that work together
scissors, glasses, jeans
 different other nouns
ggoods,troops,stairs,thanks, congrats
plural form but used with a singular verb ending in s
names of some games
darts,bowls, billards
names of some diseases
measles,mumps
names of a science, subject, study or a form of art or craft
economics, physics, mathematics
name of a concept
news
no plural form and are alwyas used with singular verbs
food
butter, flour, honey,meat, rice, sugar
liquid and gases
air, oxygen, smoke, smog, water, milk, gasoline
materials and equipment
steel, gold, silver, cement, machinery, equipment, furniture, baggage, clothing,
luggage
natural phenomena
electricity, matter, space, dirt, dust, mud, rust
sports and games
baseball, chess, soccer
weather words
fog, rain, wind, thunder, lightning
Gerunds (-ing verbs used as a nouns)
acting, running, housing, marketing, smiling
abstractions and personal feelings
anger, beauty, charm, diplomacy, goodness...
academic fields
biology, chemistery, geology
other collective nouns
homework, housework, work*, mail, money, music, scenery, stationery, traffic
languages
Arabic, English, Spanish
singular form as a non count noun and a plural form as a count noun
some non-count things
chocolate, cloth, fire, hair, iron, light, sight, sound, speech, time
some abstractions
difficulty, duty, experience, honour
some collective nouns take a singular verb
group or class of people viewed as a singular unit
audience, class, club, committee, crowd, family, faculty, gang, gobernment, nation,
party(political) , staff, team, workforce, army, navy, police
execption: kinds of fish usually have one form for both singular and plural
when meaning nations, people=peoples
collective nouns can also be plural with a plural verb, when they refer to several example
of - something
the government politics were always changing
when work is a count noun, it has the plural-s ending
the works of shakespeare
Regular plurals
General rule (ending : S)
count nouns
cars
family names
the Jacksons
letters
VIPs
numbers
 1990's
Count nouns ending in
ch,s,ss,sh
ending:es
kisses
f,fe
ending:ves
leaves
ff
ending:s
puffs
o after a consonant
ending:es
tomatoes
o after a vowel
ending:s
radios
x,zz
ending:es
boxes
y after a consonant
ending:ies
families
y after a vowel
ending:s
toys
Count nouns adopted from others languages ending in
a
larvae
ex,ix
indices
is
crises
on
phenomena
um
maxima
Exceptions: stimulus, cumulus, corpus, genus
ending: a,i
stmuli, genera
eskimo, kilo,kimono,piano,photo
ending:s
antenna, formula, pizza, jacaranda
enfind:s
Note: an apostrophe is added before the s for plurals of lowercase letters and numbers
expressed as single digits