четвртак, 31. октобар 2013.

PLURAL OF NOUNS

Most nouns make their plurals by simply adding –s to the end 
  • cat/cats, 
  • book/books, 
  • journey/journeys.
Nouns ending in -y
If the noun ends with a consonant plus -y, make the plural by changing -y to -ies:
singular
plural
berry
berries
activity
activities
daisy
daisies
Nouns ending in -ch, -s, -sh, -x, or -z
If the noun ends with -ch-s-sh-x, or -z, add -es to form the plural:
singular
plural
church
churches
bus
buses
fox
foxes
There’s one exception to this rule. If the -ch ending is pronounced with a ‘k’ sound, you add -s rather than -es:
singular
plural
stomach
stomachs
epoch
epochs
Nouns ending in -f or -fe
With nouns that end in a consonant or a single vowel plus -f or -fe, change the -f or -fe to -ves:
singular
plural
knife
knives
half
halves
Nouns ending in -o
Nouns ending in -o can add either -s or -es in the plural, and some can be spelled either way.
  •  As a general rule, most nouns ending in -o add -s to make the plural:
singular
plural
solo
solos
zero
zeros
avocado
avocados
  •  Those which have a vowel before the final -o always just add -s:
singular
plural
studio
studios
zoo
zoos
embryo
embryos
  • Here’s a list of the most common nouns ending in -o that are always spelled with -es in the plural:
singular
plural
buffalo
buffaloes
domino
dominoes
echo
echoes
embargo
embargoes
hero
heroes
mosquito
mosquitoes
potato
potatoes
tomato
tomatoes
torpedo
torpedoes
veto
vetoes
  • Here are some of the common nouns ending in -o that can be spelled with either -s or -es in the plural:
singular
plural
banjo
banjos or banjoes
cargo
cargos or cargoes
flamingo
flamingos or flamingoes
fresco
frescos or frescoes
ghetto
ghettos or ghettoes
halo
halos or haloes
mango
mangos or mangoes
memento
mementos or mementoes
motto
mottos or mottoes
tornado
tornados or tornadoes
volcano
volcanos or volcanoes
Some nouns have identical singular and plural. Many of these are the names of animals:
fish  sheep   deer
duck  bison   buffalo
moose  pike  salmon
trout  plankton   squid
swine  aircraft  spacecraft

Different forms of singular and plural

singular
plural
man
men
woman
women /wimin/
child
children
ox
oxen
mouse
mice
louse
lice
goose
geese
foot
feet
tooth
teeth
die
dice*
penny
pence**
* die – dice (in the context of gaming, where dice is also often used as the singular; and also in the semiconductor industry. Otherwise dies is used.)

** penny – pence (in the context of an amount of money in Britain). The 1p or 1-cent coins are called penniesPence is abbreviated p 

FOREIGN PLURALS

singular
plural
analysis
analyses
appendix
appendices/appendixes
axis
axes
basis
bases
cactus
cactuses / cacti
criterion
criteria
datum
data
diagnosis
diagnoses
index
indexes/indices
medium
mediums/media
oasis
oases
phenomenon
phenomena
octopus
octopuses/octopi
syllabus
syllabuses/syllabi
thesis
theses
For more information about different plural forms, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_plurals

Additional exercises http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/agreesum.html

NOUNS

A noun is a word that identifies:
  • a person (woman, boy, doctor, neighbour)
  • a thing (dog, building, tree, country)
  • an idea, quality, or state (truth, danger, birth, happiness).

There are several different types of noun, as follows:

Common noun

A common noun is a noun that refers to people or things in general, e.g. boy, country, bridge, city, birth, day, happiness.


Proper noun

A proper noun is a name that identifies a particular person, place, or thing, e.g. Steven, Africa, Tower Bridge, London, Monday. In written English, proper nouns begin with capital letters.


Concrete noun

A concrete noun is a noun which refers to people and to things that exist physically and can be seen, touched, smelled, heard, or tasted. Examples include dog, building, tree, rain, beach, tune, Tower Bridge.


Abstract noun

An abstract noun is a noun which refers to ideas, qualities, and conditions - things that cannot be seen or touched and things which have no physical reality, e.g. truth, danger, happiness, time, friendship, humour.


Collective nouns

Collective nouns refer to groups of people or things, e.g. audience, family, government, team, jury. Collective nouns can usually be treated as singular or plural, with either a singular or plural verb. Both the following sentences are grammatically correct:

The whole family was at the table.
The whole family were at the table.


Most collective nouns can be treated as singular or plural, with either a singular or plural verb:

The whole family was at the table. [singular verb]
The whole family were at the table. [plural verb]

There are a few collective nouns which are always used with a plural verb, the commonest of which are police and people:

She’s happy with the way the police have handled the case.
X She’s happy with the way the police has handled the case.

If you aren’t sure whether to use a singular or a plural verb with a collective noun, look it up. Most dictionaries will tell you which is correct.


A noun may belong to more than one category. For example, happiness is both a common noun and an abstract noun, while Tower Bridge is both a concrete noun and a proper noun.

Whatsapp Abbreviations

find out more: https://grammarvocab.com/short-forms-of-words-used-in-whatsapp/