Rule for singular and plural:
Subject Verb Agreement
1)Singular noun agrees with singular verb.
eg: The boy flies a kite.
2)Plural noun agrees with plural verb.
eg :The boys fly kites.
3) Some nouns look singular but can be plural.
The sheep is actually a wolf in disguise.
The sheep are actually wolves in disguise.
(other examples include: fish, furniture, deer,aircraft)
3) Some nouns take singular verbs.
eg: The information is exclusive.
The air is quite pure in the villages.
4)Some nouns always take a plural verb.
Eg : The spectacles are perched on the man's nose.
(other examples include: shorts, pants, goggles, biceps, news, goods, scissors, shears)
5) Uncountable nouns take singular verbs.
Flour is used for baking cake.
Her hair has a reddish tint.
Making singular words plural.
1. Most nouns become plural when 's' is added at the end.
Dog- Dogs
Bell- Bells
Bottle- Bottles
Nail- Nails
2. Nouns ending in s, x, z, ch or sh become plural when 'es' is added
Dress-Dresses
Fox- Foxes
Fuzz- Fuzzes
3. Some nouns ending in 'o' take 'es'
Potato- Potatoes
Echo- Echoes
4.Some nouns ending in 'f' take 'v' in its place and add 'es'
Thief- Thieves
Half- Halves
4. Some words ending in f become plural on the addition of ‘s’.
Roof- Roofs
5. Words ending in ‘y’ become plural on the addition of ‘ies’.
Booty- Booties
Penny- Pennies
Spy- Spies
6. Some nouns do not change form when singular or when plural.
Deer- Deer
Furniture- Furniture
Sheep- Sheep
Fish – Fish
7. Other nouns change their form completely.
Louse- Lice
Person- People
Goose- Geese
8. Some nouns of foreign origin ending in ‘a’ become plural when ‘e’ is added.
Formula- Formulae
Antenna- Antennae
9. Some nouns of foreign origin ending in ‘um’ or ‘ion’ become plural when ‘a’ is added instead.
Bacterium- Bacteria
Datum- Data
Curriculum- Curricula
Criterion- Criteria
10. Some nouns of foreign origin ending in ‘us’ become plural when ‘i’ is added in instead.
Syllabus- Syllabi
Alumnus- Alumni
Answered by Sandhya Raghavan | 12 Aug, 2014, 12:15: PM
Expert Answer
