SINGULAR AND PLURAL NOUNS

Most nouns in English are regular and countable. To make them plural we add -s to the end.

e.g.	a book /some books a house / eight houses

Articles a/an are only used with singular nouns.

Uncountable nouns do not usually take a plural form.

e.g. happiness, water, money, furniture

Plural nouns with no article are usually used to make general statements.

e.g. Snakes can be dangerous.

Some nouns have two very different words for the singular and the plural.

e.g.	a tooth/ several teeth a child /some children

Some nouns are the same whether they are singular or plural.

e.g.	a sheep / five sheep An aircraft / several aircraft

Some nouns have alternative plurals:

e.g.	a fish / two fish or fishes a person / two persons or people

Some nouns have a plural but no singular.

e.g. clothes, contents, earnings, goods, riches, savings, thanks

N.B These nouns take a plural verb

e.g.	The contents are labelled on the jar. His savings were wiped out in the crash.

Some nouns look plural but are, in fact, singular.

e.g. athletics, gymnastics, mathematics, measles, news, politics

N.B These nouns take a singular verb

e.g.	The number of schoolchildren with measles is increasing. Politics is boring!

Some nouns are either plural or singular.

e.g. headquarters, means, works (= factory/workshop, etc.)

N.B The verb can be either singular or plural

e.g.	Their headquarters are situated in central Hong Kong. Their headquarters is situated in central Hong Kong.

A collective noun describes a group of nouns referring to the same thing:

e.g. army, Arsenal, audience, class, club, committee, company, crowd, group,

N.B We use a singular verb if we think of the group as one whole or a plural if we think of the individuals.

e.g.	Arsenal is playing well today. Arsenal are a mixed bunch of players.

N.B Some groups, however, are always plural.

e.g.	The police are coming!

When we have a noun phrase of measurement, we use a singular verb.

e.g.	Twenty kilos is the maximum weight for suitcases. Six feet six inches is tall for a man.

When we talk about a pair of things, the verb is singular.

e.g. That pair of glasses is broken.

N.B When we do not use 'a pair of' , the verb is plural.

e.g.	Your jeans are ripped.

Click here for a short 10-question interactive quiz

Links

This website gives a self-check quiz using academic text
http://buckhoff.topcities.com/Singularpluralnouns.htm
(Accessed 7 February 2003)

This quiz lets you decide if a sentence is correct or not
http://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/fkc/~ann/singplural1c.htm
(Accessed 7 February 2003)

This quiz asks you to choose the correct verb form
http://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/fkc/~ann/singplural2c.htm
(Accessed 7 February 2003)