29.5.14

Nouns: countable and uncountable / regular and irregular plurals

Countable Nouns

Some words take an ‘s’ when you talk about more than one. These words are called count or countable nouns.
Example
1 apple  apple
2 apples appleapple


Uncountable Nouns

Other words do not take an ‘s’ when you talk about more than one. These words are called non-count or uncountable nouns.
Example
1 piece of cheese   piece of cheese
2 pieces of cheese piece of cheesepiece of cheese
The word “food” is a non-count noun.
Example
I like food.
I like some food for breakfast.
I like a lot of food for dinner.



Most nouns in English have both singular and plural forms, and the plural is usually formed by adding "-s" to the singular. Most nouns in English have both singular and plural forms, and the plural is usually formed by adding “-s” to the singular. How to form the plural :

Noun ending Forming the pluralExample
s, x, ch or shAdd -esboss arrow to the right bosses
tax arrow to the right taxes
bush arrow to the right bushes
consonant + yChange y to i then add -esbaby arrow to the rightbabies
candy arrow to the rightcandies
curry arrow to the right curries
most othersAdd -scat arrow to the right cats
face arrow to the right faces
day arrow to the right days
Although most nouns have plurals formed according to regular rules, some nouns have unusual, or irregular plurals. This page will introduce the most common ones, so that you can learn them.

Types of irregular plural

There are many types of irregular plural, but these are the most common:

Noun type Forming the pluralExample
Ends with -fe Change f to v
then
Add -s
knife arrow to the right knives
life arrow to the right lives
wife arrow to the right wives
Ends with -f Change f to v
then
Add -es
half arrow to the right halves
wolf arrow to the right wolves
loaf arrow to the right loaves
Ends with -o Add -es potato arrow to the right potatoes
tomato arrow to the right tomatoes
volcano arrow to the right volcanoes
ends with -us Change -us to -i cactus arrow to the right cacti
nucleus arrow to the right nuclei
focus arrow to the right foci
ends with -is Change -is to -es analysis arrow to the right analyses
crisis arrow to the right crises
thesis arrow to the right theses
ends with -on Change -on to -a phenomenon arrow to the right phenomena
criterion arrow to the right criteria
ALL KINDS Change the vowel
or
Change the word
or
Add a different ending
man arrow to the right men
foot arrow to the right feet
child arrow to the right children
person arrow to the right people
tooth arrow to the right teeth
mouse arrow to the right mice
Unchanging Singular and plural
are the same
sheep
deer
fish (sometimes)

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