Singular and Plural nouns – 50 examples (worksheet PDF)

I wanted to write a helpful post to explain how to use singular and plural nouns in English. I did some research, used my own teaching experience, and put together this helpful resource for you.

Singular is a form of a noun that refers to only one person or thing.
“I bought a book.” (Singular – one book)
Plural is a form of a noun that refers to more than one person or thing.
“I bought three books.” (Plural – more than one book)

Using singular and plural nouns correctly is important to help you speak English with confidence. Learn the spelling rules with lots of examples. Keep reading.

Singular and Plural meaning

Singular is a form of a noun that refers to only one person or thing. 

• Matthew has a dog. [DOG is a singular countable noun.]

Plural is a form of a noun that refers to more than one person or thing.

• Allison has three dogs. [DOGS is a plural countable noun.]

Many nouns are made plural by adding the suffix S to the end of the word.

Singular	Plural
dog	dogs
friend	friends
smartphone	smartphones
train	trains
store	stores

But there are also many nouns that are made plural by adding a different suffix.

box	boxes
child	children

Some plural forms change the spelling.

leaf	leaves
foot	feet
mouse	mice

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Some nouns don’t change at all for the plural form.

sheep	sheep
deer	deer

Let’s learn how to use different plural nouns with real examples that you can remember and use!

Singular and plural Examples

Regular nouns

Add S to the end of these nouns to make them plural. 

car – cars

• Jason has 4 cars, he loves driving.

shirt – shirts

• I bought 2 shirts yesterday, they were on sale.

store – stores

• Uniqlo stores are opening all over the world.

house – houses

• They are building some big houses near the train station.

benefit – benefits

• There are many benefits to waking up early.

hamburger – hamburgers

• I ordered 17 hamburgers, that should be enough for the whole team.

apple – apples

• I’ll pick up some apples when I’m at the store.

key – keys

• I always hang my keys by the front door.

computer – computers

• My friend John is really good with computers.

pen – pens

• I use two pens when I mark my student’s tests. A blue pen and a red pen.

desk – desks

• All the desks in my office are made of real wood.

cake – cakes

• The bakery near my house makes 75 cakes every day!

belief – beliefs

• Religious beliefs change depending on where you were born.

(Some) Nouns ending with the letter F

Many singular countable nouns ending in the letter F will change to V before adding ES to become plural. 

wife – wives

• A religious leader in India had 39 wives! [LINK]

half – halves

• A 90-minute soccer game is split into two 45-minute halves. 

knife – knives

• I have a kitchen drawer full of plastic forks and knives that came with my takeout orders. 

life – lives

• Cats always land on their feet, that’s why we say a cat has nine lives.
  (The plural form of the noun LIFE sounds like LAIVES. Listen to the pronunciation below.)

elf – elves

• Santa Claus and his elves are very busy at Christmas time.

loaf – loaves

• We are having 8 guests for Thanksgiving dinner. I bought a large turkey, lots of vegetables, and two loaves of fresh bread. 

leaf – leaves

• Autumn is my favorite season. I really love it when the leaves change color. 

Nouns ending with s, x, z, ch, sh

Add ES to the end of these nouns to make them plural.

kiss – kisses

• When Randy got home his wife showered him with kisses.

box – boxes

• After the move, my house was full of empty boxes. 

branch – branches

• After the storm, many branches had fallen from the tree.

wish – wishes

• The genie granted Aladdin three wishes. 

Some words ending with S or Z will double the last letter before adding ES.

gas – gasses

• The air we breathe is a mixture of different gasses.

quiz – quizzes

• Quizzes are a fun way to test your English understanding. 

Nouns ending in a consonant and the letter Y 

The Y will change to an I before adding ES.

city – cities

• I have lived in many cities but Tokyo is my favorite. 

lady – ladies

• My mother saw some ladies from her bowling league.

baby – babies

• Jennifer works at a nursery school. She loves taking care of babies.

theory – theories

• Scientists have different theories about the best way to send people to Mars.

bunny – bunnies

• I think bunnies are cute. 

*If the letter Y follows a vowel ｗe only need to add an S to make the plural. 

boy – boys / toy – toys

• Tell the boys to clean up their toys when they’re done playing.

day – days

• Your package will be delivered in 4 days. 

Nouns ending in O

Some nouns ending with the letter O are made plural by adding ES

tomato – tomatoes / potato – potatoes

• Trent has lots of tomatoes and potatoes growing in his garden.

hero – heroes

• The Avengers are Earth’s mightiest heroes.

domino – dominoes

• People spend a lot of time setting up dominoes just to watch them fall down.

Some nouns ending with the letter O only need the letter S

kilo – kilos

• I weigh 72 kilos.

photo – photos

• Rachel took many photos during her trip to Spain.

piano – pianos

• Patrick has a job moving pianos. It must be hard work.

Some nouns ending with the letter O can be made plural both ways. [LINK]

Tornado volcano mosquito buffalo

• The area is experiencing many tornados/tornadoes this summer.

• Japan has 111 active volcanoes/volcanos right now.

• There are a lot of mosquitos/mosquitoes in the swamp.

• The number of buffalos/buffaloes in this region has been slowly decreasing. 

*These spelling rules also apply to verbs in the third person singular. Check out my third-person singular blog post and video to learn even more. 

Nouns with the same form for both plural and singular

Some animal groups don’t change for the plural form

sheep – sheep

• Did you know that there are over 25 million sheep in New Zealand?

deer – deer

• I saw 2 deer at the side of the road this morning. A mother and her baby.

moose – moose

• The campers were surprised to see 2 moose come out of the lake. Moose are actually good swimmers. [Moose facts]

FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions

Is FISH plural?

Fish is the common plural form of the noun FISH.

• Brad and I went fishing yesterday. Brad caught 8 fish but I only caught one.

*The plural FISHES is possible. We use it when we talk about different species of fish. (like carp or tuna) 

• The aquarium was filled with a variety of different fishes.

Fish is the usual plural form. The older form, fishes, can be used to refer to different kinds of fish.

SOURCE

Is Data Plural?

One of the benefits of teaching lessons to real students is that they asked me great questions. I can turn these great questions into great blog posts. 

Here’s a great question I got just the other day.
“Is data plural?” – Yes.
When we use technical English, data is always used as a plural noun. 

• Google collects data from its users so it can deliver other content they may be interested in. 

Here is the dictionary definition for data Noun facts or information, especially when examined and used to find out things or to make decisions

• Collecting lots of data is not enough, we have to interpret the data correctly to get any real benefit from it. 

data noun OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com 

The singular form of data is datum. (I had to look that up. I’ve never heard it or used it before.)

What is the plural of index?

This is another question I’m sometimes asked by my Advanced students. Here is what I found after some research.

The noun index has two plural forms – indexes and indices – and there are a few different ways to use this noun. The meaning you use will decide which is the acceptable plural form. Let’s look at the different ways to use index.

index meaning ① a list of names or topics that are referred to in a book, etc., usually arranged at the end of a book in alphabetical order or listed in a separate file or book (Plural indexes)

• Author and subject indexes are available on a library database.

② a system that shows the level of prices and wages, etc. so that they can be compared with those of a previous date (Both plurals are possible) 

• According to the house price indexes, now is a good time to buy a house in Toronto. 
• A close look at the stock-market indices is worrying right now. 

③ a sign or measure that something else can be judged by (Plural indices) 

• Low unemployment and an active construction industry are good indices of a country’s prosperity.

④ (mathematics) the small number written above a larger number to show how many times that number must be multiplied by itself. (Plural indices)

• In the equation 4² = 16, the number 2 is an index.

SOURCE

Nouns ending with US will change to I

cactus – cacti

• Environmentalists warn that development in the desert will endanger wildlife and cacti.

fungus – fungi

• Some fungi have been found to protect the walls of your stomach. 

stimulus – stimuli

• A highly sensitive person is someone who is greatly affected by social stimuli, such as other people’s voices and facial expressions. [LINK]

*These plurals are more common in scientific work than in conversation.

Nouns ending with IS will change to ES

thesis – theses

• The university has set a deadline of March 3rd for all doctoral theses candidates.

crisis – crises

• Crises are keeping president Biden close to White House.

Irregular plural Nouns

There is no rule for which nouns take an irregular plural form. It’s best to memorize these words.  You will find an example sentence for each irregular plural to help you remember and use in your own conversations.

man – men

• All men are equal under the law. 

woman – women

• The survey wants to hear the opinions of women between the ages of 25 and 45.

child – children

• There were nine children at the birthday party.

person – people

• More than 50 people waited in line for the new smartphone.

foot – feet

• After running a marathon my feet were very sore.

tooth – teeth

•  You should brush your teeth 3 or 4 times a day.

goose –  geese

• In the springtime, you can see many geese down beside the river. 

mouse – mice

• You can learn 10 idioms about rats and mice here.

Singular and Plural noun Grammar

We talk about things existing with the verb TO BE.

TO BE	singular	plural
present	am, is	are
past	was	were

Singular there is 

• There is a cute KITTEN at the pet store.
• The MAN on the right is my boss.

Plural there are

• There are cute KITTENS at the pet store. 
• The MEN on the left are my team members. 

A singular countable noun cannot be used by itself. It needs to follow an article (A, AN, or THE) or a possessive pronoun. 

There is cute KITTEN at the pet store.
There is a cute KITTEN at the pet store.

MAN on the right is my boss.
The MAN on the right is my boss.

BOSS is very friendly.
My BOSS is very friendly.

Plural countable nouns cannot be used with the articles A or AN. 

There are a cute KITTENS at the pet store.
There are cute KITTENS at the pet store.  

Plural countable nouns CAN be used with the articles THE. 

The MEN on the left are my team members. OK

THIS, THAT, THESE, and THOSE

This and that are used with singular uncountable nouns. These and those are used with plural nouns.

• This kitten is so cute.
• That man is my boss. 

• These kittens are so cute.
• Those men are my team members.

More irregular Singular and plural words

If one thing has two parts we use a plural noun.
The following pieces of clothing are written and spoken as plurals. They each have two parts, one for each leg.

Pants, shorts, stockings, jeans.

• That is nice pants.
• Those are nice pants.

• Thanks, I bought this jeans at the new store on Main Street. 
• Thanks, I bought these jeans at the new store on Main Street. 

Other singular nouns with two parts that are written as plural. 

glasses 

• I bought a new glasses.
• I bought some new glasses.

scissors

• Do you have a scissors I can borrow? 
• Do you have any scissors I can borrow?

*We can make all these plural nouns singular by adding a pair of in front of the noun.

• That’s a nice pair of jeans.
• I just bought a new pair of glasses sunglasses.
• Can I borrow a pair of scissors? 

Police officer is singular but police is plural.

• A police officer is on the scene now.
• The police are investigating the crime. 

The following nouns are written with an S but they are used with singular grammar.

The News
What time is the news on? 

Gymnastics
Gymnastics is my favorite Olympic sport.

Singular and Plural Quiz

Answer these quick Singular and Plural questions and test your English!
You can take the Google quiz on a separate page HERE.

Singular and plural Worksheet

Download the Quiz as a printable PDF worksheet. Great for teachers to use with private or group classes.

Singular and plural Infographic

Find more than 30 blog posts that help answer some of your confusing English questions. Click HERE!