【Singular and Plural Nouns】

REGULAR NOUNS

1.      ADD –s

Most singular nouns form. 

普遍的情況

Things

Boats

Pens

Cats

Rivers

2.      ADD –es

2.1 A singular noun ending in s, x, z, ch,or sh.

Buses

Boxes

Wishes

Pitches

2.2  A singular noun ending in a ‘consonant + o’.

Mangoes

Heroes

Potatoes

Tomatoes

Echoes

3.      DROP –y; ADD –ies

3.1 A singular noun ending in ‘a consonant + y’.

Baby – babies

City – cities

Gallery – galleries

Country – countries

Lady – ladies

3.2 A singular noun ending in ‘a vowal + y/ makes the plural by just adding-s.

Boy – boys

Day – days

Monkey - monkeys

Play – plays

Joy – joys

4.      SINGULAR FORM = PLURAL FORM

Fish

Sheep

Deer

Species

Aircraft

IRREGULAR VERB/NOUN AGREEMENT

1.          Some nouns get a plural form but take a singular verb. 

眾數名詞跟單數動詞

News ... The news is about to start at 6:00 p.m.

Athletics ... Athletics is good for young people.

Linguistics ... Linguistics is the study of language.

Darts ... Darts is a popular game in England.

Billards ... Billards is popular among youngsters.

2.          Some nouns have a fixed plural form and take a plural verb. 

永遠是眾數樣貌的名詞

Trousers/Jeans ... My trousers are too tight.

Glasses/Spectacles ... Those glasses are mine.

Wages ... Minimum wages are set by the government.

Some other examples:

Thanks/Stairs/Congratulations/Wages

They are not used in the singular, or they have a different meaning in the singular. 

用單數的話，它們會有其他意思。

**IRREGULAR NOUNS**

我們就是要謹記一些不跟法規的英文。

There are some irregular noun plurals. The common ones are listed below.

Woman – women

Man – men

Child – children

Tooth – teeth

Foot – feet

Person – people

Leaf – leaves

Mouse – mice

Goose – geese

Half – halves

Knife – knives

Wife – wives

Life – lives

Elf – elves

Loaf – loaves

Focus – foci

Fungus – fungi

Nucleus – nuclei

Syllabus – syllabi

Analysis – analyses

Thesis – theses

Crisis – crises

Phenomenon – phenomena

Criterion – criteria

Datum – data