Nouns

Singular vs Plural

Nouns can be singular (meaning one) or plural (meaning more than one).

In a regular noun, we make it plural by adding an s to the end of the word.

Some regular examples:

This is true for all words except words that end in -ch, -sh, -s, -ss, -x, and -o. With these words, we add -es. For example:

And when a word ends in -y, you change the -y to -i and add -es. For example:

Words that end in -f or -fe change the -f to -v before adding -es. For example:

Words that end in -is usually change to -es. For example:

But there are many irregular nouns as well.

Some irregular examples:

Some nouns have the same plural form and singular form. For example:

Finally, some nouns exist only in the plural form and have no singular form. For example:

Countable vs Uncountable

A countable noun is a noun that can be counted. It can accept the determiner a/an before it. For example:

A car

A school

An orange

An uncountable noun is a noun that cannot be counted. It cannot accept the determiner a/an before it. For example:

A money

A water

An advice

You can talk about a single one of an uncountable noun if you use a container. A container is just something that holds the noun so that single units of it can be counted. For example:

A bit of money

A cup of water

A piece of advice

Nouns and Verb Conjugation

Whether a noun is singular or plural will change the conjugation of a verb.

Countable Nouns

A car is [Singular]

Some cars are [Plural]

A man is [Singular]

Some men are [Plural]

When a noun is uncountable it is always singular.

Money is [Singular]

Water is [Singular]

Bread is [Singular]

But when an uncountable noun is put into a container, whether it is singular or plural depends on whether the container is singular or plural. For example:

A cup of water is [Singular]

Two pieces of advice are [Plural]

Collective Nouns

Some nouns refer to a single group, such as staff, crew, or the French. These should be treated as singular nouns. For example:

The staff is very nice here.

The staff are very nice here.

The crew is on strike.

The crew are on strike.

The French is good cooks.

The French are good cooks.