Plural in English. Singular and plural in English

We present to you the first article in the “English Grammar for Beginners” series. In this series of materials, we decided to present all the rules briefly and in simple words so that beginners “from scratch” or those who do not remember the basics of English well can independently figure out the grammar, understand it and apply it in practice.

Plural in English

IN English language, as in Russian, all words are divided into countable and uncountable. This is important to understand when forming the plural of a word. Countable nouns denote those objects that can be counted, for example: table (table), book (book), apple (apple). Uncountable nouns are abstract concepts, liquids, products, etc., that is, things that cannot be counted. For example: knowledge, water, meat, flour. These words have no plural or singular.

Countable nouns can be used in singular or plural. A singular noun denotes one thing; this is the form of the word that is indicated in the dictionary: apple - apple. A plural noun denotes several objects: apples - apples.

How to form the plural of nouns:

Usually the plural of nouns is formed by adding the ending -s to the word: book – books (book – books). However, there are several spelling features:

• If the word ends in -o, -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, then add the ending -es: hero – heroes (hero – heroes), bus – buses (bus – buses).

  Exceptions: photo - photos (photo - photographs), video - videos (video recording - video recordings), radio - radios (radio - several radios), rhino - rhinos (rhino - rhinoceroses), piano - pianos (piano - several pianos), hippo - hippos (hippopotamus - hippopotamuses).

• If the word ends in -f, -fe, then change the ending to -ves: knife – knives, leaf – leaves, wife – wives.

  Exceptions: roof - roofs (roof - roofs), giraffe - giraffes (giraffe - giraffes), cliff - cliffs (cliff - cliffs).

• If a word ends in -y, preceded by a consonant, then we change -y to -ies: body – bodies (body – bodies).
• If the word ends in -y, preceded by a vowel, then add the ending -s: boy – boys (boy – boys).

In English there is also exception words, which form the plural irregularly. You just need to learn such words by heart; fortunately, there are not very many of them.

Try our test to see how well you have understood the material.

English Plural Noun Test

Articles in English

There are two types of articles in English: definite and indefinite. They are not translated into Russian. In the vast majority of cases, one of these articles must be placed before a singular noun.

The indefinite article a/an is used only with singular countable nouns: a girl, a pen. If a word begins with a consonant sound, we write the article a (a girl), and if the word begins with a vowel sound, we write the article an (an apple).

The indefinite article a/an is used in the following cases:

• We name any indefinite object, and we have only one, which is why we use the article a, which comes from the word one (one):

  It is a book. - This is a book.

• We mention the subject for the first time in speech:

  I see a shop. - I see (some, one of many) store.

• We talk about a person’s profession or indicate his belonging to a certain group:

  He is a teacher. - He is a teacher.
  She is a student. - She is a student.

Definite article the we bet when we're talking about about a specific subject familiar to us. This article can appear before a singular or plural noun.

The definite article the is used in the following cases:

• We have already mentioned the subject earlier in our speech:

  I see a shop. The shop is big. - I see a store. (This) store is big.

  It is believed that the definite article comes from the word that (that), therefore it is intended to indicate some specific object familiar to the interlocutors.

• We are talking about an object that in this context is one of a kind and cannot be confused with something else:

  Honey, I'm washing the car. - Honey, I'm washing the car. (the family has one car, so we are talking about a specific item)
  Look at the girl in the red dress. - Look at the girl in the red dress. (we point to a specific girl in a specific dress)

• We are talking about a one-of-a-kind object, there is no other like it: the sun, the moon, the world, the President of France, etc.:

  The earth is our home. - Earth is our home.

Verb to be

IN English sentence there is always a verb. And if in Russian we can say “I am a doctor”, “Mary is beautiful”, “We are in the hospital”, then in English this is unacceptable: in all these cases the verb to be must appear after the subject. Therefore, you can remember a simple rule: if there are no ordinary verbs in a sentence, then the verb to be is needed.

The verb to be has three forms:

• Am is added to the pronoun I when we talk about ourselves:

  I am beautiful. - I am beautiful.

• Is is placed after the pronouns he, she, it:

  She is beautiful. - She's beautiful.

• Are is used after you, we, they:

  You are beautiful. - You are handsome.

The verb to be in English is most often used in the following cases:

• We inform you that by whom is a person (name, profession, etc.):

  I am a doctor. - I am doctor.

• We inform you that what a person or thing has a quality:

  Mary is beautiful. - Mary is beautiful.

• We inform you that Where there is a person or object:

  We are at the hospital. - We're in the hospital.

Sentences with the verb to be in the present tense are constructed as follows:

We think you are now ready to take the test and test your knowledge.

Test for the use of the verb to be

Present Continuous Tense - present continuous tense

Present Continuous Tense most often shows that the action is happening at the moment.

Every English sentence has a subject and a predicate. In the Present Continuous, the predicate consists of the auxiliary verb to be in the required form (am, is, are) and the main verb without the particle to, to which we add the ending -ing (playing, reading).

She is playing tennis now. - She is now plays to tennis.
I am reading a novel at the moment. - I'm currently I'm reading novel.

The verb to be in this tense is an auxiliary verb, that is, it is a word that comes before the main verb (playing, reading) and helps to form tense. You will find auxiliary verbs in other tenses; these types of verbs include to be (am, is, are), do/does, have/has, will.

Please note the following tense words Present Continuous: now (now), at the moment (at the moment), today (today), tonight (tonight), these days (these days), currently (these days), at present (currently), still (still).

Affirmative sentences in the Present Continuous are formed as follows:

Usually in this tense you just need to add the ending -ing to the main verb: walk – walking (walk), look – looking (look). But some verbs change like this:

• If the verb ends in -e, we remove the -e and add -ing: write – writing, dance – dancing.

  Exception: see – seeing (to see).

• If the verb ends in -ie, we change -ie to -y and add -ing: lie – lying (lie), die – dying (die).
• If the verb ends with a stressed syllable with a short vowel that occurs between two consonants, the final consonant is doubled by adding -ing: begin – beginning (begin), swim – swimming (swim).

IN negative sentences in the Present Continuous you just need to insert the particle not between to be and the main verb.

She isn't cooking at the moment. - At the moment she doesn't cook.
You are not listening to me now. - You don't listen me now.

In interrogative sentences in the Present Continuous, you need to put the verb to be in the first place, and after it put the subject and the main verb.

Is she cooking at the moment? - She trains At the moment?
Are you listening to me now? - You me now are you listening?

Now we suggest you take a test on using the Present Continuous tense.

Test for the use of Present Continuous

We have presented you with the first 5 basic topics of the English language. Now your task is to thoroughly understand them and work through them as productively as possible with the help of exercises. In order not to burden you with a large amount of grammar at once, we will release the next article in this series in a few weeks. Subscribe to our newsletter, then you definitely won't miss out important information. We wish you success in learning English!

Hello friends!

As always, let's do something useful - continue to study English grammar. Today we will talk about the topic “Plurals in English”.

This is a pretty simple topic, you just need to remember a few things.

Let's start with a simple rule.

To make a plural, add the ending to the noun –s .

A cat – a lot of cat s

A dog – a lot of dog s

Wherein after a voiced consonant and vowel the ending –s is read loudly [z]:

tag - tag s[z],

and after the deaf ones - deaf [s]:

lamp – lamp s[s].

Special cases of plural formation (exceptions).

• If a noun ends in –ch, -x, -sh, -s, -ss, then the ending –es is added:

A fox – a lot of foxes

A match – a lot of matches

• If a word ends in –y, then the ending changes to –ies:

A baby – a lot of babies

BUT # 1 : if there is a vowel before –y, then it does not change:

Day-day s

BUT #2: The exception is proper names:

For example, the Murphys.

• If the word ends in –o, then the ending –es is added:

A tomato – a lot of tomatoes

Exceptions:

piano - piano s,

stereo – stereo s,

disco – disco s,

video – video s,

photo-photo s.

• Some words ending in –f or -fe take the ending –ves:

Half-hal ves

leaf – lea ves

thief – thie ves

self-sel ves

shelf – shel ves

wife - wi ves

wolf-wol ves

knife – kni ves

life -li ves

The remaining words ending with –f form the plural according to the rules, i.e. plus ending -s :

Roof – roof s

• There are a number of words in English that do not obey any rules and have absolutely their own plural forms. We learn these words:

Man men

Woman – women

Child – children

Tooth teeth

Foot – feet

Mouse - mice

Goose geese

• In addition, it is necessary to remember nouns in which the plural coincides with the singular form:

A fish – a lot of fish

A sheep – a lot of sheep

A deer – a lot of deer

This should also include the names of some nationalities: Japanese, Portuguese, Chinese, Swiss:

Japanese are a nation and an ethnic group that is native to Japan.

• Some words look like they are plural, but are actually used in the singular!

News: the new s is(was) great!

Mathematics (mathematics): Mathematics is(was) my favorite school subject.

Works (factory): This works has was built recently.

• Word hair meaning “hair” in English is used in the singular. If we mean “hairs” (for example, on a comb), then it will be already hairs.

For example: His hair is so soft!

There are so many hairs s on your brush!

• The word people (= people) is singular, but translated into Russian as plural, but can also occur in the form peoples. In this case it means " peoples". But here and there the verb is taken in plural:

People are awesome.

All peoples of the world need freedom.

Note: for the word person used as plural people.

• Some nouns are used only in the plural, for example:

His clothes were worn.

The goods from Germany are of great quality.

Outskirts of the town are dangerous.

• Some nouns are used only in the singular:

Advice

Information

Furniture

Luggage

We haven't got any information.

His advice always helps me.

• Collective nouns are often used with a plural verb(i.e. people are meant):

Staff

government

team

family

audience

committee

The support staff work around the clock.

• In compound nouns, the main word is responsible for the plural:

Father-in-low – fathers-in-law

Passer-by – passer s-by

BUT : if in a compound word none of them are nouns, then –s is added to the last word:

Grown-up – grown-up s

That's the whole theory. If you have mastered it, then I suggest checking your knowledge and.

And also go through a simple one on the topic.

It is mainly countable nouns that are modified by numbers. Uncountable nouns are usually used only in the singular form:

sugar - sugar, love - love, friendship - friendship.

They are used in the plural only when we mean the variety of species, concepts expressed by them, or when they are used in another meaning in which they are already countable. For example:

air - air, movement - movement (as general concept), music - music, milk - milk, knowledge - knowledge, hair - hair (on a person’s head).

BUT: air - aria, melody - "airs - arias, melodies, movement - movement (for example, political or in dance) -> movements - movements (the same), hair - hair -" hairs - hairs, etc.

The plural of nouns is usually formed by adding the ending -s to the singular form:

book - book -» books - books, day - day -> days - days, house - house -> houses - houses.

Reading the ending "-s":

after voiceless consonants - [s]: books
after voiced consonants and vowels -[z]: friends, days
after hissing and whistling (-es) - : boxes [‘boksiz]

Exception l. Singular nouns ending in letters o, s, ss, sh, ch, x(hissing and whistling, as they are called), have the plural ending -es:

hero - hero -> heroes - heroes, kiss - kiss -> kisses - kisses, brush - brush -> brushes - brushes, bench - bench -> benches - benches, box - box -> boxes - boxes.

BUT: In words of foreign origin ending in o, in the plural, only the ending is added to the noun -s:

piano - grand piano -> pianos - grand pianos, photo - photography -» photos - photographs.

Exception 2. For nouns ending in y with a preceding consonant, y is dropped and the ending is added instead -ies, which reads [-iz]:

country [‘kAntri] - country -> countries - countries, city - city cities - cities, family - family families - families.

BUT: If u is preceded by a vowel, then the plural is formed by general rule, i.e. by adding the ending -s:

day - day -» days - days, boy - boy -» boys - boys.

3. Twelve nouns ending in -f or -fe, in the plural these letters are lost. Instead of -f or -fe, the ending is added -ves. These are the nouns:

wife - wife, life - life, knife - knife, wolf - wolf, self - essence, human appearance, calf - calf, shelf - shelf, leaf - leaf (plant), loaf - loaf (of bread), thief - thief, half - half, sheaf - pack (of paper), etc.

For example: wife - wives - wives, knife - knife -> knives - knives, shelf - shelf -> shelves - shelves.

4. Some nouns form their plural by changing the root vowel:

man - man -> men - men, woman - woman -» women - women, foot - leg feet - legs, tooth - tooth -» teeth - teeth.
HO: child - child -> children - children.

5. For compound nouns, the plural is formed by adding the ending -s to the second word:

armchairs - armchairs, bookcases - bookcases.

BUT: If these words are combined by a preposition, then the first word is put in the plural: sisters-in-law- daughters-in-law.

Words borrowed from Greek or Latin form the plural according to the rules of these languages:

appendix - appendix - appendices - appendices (to the book), crisis - crisis -> crises - crises, basis - basis, bases - basics, radius - radius -> radii - radii.

Names Nouns used only in the singular

1. Uncountable nouns (both real and abstract) are usually used only in the singular:

   iron - iron, salt - salt, milk - milk, sugar - sugar, love - love.

2. The nouns advice (advice, advice), information (message, information), progress (success, success), knowledge (knowledge) are used only in the singular.

   He gave me some good advice. He gave me some good advice.
   My coach was satisfied with my progress. My coach was pleased with my progress

3. The nouns news (news, news), money (money), fruit (fruit, fruits) are used in the singular. But, for example, to indicate various types fruits is used in the plural - fruits.

   What is the news? What's the news?
   It's his money. This is his money.
   Fruit is cheap in autumn. In autumn fruits are cheap.

4. Among countable nouns, there are those that are used only (or mainly) in the singular form. These are the names of some animals, objects, etc.:

   two sheep - two sheep, six fish - six fish, ten swine - ten pigs, five deer - five deer.

The plural of nouns is formed usually, by adding the ending - s.

student - student s— students
book - book / book s- books
friend - friend s- Friends

Nouns ending in - X, -s, -ss, -ch, -sh, acquire the ending - es.

waitre ss- waitress es- waitresses
dre ss- dress es- dresses

The suffix -(e)s is pronounced:

• after voiceless consonants - [s] - texts;
• after voiced consonants and vowels - [z] - days;
• after hissing and whistling consonants - [s], [z], , [∫], , , - branches; boxes ["bɔksiz]; bridges ["bridʒiz].

-y

Nouns ending in consonant plus -y, in the plural they take on the ending - ies.

secreta ry- secretary / secretari es- secretaries
ci ty- city/cit ies- cities

But if the word ends in vowel plus -y, then only - s.

b oh- boy s- boys
d ay- day / day s- days

-f, -fe

If the word ends in - f, -fe, then in the plural appears - ves.

housewi fe- housewife / housewi ves- housewives
wi fe- wife/wi ves- wives

scar f- scarf s- scarves
whar f- wharf s- berths

Hence! Formation of the plural of each specific word in - f(e) check it in the dictionary.

-o

Words ending with - O, form the plural using the suffix - es, so and - s:

her o- hero / hero es- heroes;
potat o- potato / potato es- potato;

pian o- piano s- piano;
phot o— photo / photo s- photos.

Hence! Look up each specific word in the dictionary.

Special cases

There are also nouns in English that form their plurals irregularly. They have retained their forms since the Old English period. Please note these exceptions:

child child - children children
man man human - men men, people
woman woman - women women
foot leg - feet legs
mouse mouse - mice mice
ox bull - oxen bulls

Some nouns are borrowed from the Greek and Latin alphabets:

crisis- a crisis / crises- crises
phenomenon- phenomenon / phenomenal- phenomena
radius- radius / radii- radii
basis- the basis / bases- basics
thesis- thesis / theses— theses

Many nouns have the same plural and singular forms:

sheep sheep - sheep sheep
works factory - works factories
means means - means facilities

Compound nouns

In complex nouns, when forming the plural, only the last (second) word is transformed.

schoolboy schoolboy - schoolboy s pupils
postman postman - post men postmen

In complex nouns, when forming the plural, only the more important noun word, which carries the main meaning, changes.

hotel-keeper hotel owner s innkeepers
passer-by passerby s-by passers-by

If a complex noun does not contain a noun, but is formed by other parts of speech, then the suffix is s added to the last word:

forget-me-not- forget-me-nots / forget-me-nots - forget-me-nots

If a compound noun consists of two nouns connected by a preposition, then the suffix is s is added to one that does not have a preposition:

editor- in-chief — Chief Editor/editor s-in-chief - editors-in-chief;
mother- in-law - mother-in-law / mother s-in-law - mother-in-law;

If a compound noun consists of two nouns without a preposition, then the suffix is s is added to the one whose value in to a greater extent coincides with the meaning of the entire compound noun:

lady-bird- ladybug, lady - Mother of God, bird - bird.

If we compare the meaning of the constituent nouns with the meaning of the compound word, we will see that the meaning bird closer to the value lady-bird, how lady. Therefore, the suffix -s is added to the last word: lady-birds.

Exceptions

only in singular

In English, real and abstract nouns are usually used only in the singular form:

sugar- sugar
iron- iron
love- Love
friendship- friendship

The following words are used only in the singular form:

advice- advice, tips
information- information, information
progress- success. successes
knowledge- knowledge, knowledge

The following words are used with a singular meaning, although they have a plural form: news- news, news. Names of sciences ending in - ics (physics - physics). Noun vacation— vacation is used only in the singular, although in Russian it is used only in the plural.

Nouns used only in plural

scissors- scissors
trousers- trousers
spectacles- glasses
scales- scales
tongs- tongs
goods- goods, goods
clothes- cloth
stairs- ladder
arms- weapon
riches- wealth, riches
proceeds— revenue

The plural in English is formed according to a certain rule. When learning a language, beginners often have difficulties, since this rule has its own characteristics and exceptions.

In this article you will learn:

• rules for forming the plural of nouns
• words of exception to the rule
• words that do not change according to numbers

The rule for forming the plural of nouns in English

In English, plurals are formed by adding the ending -s to a word:

cat - cat s
cat - cats

cup - cup s
cup - cups

book - book s
book - books

phone - phone s
telephone - telephones

pen - pen s
pen - pens

It would seem that everything is extremely simple. However, as in many English rules, there are some exceptions here.

In some cases, instead of -s we need to add an ending -es. Let's look at which ones:

1. If the word ends in -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, -z

kiss-kiss es
kiss - kisses

church - church es
church - churches

bus - bus es
bus - buses

dish - dish es
dish - dishes

tax - tax es
tax - taxes

2. If the word ends with -O

potato - potato es
potato - potatoes

zero - zero es
zero - zeros

hero - hero es
hero - heroes

But there are exception words, to which, despite the fact that they end in O, we add the ending -s. You just need to remember these words:

photo - photo s
photography - photographs

video-video s
video - several videos

piano - piano s
piano - several pianos

kilo - kilo s
kilogram - kilograms

3. If the word ends with -y, then we change y on i and add the ending -es

secretary - secretary ies
secretary - secretaries

factory - factor ies
factory - factories

theory - theory es
theory - theories

reply-reply es
answer - answers

However, if the word ends with -y and we pronounce the ending like [th], then we do not change it in any way, but simply add -s:

boy - boy s
boy - boys

toy-toy s
toy - toys

way - way s
way - ways

4. If the word ends with -fe, That f change to v and add -es

knife - kni ves
knife - knives

wife-wi ves
wife - wives

life-li ves
life - life

We looked at the basic rules that allow us to make two or more out of one item. But in the English language there are exception words that do not follow these rules.

Plural elimination words in English

There are words in the English language whose plural forms are not formed according to the rules. Such words can be divided into two groups:

1. Words that change their form regardless of the rules

The formation of the plural form of these words does not lend itself to any logic; it just needs to be remembered.

man-men
man - men

person - people
person people

woman - women
woman's woman

mouse - mice
mouse - mice

foot - feet
leg legs

child - children
children

tooth - teeth
tooth teeth

2. Words that don't change at all

There is no need to add an ending to these words or change them, regardless of whether we are talking about one subject or several.

fish - fish
fish - fish

fruit - fruit
fruit - fruit

deer - deer
deer - deer

sheep - sheep
sheep - sheep

aircraft - aircraft
airplane - airplanes

means - means
way - ways

trout - trout
trout - trout

Words that do not vary by number in English

Just like in the Russian language, in English there are words whose number cannot be changed at all (glasses, trousers, dishes, honey, etc.). Such words can only be singular or plural.

1. Words that are used only in the singular

We cannot put such words in the plural, even if there are several objects. Remember, we also have such words in Russian: video, piano, flamingo, etc. Agree, we cannot say: “There were three pianos in the classroom.” We say: “There were three pianos in the classroom,” although we mean several objects.

advice - advice
furniture - furniture
information - information
money - money
friendship - friendship
love - love
news - news

2. Words that are used only in the plural

We cannot put such words in singular. For example, we say: “Give me a pair of scissors,” although we mean one object. We cannot say, “Give me a scissor.”

scissors - scissors
trousers - trousers
glasses—glasses
goods - goods, goods
clothes - clothes
stairs - stairs
arms - weapon

So, we looked at how to correctly change words when we talk about two or more subjects. Now let's practice doing this.

Do a workout exercise

Put the following words into plural form:

Tomato, box, sheep, dictionary, flower, day, video, child, plate, fruit, class, key, foot, window, country, brush, photo, fish, woman, party.

Leave your answers in the comments below the article.