Introduction: Numbers

• Numbers always tell us whether the object that we are talking of is one or many in number. 
• Numbers are always available for Nouns because Nouns are objects that can be counted most of the time. 

For Example:

• Meera has 1 book.     

•  Meera has 3 books. 

• In the above example, when we are talking about one book we use “book” but when we are talking about three of them we are using “books”. 
• Singular number refers to the Noun that denotes one person/place/thing. 
• Plural number refers to the Noun that denotes many persons/places/things.

For Example:

• Book 

• Books

How are Plurals formed

• Nouns have been segregated into various categories.
• For example, Nouns ending with “O” are in one category, whereas Nouns ending with “F” and “S” are in two different categories.
• Type 1. When a singular Noun ends with “o” , add “es” at the end to get its plural.

For Example:

• Potato

• Potatoes

• Some Singular Nouns ending in “o” changes to plural Noun by adding “s” at the end. For example, auto à autos
• Type 2. When a singular Noun ends with ‘f’ or ‘fe’ , change ‘f’or ‘fe’ to ‘ves’ to get its plural. For example, knife à knives and calf à calves.
• But there are certain exceptions. For example, plural of Dwarf can be spelled as Dwarfs or Dwarves. Similarly, plural of Scarf can be spelled as Scarfs or Scarves.
• Some other exceptions are exhibited by the words Proof, cliff, and chief. The plural of these words can be obtained just by adding “s” at the end. Therefore, the plural of these words are proofs, cliffs and chiefs respectively. 
• Type 3. When a singular Noun ends with “y” , change ‘y’ to ‘ies’ to get its plural. For example, lady à ladies and baby à babbies.
• Type 4. When a singular Noun ends with “s, sh, x, ch” , add “es” at the end to get its plural. For example, wish à wishes and box à boxes.
• All the above examples are called regular noun.

Irregular Noun Plurals

• There are some Nouns whose plurals are not written in usual way using the rules of regular Nouns. They are called Irregular nouns.
• Irregular nouns change to their plurals by changing the vowels, word, or adding a different ending to the word.
• Case I: Changing the vowel.  

For Example:

• In the above examples, the vowel “a” is replaced by “e”.

• Case 2: There are some Nouns that do not follow any specific rule or pattern to get their plural. For example,

Noun with singular and plural alike

Some Nouns remain same in their singular form as well as plural form

For Example:

• Aircraft -> aircraft.
• Baggage -> baggage.
• Deer -> deer.
• Sheep -> sheep.
• News -> news.
• Knowledge -> knowledge.
• Music -> music.

Plural of Compound Noun

• The plural of the compound Nouns are obtained by adding a plural ending to the last part of the compound
• The renowned construction company is going to build two new car parks in town.