Singular and Plural

Adding ‘s’ or ‘es’ to Nouns for Class 2 English

This concept will explain how a student can change singular, s or es use at the end of the main word and change it from singular to plural. It also tells when a noun is identified as more than one. It is in plural form.

Students will learn the following from this concept:

• A list of singular and plural nouns
• Examples of words changing from singular to plural
• Common mistakes on this topic

Each concept is explained to class 2 English students using examples, illustrations, and concept maps. After you go through a concept, assess your learning by solving the two printable singular and plural worksheets given at the end of the page.

Download the change singular nouns to plural worksheets and check your answers with the worksheet solutions for the concept singular and plural provided in PDF format.

What to Make Singular Nouns Plural?

• In order to change a word from singular to plural ‘s’ or ‘es’ are added to the end of a word.
• When you want to indicate more than one noun, ‘s’ or ‘es’ are added at the end.

List of Singular and Plural:

Here, the picture has more than one noun , the word ‘boys’ and ‘cats’ have ‘s’ at the end.

's' 'es' Rules

1. When the singular nouns end in ‘s’, ‘o’, ‘ss’, ‘sh’, ‘ch’, ‘x’, or ‘z’, add ‘es’ at the end to make it plural.

Examples :

1. bus – buses
2. tax – taxes
3. brush – brushes
4. Potato – potatoes

However there are exceptions to this rule.

2. If the singular noun ends in ‘y’ and the letter before the ‘y’ is a vowel, add an ‘s’ to make it plural.

Examples :

1. ray – rays
2. boy – boys
3. If the noun ends with ‘fe’ or ‘f’, the f is usually changed to ‘ve’ before adding the ‘s’ to the plural version.

Examples :

1. wife – wives
2. wolf – wolves

Common Mistakes

• Don’t use ‘s’ or ‘es’ in the plural form of words like child. Remember, no ‘s’ used on child to make it plural. The plural of child is children.

  Incorrect and Correct Usage:

  He has two children.

  He has two childs.

  There are many such words which doesn’t take ‘s’ or ‘es’ in their plural forms.

  Examples :

  Singular	Plural
  Man	Men
  Tooth	Teeth
  Woman	Women

• In words like ‘people’, nothing changes when you turn it into plural form. It remains the same. So, don’t add ‘s’ to ‘people’ to make it plural.

  Correct and Incorrect Usage:

  There are many people living in this colony.

  There are many peoples living in this colony.