88 - Singular and Plural Nouns - US

Grammar Practice Worksheets
Singular & Plural Nouns

Table of Contents
2 Grammar Notes
6 Exercise 1
Proper & Common Nouns
7 Exercise 2
Regular Nouns
8 Exercise 3
Listening & Speaking
9 Exercise 4
Spelling & Pronunciation
10 Exercise 5
How Many?
11 Exercise 6
Irregular Nouns
12 Exercise 7
Fill in the Blanks
13 Exercise 8
Find the Errors
14 Exercise 9
Picture This!
16 Exercise 10
Quiz
17 Grammar Assessment Tool
18 Self-Assessment
19 Answer Key
Copyright 2019, Red River Press Inc. For use by ESL Library members only. ( B E G / V E R S I O N 1. 3) 1
Grammar Notes
SINGULAR & PLUR AL NOUNS
A. Introduction to Nouns
A noun is a person, place, or thing. Nouns are usually the subject

(before the verb) or object (after the verb) of a sentence.
• Julia likes puppies.
• The students are taking a test.
B. Proper & Common Nouns
Proper nouns are the names of people, places, or things.

In English, proper nouns take a capital letter.
Common Noun Proper Noun Common Noun Proper Noun
a person Ali an ocean Atlantic Ocean
a pet Fido a river Amazon River
a city London a lake Lake Baikal
a country Brazil a mountain Mount Fiji
a building Eiffel Tower a park Central Park
a company Coca-Cola a planet Jupiter
C. Singular Nouns
Singular means one. A singular common noun often has

an article (a, an, or the) or the number one in front of it.
• a truck
• an umbrella
• the bank
• one sandwich
Grammar Notes cont.

D. Regular Plural Nouns
Plural means two or more. To form the plural of most regular nouns,
add the ending -s. A plural common noun often has the, a number
(two or more), or no article in front of it.
• a cat  cats
• an apple  apples
• the chair  the chairs
• one banana  two bananas
Look at the spelling patterns for regular plural nouns.

Can you think of any more nouns to add to this chart?
Rule Singular Plural
• banana • bananas
Add -s to most regular nouns. • flower • flowers
• toy • toys
• candy • candies
If the noun ends in a consonant
• butterfly • butterflies
+ -y, change -y to -i and add -es.
• puppy • puppies
• kiss • kisses
If the noun ends in -s, -z, -x, -ch,
• box • boxes
or -sh, add -es.
• dish • dishes
• potato • potatoes
If the noun ends in a consonant
• tomato • tomatoes
+ -o, add -es.
• hero • heroes
Grammar Notes cont.

E. Pronunciation Rules for Regular Plural Nouns
How is the plural ending -s pronounced? That depends on the final sound
of the singular noun. Listen to the recording and repeat the examples.
# Rule Examples
If the noun ends with the voiceless (soft) sounds • roofs • maps • months
1
f, k, p, t, or θ, pronounce the -s ending as s. • books • cats
• cribs • songs • bananas

• beds • sisters • trees
If the noun ends with the voiced (loud) sounds
• dogs • clothes • plays
2 b, d, g, l, m, n, ŋ, r, ð, v, w, or any vowel sound,
• girls • caves • pianos
pronounce the -s ending as z.
• plums • cows • emus
• vans
If the noun ends with the voiceless sounds s, ks, ∫, or • kisses • batches • quizzes
3 t∫ or the voiced sounds dӡ, ӡ, or z, pronounce the -s • boxes • bridges
ending as ız (as a separate syllable). • wishes • garages
Grammar Notes cont.

F. Irregular Plural Nouns
Irregular nouns don’t take the -s ending to form the plural.

Instead, there are various changes or no changes to these nouns.
• a goose  geese
• a die  dice
• a fish  fish
Look at the spelling patterns for irregular plural nouns.

Can you think of any more nouns to add to this chart?
Type of Change Pattern Singular Plural
• man • men
-a  -e
• woman • women
Middle Vowel Change
• foot • feet
-oo  -ee
• tooth • teeth
• person • people
Middle Vowel + Consonant Change (various)
• mouse • mice
• child • children
Ending Added (various)
• ox • oxen
• knife • knives
-fe / -f  -ves
• half • halves
• cactus • cacti
-us  -i
• alumnus • alumni
Ending Change
• crisis • crises
-sis  -ses
• thesis • theses
• bacterium • bacteria
-um  -a
• datum • data
• deer • deer
No Change —
• species • species
Exercise 1
PROPER & COMMON NOUNS
Write P if the noun is a proper noun.

Write C if the noun is a common noun.
Ex. C a child
1. an orange
2. a book
3. The Lord of the Rings
4. Fluffy
5. Taj Mahal
6. the car
7. Starbucks
8. a bird
9. a movie
10. Pacific Ocean
11. the school
12. an elephant
13. Harvard University
14. Google
15. the bus
Exercise 2
REGULAR NOUNS
Put a check mark () in the singular column if there is only one of the noun.
Put a check mark () in the plural column if there are two or more of the noun.
# Noun Singular Plural
Ex the book 
1 a tree
2 shoes
3 the park
4 an apple
5 the vegetables
6 flowers
7 a dictionary
8 the TV
9 a pencil
10 an umbrella
11 bicycles
12 the people
13 leaves
14 a horse
15 the beach
Exercise 3
LISTENING & SPEAKING
A. Listening Practice
What sound does the -s ending make? Listen to the following

words and put a check mark () in the /s/, /z/, or /ız/ column.
# Plural Noun /s/ /z/ /ız/
1 surprises 
2 paths
3 dogs
4 placemats
5 lids
6 rashes
7 watches
8 forks
9 lemons
10 cups
11 chairs
12 businesses
B. Speaking Practice
Listen and repeat the words in Part A.

Pay attention to your pronunciation.
Exercise 4
SPELLING & PRONUNCIATION
A. Spelling Practice
Write the plural form for the following nouns.
# Singular Noun Plural Noun # Singular Noun Plural Noun
Ex knife knives 8 branch
1 cookie 9 coat
2 cake 10 party
3 dish 11 class
4 leaf 12 minute
5 bridge 13 play
6 box 14 lady
7 potato 15 month
B. Pronunciation Practice
With a partner, read the plural nouns in Part A out loud.

Pay attention to your pronunciation.
Exercise 5
HOW MANY?
Ask your partner these questions and write his or her answers in the chart.
Can you think of more questions with “How many” to ask your partner?
# Question Answer
Ex How many hours of sleep do you get? 8 hours
1 How many brothers and sisters do you have?
2 How many pets do you have?
3 How many pairs of shoes do you own?
4 How many days a week do you study English?
How many hours do you spend on social media

5
(e.g., Facebook) in a day?
6 How many phone calls do you make in a week?
7 How many texts do you send in a week?
8 How many TV shows do you watch in a week?
9 How many movies do you watch in a month?
10 How many books do you read in a year?
Exercise 6
IRREGULAR NOUNS
Write the plural forms of the irregular nouns in the chart.
# Singular Plural # Singular Plural
Ex one alumnus alumni

two 8 one oasis two
1 one woman two 9 one foot two
2 one fish two 10 one wife two
3 one child two 11 one crisis two
4 one goose two 12 one half two
5 one man two 13 one ox two
6 one mouse two 14 one species two
7 one die two 15 one bacterium two
Exercise 7
FILL IN THE BLANKS
Fill in the blanks with regular and irregular nouns from the list.
Use plural forms. Use each word only once.
Noun List:
• child • bus • fish • person
• dish • blanket • superhero • calf
• baby • sheep • knife
children
Ex. They have three sons and three daughters. They have six .
1. Baby cows are called .
2. It is dangerous to play with sharp .
3. I have to do the after dinner.
4. are animals that produce wool.
5. I need three strong to help me carry the refrigerator upstairs.
6. My friend caught four in the river.
7. Fourteen were born at that hospital yesterday.
8. You have to take two to get to the mall.
9. Here are some more in case you get cold.
10. My brother loves Marvel Comics. He has posters of

all over his bedroom walls.
Exercise 8
FIND THE ERRORS
Find one error in each sentence. Write the correct sentence below it.
Ex. They found two new bird speciess on that island.
They found two new bird species on that island.
1. I saw six butterflys in the garden.
2. There are three zoos in the four citys near my house.
3. We need more knifes and forks.
4. Those people are feeding the gooses.
5. There are many big oxes in the fields behind the barn.
6. I looked under the desks and saw many feets.
7. Woman usually live longer than men.
8. Have the children lost all their baby tooths?
9. Would you like some more carrots or potatos?
10. I asked my son to pick up his toyes.
Exercise 9
PICTURE THIS!
Look at the pictures. Write a singular or plural noun for each image.
1. child 2. people 3. 4.
5. 6. 7. 8.
9. 10. 11. 12.
Exercise 9 cont.
13. 14. 15. 16.
17. 18. 19. 20.
21. 22. 23. 24.
Exercise 10
QUIZ
Circle the correct answer.
1. Do you want any on your salad? 7. How many until your birthday?
a) tomatoes a) monthes
b) tomatos b) months
2. The children wanted to pet the . 8. Three of my friends dressed up as
for Halloween.
a) puppys
b) puppies a) witches
b) witchs
3. How many English did you take last week?
9. She goes to the gym on .
a) class
b) classes a) Fridays
b) Fridaies
4. Did you see the at the zoo?
10. I cut the apple into two .
a) wolves
b) wolfs a) halfs
b) halves
5. There are two in my city.
11. The dentist pulled three out of his mouth.
a) libraries
b) librarys a) teeth
b) tooths
6. The stole a lot of jewelry.
12. There are a lot of in this garden.
a) thieves
b) thiefs a) cactus
b) cacti
Grammar Assessment
Student / Group:
Date Level Assessed By Target Skill
Singular &
Grammar
Plural Nouns
Achieved Achieved with Help Needs Improvement

Criteria
differentiates common
and proper nouns
differentiates singular
and plural nouns
pronounces regular
plural nouns correctly
forms the plural of regular

and irregular nouns using
the correct spelling
Notes
Self-Assessment
SINGULAR & PLUR AL NOUNS
Add check marks () to show what you've learned in this lesson.
Name: Date:
Yes (very well) Yes (with help) Not yet

Can I...
tell the difference between common

and proper nouns?
pronounce regular plural nouns properly?
spell regular plural nouns correctly?
spell irregular plural nouns correctly?
My Notes
Answer Key
LESSON DESCRIPTION: LEVEL: Beg
This lesson teaches students how to form regular and irregular TIME: 2–3 hours
plural nouns. Students will review and practice spelling and
TAGS: plural, singular, nouns, plural nouns, regular, irregular,
pronunciation rules for plural nouns in English.
spelling, pronunciation, grammar, assessment
Exercise 1 Exercise 4
1. C 4. P 7. P 10. P 13. P A. SPELLING PR ACTICE

2. C 5. P 8. C 11. C 14. P
1. cookies 6. boxes 11. classes
3. P 6. C 9. C 12. C 15. C
2. cakes 7. potatoes 12. minutes
3. dishes 8. branches 13. plays
Exercise 2 4. leaves 9. coats 14. ladies
5. bridges 10. parties 15. months
1. singular 6. plural 11. plural
2. plural 7. singular 12. plural B. PRONUNCIATION PR ACTICE
3. singular 8. singular 13. plural
4. singular 9. singular 14. singular Monitor your students for the correct pronunciation
5. plural 10. singular 15. singular of the plural endings. The correct pronunciation is:
1. /z/ 4. /z/ 7. /z/ 10. /z/ 13. /z/

Exercise 3 2. /s/ 5. /ız/ 8. /ız/ 11. /ız/ 14. /z/
3. /ız/ 6. /ız/ 9. /s/ 12. /s/ 15. /s/
A. LISTENING PR ACTICE
1. /ız/ 3. /z/ 5. /z/ 7. /ız/ 9. /z/ 11. /z/ Exercise 5

2. /s/ 4. /s/ 6. /ız/ 8. /s/ 10. /s/ 12. /ız/
Answers will vary. You may want to challenge pairs who complete
B. SPEAKING PR ACTICE the exercise quickly to think of more questions. Alternatively, have
all students write five more questions for homework.
You can choose to do this exercise as a class or by calling on
individual students. Alternatively, put students in pairs. Monitor
(continued on the next page...)
your students for the correct pronunciation of the plural endings.
Answer Key cont.

Exercise 6 Exercise 10
1. women 6. mice 11. crises 1. a 3. b 5. a 7. b 9. a 11. a

2. fish 7. dice 12. halves 2. b 4. a 6. a 8. a 10. b 12. b
3. children 8. oases 13. oxen
4. geese 9. feet 14. species Grammar Assessment
5. men 10. wives 15. bacteria
Use this tool for assessment purposes. Find alternative assessment
Exercise 7 tools that you can personalize in our Resources section:
https://esllibrary.com/resources
1. calves 6. fish
2. knives 7. babies Self-Assessment
3. dishes 8. buses
4. Sheep 9. blankets Have your students fill out this form. Find alternative self-reflection
5. people 10. superheroes tools that you can personalize in our Resources section:
https://esllibrary.com/resources
Exercise 8
SPELLING NOTE:
1. I saw six butterflies in the garden.
This lesson shows the American spelling of the word Jewelry.
2. There are three zoos in the four cities near my house.
Most other English-speaking countries spell it this way: Jewellery.
3. We need more knives and forks.
Make it a challenge for your students to find this word in the
4. Those people are feeding the geese.
lesson and see if they know the alternate spelling.
5. There are many big oxen in the fields behind the barn.
6. I looked under the desks and saw many feet. EDITOR'S NOTES:
7. Women usually live longer than men.
8. Have the children lost all their baby teeth? You may want to point out that there are some exceptions to
9. Would you like some more carrots or potatoes? the “f  ves” rule. Words that don’t follow this change include
10. I asked my son to pick up his toys. roofs and beliefs. You may also wish to discuss the plural of words
ending in -o in more detail. Here are the general rules:
Exercise 9 1. Some words ending in -o take the -es plural ending

(e.g., potatoes, tomatoes, heroes).
Answers may vary. Have students work individually or in pairs.
2. Some words ending in -o can take either the -es or -s
You could also cut up the cards and have students quiz each other.
plural ending (e.g.,mangoes/mangos, zeroes/zeros,
1. child 9. tomatoes 17. deer volcanoes/volcanos).
2. people 10. umbrella 18. buses
3. If a word ends in -oe, add -s (e.g., toe  toes, shoe  shoes).
3. chairs 11. mice 19. dice
4. If the letter before the final -o is a vowel, add -s
4. watches 12. dishes/plates 20. teeth
(e.g., patio  patios, video  videos).
5. feet 13. babies 21. boxes
6. flowers 14. cacti 22. car 5. If the word ending in -o is short for a longer word
7. cat 15. elephant 23. bananas (e.g., photograph  photo, automobile  auto), add -s
8. fish 16. knives 24. dogs (e.g., photos, autos).

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Grammar Practice Worksheets

Singular & Plural Nouns

17 Grammar Assessment Tool

A noun is a person, place, or thing. Nouns are usually the subject

• Julia likes puppies.

• The students are taking a test.

B. Proper & Common Nouns

Proper nouns are the names of people, places, or things.

Common Noun Proper Noun Common Noun Proper Noun

a person Ali an ocean Atlantic Ocean

a pet Fido a river Amazon River

a city London a lake Lake Baikal

a country Brazil a mountain Mount Fiji

a building Eiffel Tower a park Central Park

a company Coca-Cola a planet Jupiter

Singular means one. A singular common noun often has

Grammar Notes cont.

• the chair  the chairs

• one banana  two bananas

Look at the spelling patterns for regular plural nouns.

Rule Singular Plural

Grammar Notes cont.

• cribs • songs • bananas

Grammar Notes cont.

Irregular nouns don’t take the -s ending to form the plural.

Look at the spelling patterns for irregular plural nouns.

Type of Change Pattern Singular Plural

Write P if the noun is a proper noun.

3. The Lord of the Rings

10. Pacific Ocean

11. the school

13. Harvard University

15. the bus

# Noun Singular Plural

What sound does the -s ending make? Listen to the following

# Plural Noun /s/ /z/ /ız/

Listen and repeat the words in Part A.

Write the plural form for the following nouns.

# Singular Noun Plural Noun # Singular Noun Plural Noun

Ex knife knives 8 branch

With a partner, read the plural nouns in Part A out loud.

Ex How many hours of sleep do you get? 8 hours

1 How many brothers and sisters do you have?

2 How many pets do you have?

3 How many pairs of shoes do you own?

4 How many days a week do you study English?

How many hours do you spend on social media

6 How many phone calls do you make in a week?

7 How many texts do you send in a week?

8 How many TV shows do you watch in a week?

9 How many movies do you watch in a month?

10 How many books do you read in a year?

Write the plural forms of the irregular nouns in the chart.

# Singular Plural # Singular Plural

Ex one alumnus alumni

1 one woman two 9 one foot two

2 one fish two 10 one wife two

3 one child two 11 one crisis two

4 one goose two 12 one half two

• Julia likes puppies.

• The students are taking a test.