Plural and singular nouns
Nouns give names of concrete or abstract things in our lives. They have singular and plural forms.
Read the following explanation in the table about singular nouns.
Singular nouns. Indefinite article
Use with singular nouns
Using an and a depends on the pronunciation of the next word. In most cases though, an is used before words that begin with vowels (a, e, i, o u). For example:
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an apple
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an elephant
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an igloo
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an orange
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an umbrella
If a word starts with a consonant sound, use a.
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a ball
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a car
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a doll
Vowel sounds
It is very important to know that when a word starts with a vowel sound, you should use an. Sometimes u is pronounced as y. For example:
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an unforgettable experience - unforgettable has a vowel sound so we use an.
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a university - university has a y sound so we use a.
This is also the case with o, which may sometimes have a w sound. Compare:
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an octopus - octopus starts with a vowel sound.
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a one track mind - one-track starts has a w sound.
Plural of nouns
Read the rules to form the plural of nouns. Click on the icon to listen to the pronunciation.
For the plural form of most nouns, add s.
| bottle | bottles |
| cup | cups |
| pencil | pencils |
| desk | desks |
| sticker | stickers |
| window | windows |
For nouns that end in ch, x, s, or s sounds, add es.
| box | boxes |
| watch | watches |
| moss | mosses |
| bus | buses |
For nouns ending in f or fe, change f to v and add es.
| wolf | wolves |
| wife | wives |
| leaf | leaves |
| life | lives |
Some nouns have different plural forms. They are irregular nouns.
| child | children |
| woman | women |
| man | men |
| mouse | mice |
| goose | geese |
Nouns ending in vowels like y or o do not have definite rules.
| baby | babies |
| toy | toys |
| kidney | kidneys |
| potato | potatoes |
| memo | memos |
| stereo | stereos |
A few nouns have the same singular and plural forms.
| sheep | sheep |
| deer | deer |
| series | series |
| species | species |
Writing exercice
Es Part 1. Look at the words and choose a or an. Part 2. Look at the singular nouns and write the plural.
Parte 1. Observa las palabras y elige el artículo a / an según corresponda. Parte 2. Observa los sustantivos en singular y escríbelos en plural.