Unit 65

flower(s) bus(es) (singular and plural)

Grammar
Examples
Exercises

A. The plural of a noun is usually -s:

a flower
some flowers
  • singular (= one) → plural (= two or more)
  • a flower → some flowers
  • a week → two weeks
  • a nice place → many nice places
  • this shop → these shops

Spelling (= Appendix 5):

-s / -sh / -ch / -x →-es
bus →buses
dish →dishes
church →churches
box →boxes
also
potato →potatoes
tomato →tomatoes
-y →-ies
baby →babies
party →parties
dictionary →dictionaries
but -ay / -ey / -oy →-ys
day →days
monkey →monkeys
boy →boys
-f / -fe →-ves
shelf →shelves
knife →knives
wife →wives

B. These things are plural in English:

scissors
glasses
trousers
jeans
shorts
tights
pyjamas
  • Do you wear glasses?
  • Where are the scissors? I need them.

You can also say a pair of scissors / a pair of trousers / a pair of pyjamas etc.:

  • I need a new pair of jeans. or I need some new jeans. (not 'a new jeans')

C. Some plurals do not end in -s:

  • this man → these men
  • one foot → two feet
  • that sheep → those sheep
  • a woman → some women
  • a tooth → all my teeth
  • a fish → a lot of fish
  • a child → many children
  • a mouse → some mice

also: a person → two people / some people / a lot of people etc.

  • She's a nice person.
  • They are nice people. (not 'nice persons')

D. People is plural (= they), so we say people are / people have etc.:

  • A lot of people speak English. (not 'speaks')
  • I like the people here. They are very friendly.

Police is plural:

  • 'The police are here.' 'Why? What do they want?'

Regular Plurals (-s)

  • a flower → some flowers
  • a week → two weeks
  • this shop → these shops

Special Plurals (-es, -ies, -ves)

  • bus → buses
  • church → churches
  • baby → babies
  • knife → knives

Always Plural

  • scissors
  • glasses
  • trousers
  • jeans

Irregular Plurals

  • man → men
  • woman → women
  • child → children
  • foot → feet
  • tooth → teeth
  • mouse → mice
  • fish → fish
  • sheep → sheep

people / police

  • A lot of people speak English.
  • The police are here.
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65.1 Write the plural.
1 flower flowers
2 boat
3 woman
4 city
5 umbrella
6 address
7 knife
8 sandwich
9 family
10 foot
11 holiday
12 potato
65.2 Look at the pictures and complete the sentences.
There are a lot of sheep in the field.
George is cleaning his teeth.
There are three men at the bus stop.
Jill has got two children.
There are a lot of fish in the river.
1 There are a lot of sheep in the field.
2 George is cleaning his .
3 There are three at the bus stop.
4 Jill has got two .
5 There are a lot of in the river.
6 The are falling from the tree.
65.3 Some of these sentences are right but most are wrong. Correct the sentences that are wrong.
1 I'm going to buy some flowers. OK
2 I need a new jeans.
3 It's a lovely park with a lot of beautiful tree.
4 There was a woman in the car with two mens.
5 Sheep eat grass.
6 David is married and has three childs.
7 Most of my friend are students.
8 He put on his pyjama and went to bed.
9 We went fishing but we didn't catch many fish.
10 Do you know many persons in this town?
11 I like your trousers. Where did you get it?
12 The town centre is usually full of tourist.
13 I don't like mice. I'm afraid of them.
14 This scissor isn't very sharp.
65.4 Which is right? Complete the sentences.
1 It's a nice place. Many people go there for a holiday. (go or goes?)
2 Some people always late. (is or are?)
3 The president is not popular. The people . (don't or doesn't?)
4 A lot of people television every day. (watch or watches?)
5 Three people injured in the accident. (was or were?)
6 How many people in that house? (live or lives?)
7 are looking for the stolen car. (The police or The polices?)
8 I need my glasses but I can't find . (it or them?)
9 I'm going to buy new jeans today. (a or some?)