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Hello guys!
And welcome to this English course on nouns.
In today’s video, we’re going to talk
about singular and plural nouns.
When you speak English, it is very important
to know the difference between a singular
noun and a plural noun.
Ok?
So I will explain to you the different rules.
And we will practice together.
Let’s get started.
Ok guys, the first you need to know, is that
a singular noun means one.
So, for example, I can say, ‘cat’.
‘a cat’
‘one cat’
‘school’
‘a school’
‘one school’
‘team’
Now don’t forget, ‘team’ is a collective
noun.
It’s a group of people, but still, it is
a singular noun.
We talk about ‘a team’, or ‘one team.
‘lady’
‘monkey’
‘tomato’
‘a tomato’
‘one tomato’
Or ‘piano’.
Now, if we talk about plural nouns, it means
more than one.
So for example, two, three, four, or many.
If we take our words again, ‘a cat’ becomes
‘cats’.
‘two cats’
‘three cats’
‘many cats’
‘school’’ becomes ‘schools’.
‘team’ becomes ‘teams’.
Ok, so you just add an ‘s’.
Now ‘lady’ becomes ‘ladies.
‘monkey’ becomes ‘monkeys’.
But, two different rules.
As you can see,
‘lady’ is consonant + ‘y’.
Now when you have consonant + ‘y’, in
an English word, the plural will be ‘ies’.
‘lady’
‘ladies’
But when you have vowel + ‘y’ like ‘monkey’,
it just becomes ‘monkeys’.
You simply add an ‘s’.
Ok, ‘monkey’ becomes ‘monkeys’.
‘tomato’ becomes ‘tomatoes’.
‘piano’ ‘pianos’
Again, two different rules.
Now ‘tomato’ becomes ‘tomatoes’.
You add ‘es’.
And with most words ending in ‘o’, so
consonant + ‘o’, you will add ‘es’.
But sometimes, you will only add ‘s’.
Like ‘piano’, ‘pianos’.
There is no particular rule for this.
You just need to know the words that only
end with an ‘s’.
Ok, let’s move on to some pronunciation
now.
So, when it comes to pronunciation, we have
three different sounds.
The first sound is /s/.
The second sound is /z/.
And the third sounds is /Iz/.
So let’s review some words together and
be really careful, what sound do you hear?
‘cats’
‘cats’
What can you hear?
/s/
Can you repeat after me.
‘cats’
‘cats’
The second word is ‘schools’.
‘schools’
What sound can you hear?
Of course, /z/.
Repeat after me.
‘schools’
‘schools’
The third words is ‘teams’.
What sound can you hear?
Again, /z/.
Repeat after me.
‘teams’
‘teams’
Then we have ‘ladies’.
‘ladies’
/z/
Repeat after me.
‘ladies’
‘ladies’
Then ‘monkeys’.
/z/ again.
Repeat after me.
‘monkeys’.
‘monkeys’
Then we have ‘tomatoes’.
Again, it’s the /z/ sound.
‘tomatoes’
‘tomatoes’
And finally, ‘pianos’.
/z/
‘pianos’
‘pianos’
Let’s move on to other rules now.
Ok guys, let’s now talk about nouns that
end in ‘s’, ‘sh’, ‘x’, ‘ch’,
or ‘z’.
Now to make the plural form of these nouns,
you will add ‘es’.
And the sound will be /Iz/.
Let’s review some words together.
‘bus’ becomes ‘buses’.
‘bush’ ‘bushes’
‘fox’ ‘foxes’
‘beach’ ‘beaches’
‘quiz’ ‘quizzes’
Can you repeat after me?
‘buses’ ‘buses’
‘bushes’ ‘bushes’
‘foxes’ ‘foxes’
‘beaches’ ‘beaches’
‘quizzes’ ‘quizzes’
Let’s move on.
Ok, guys.
Moving on to nouns that end in ‘f’ or
‘fe’.
For example, ‘roof’ becomes ‘roofs’.
‘safe’ ‘safes’
So you simply add an ‘s’.
Then we have ‘leaf’ that becomes ‘leaves’.
Wait a minute.
What happened?
Well, ya, sometimes in English, a word ending
in ‘f’ becomes a word ending in ‘ves’
in plural.
That’s not a rule.
But some words end in ‘ves’, you just
have to learn them I’m afraid.
Another word, ‘wife’.
And again, ‘ves’.
‘wives’
‘shelf’ ‘shelves’
Again, this ‘ves’ ending.
Now let’s focus on pronunciation.
‘roofs’
So it’s an /s/ sound.
Can you repeat after me?
‘roofs’
‘roofs’
Good job.
‘safes’
‘safes’
Have you heard the /s/ sound?
‘safes’
Then we have ‘leaves’.
And this time it’s a /z/ sound.
Repeat after me.
‘leaves’
‘leaves’
Great.
Moving on.
‘wives’
‘wives’
And finally,
‘shelves’
‘shelves’
Great job guys.
Let’s move on to practice now.
Well students, let’s now practice together.
I’m going to give you a singular noun, and
I want you to try and find the plural form
of this singular noun.
Ok?
Let’s give it a try.
The first word is ‘baby’.
‘baby’
Don’t forget, it ends with consonant + ‘y’.
Do you remember the rule?
It’s ‘babies’ with ‘ies’.
Very nice.
‘baby’ ‘babies’
The second word is ‘toy’.
Hmmm, vowel + ‘y’.
So this time, ‘toys’.
You simply add an ‘s’.
Then we have ‘wish’.
Wish is a word that ends in ‘sh’.
Remember the rule.
‘wishes’
You add ‘es’.
‘taxi’ becomes ‘taxis’.
You simply add an ‘s’.
‘choice’ ‘choices’
Simply add an ‘s’ as well.
Then we have the word ‘wolf’.
Aha!
It’s a word ending in ‘f’.
Is it a word with ‘ves’?
It is.
‘wolves’
And finally,
‘photo’
Now remember the words ending in ‘o’?
You can add ‘es’ or simply ‘s’.
Well with photo, you simply add an ‘s’.
‘photos’
Now if we focus on pronunciation now.
Repeat the words after me.
‘babies’
The sound is /z/
‘babies’
‘toys’
‘toys’
‘wishes’
Remember this /Iz/ sound?
Repeat after me.
‘wishes’
‘taxis’
‘taxis’
‘choices’
‘choices’
‘wolves’
‘wolves’
And finally,
‘photos’ ‘photos’
Excellent job guys.
Now let’s move on to some example sentences.
I have some example sentences for you guys.
Using singular and plural nouns.
I would like you to repeat the sentences after me.
And be really careful to use proper pronunciation.
Let’s get started.
First,
‘I want a dog.’
‘I like dogs.’
Repeat after me, guys.
‘I want a dog.’
‘I like dogs.’
The second sentence.
‘I don’t want a fox.’
‘I don’t like foxes.’
After me, guys.
‘I don’t want a fox.’
‘I don’t like foxes.’
Great, moving on the to the third sentence.
‘I bought a watch.’
‘I have many watches.’
Repeat after me.
‘I bought a watch.’
‘I have many watches.’
Good job.
Sentence four now.
‘I have a new stereo.’
‘Now, I have two stereos.’
After me.
‘I have a new stereo.’
‘Now, I have two stereos.’
Excellent!
And finally,
‘There’s a knife.’
‘There are six knives in the kitchen.’
Repeat after me.
‘There’s a knife.’
‘There are six knives in the kitchen.’
Amazing job guys.
Very nice.
I hoped this has helped.
I hope you now understand better, singular
and plural nouns in English.
Now, I haven’t talked about all the pronunciation
rules,
But I hope you have a good sense now of how
pronounce plural forms.
Make sure you watch my next video if you want
to know more about nouns in English.
Thank you very much for watching guys.
Thank you for watching my video, guys!
If you’ve liked this video, please show
me your support.
Click ‘like’.
Subscribe to the channel.
Put your comments below and share the video.
See you.
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About this lesson
Learn how singular and plural nouns are formed and used in English, including regular and common irregular forms.