Singular Plural Rules

Singular Plural Rules

Introduction to Singular/Plural Inconsistency

Everything within a sentence should be either singular or plural. For example, "Everyone has their own idea of the American Dream" should either be "Everyone has his or her own idea of the American Dream" or "People all have their own ideas about the American Dream." But you can’t have "everyone" having "their" idea. It generally doesn’t matter whether you choose to make sentences singular or plural; just choose one and stick with it, both within sentences and between sentences (i.e., throughout the paragraph). If you don't understand the example that was just shown here is a hint: plural subjects (nouns) must agree with plural verbs. Also, singular subjects must agree with singular verbs. This section could have been titled subject/verb agreement.

Singular/Plural Inconsistency generally arises because of the problem of gender-specific pronouns. For example, people know, if they think about it, that "everyone" has his or her own idea, but it sounds wordy to say it that way, so people switch to plural because "they" is gender-neutral (i.e., it can refer to men, women, or a mix of both). We do it in verbal conversation all the time, but when you’re writing, you need to observe the rules of formal writing. So if "Everyone has his or her own idea" sounds wordy to you, that’s fine; choose plural and go with "People all have their own ideas."

Note that "People all have their own ideas about the American Dream." Different people have different ideas; they don’t all have one idea about something. But plural people can share one thing; a husband and wife can have "a life," if you mean the life they live together, but if you’re talking about their individual lives, then you would have to say so. For example:

My grandmother and grandfather had a long and happy life in Desert Hot Springs, California. {talks about the life they shared}

OR

My grandmother and grandfather devoted their lives to the care of their family. {My grandmother and grandfather had separate lives – my grandfather passed away several years ago but my grandmother is still living – and each devoted his or her life to the care of the family they had together}

Plurals of Nouns:

1.  Add an "s" to form the plural of most nouns.

o    zebra -- zebras

o    piano -- pianos

o    block -- blocks

2.  If the word ends in any of the following hissing sounds: s, z, x, ch, or sh, add an "es" to form the plural.

o    zebra -- zebras

o    piano -- pianos

o    block -- blocks

3.  If the word ends in a vowel plus "y", add "s".

o    trolley -- trolleys

o    ray -- rays

o    key -- keys

4.  If the word ends in a consonant "y", change the "y" into an "ie" and add "s".

o    baby -- babies

o    daisy -- daisies

o    fairy -- fairies

5.  If the word ends in "is" change the "is" to "es".

o    synopsis -- synopses

o    thesis -- theses

o    metastasis -- metastases

6.  A few words that end in "fe" or "f" have plurals formed by "ves".

o    wife -- wives

o    knife -- knives

o    shelf -- shelves

o    elf -- elves

7.  Words that end in "o" can often have two plural forms, but some can only have one plural form. Consider the following guidelines:

o    If the word ends in a vowel plus "o", just add a "s".

§  stereo -- stereos

§  fascia -- fascias

§  imbroglio -- imbroglios

o    If a musical term ends in "o", just add a "s".

§  solo -- solos

§  piano -- pianos

§  piccolo -- piccolos

§  cello -- cellos

o    Some words can be formed with either a "s" or and "os".

§  avocados/avocadoes

§  cargos/cargoes

§  innuendos/innuendoes

§  lassos/lassoes

§  peccadillos/peccadilloes

§  (there are other pairs like this)

Note that the spell-check in most word processors will usually
recognize only one of these forms as legitimate, which is fine.

8.  The plurals of numbers, single capital letters, or acronyms take a single "s" with no apostrophe:

o    10s

o    Zs

o    ATMs

Subject and Noun Agreement:

1.  When two or more nouns or pronouns that are connected by and are the subject of a sentence, use a plural verb.

o    Right: George and his buddies are going to the concert.

o    Wrong: George and his buddies is going to the concert.

Because they are connected by and they are considered as a group of things, and the verb must reflect the plurality of the group.

2.  When two or more nouns or pronouns that are connected by or or nor are the subject of a sentence, use a singular verb.

o    Right: The knife or the candlestick is the murder weapon.

o    Wrong: The knife or the candlestick are the murder weapon.

Because they are connected by or or nor they are considered separately, and the verb must reflect that uniqueness (singularity).

3.  Compound subjects (more than one noun) are tricky. When there is both a singular noun and a plural noun forming the compound, the verb form must agree with the noun that is closest.

o    Consider: The woman plays hard. -or- The women play hard.

o    Right: The men or the woman plays hard.

o    Wrong: The man or the woman play hard.

Note than the noun closest to the verb, woman, is singular so the verb, plays, must agree as it would if there were only woman as the subject.

We can also turn that around:

o    Right: The man or the women play hard.

o    Wrong: The man or the women plays hard.

Again, note the noun closest to the verb.

4.  Phrases that are inserted between the subject and the verb can cause confusion. Consider the sentence without the phrase to clarify the proper usage.

o    Consider: One is empty. [Leaving out the phrase.]

o    Right: One of the jars is empty.

o    Wrong: One of the jars are empty.

Yes,  jars is a plural noun but the phrase specifies one of the jars.

o    Right: Mia, along with her teammates, is tense. [The basic sentence is, "Mia is tense."]

o    Wrong: Mia, along with her teammates, are tense.

Note that if the sentence were structured so as to compound the subjects, then the rule above would apply.

o    Consider: Mia or her teammates are tense.

5.  Be careful with contractions.

Don't is a contraction of do not. It should be used with a plural subject.

o    They don’t like it.

o    Republicans don’t support that policy.

o    Quarks don’t subdivide.

Doesn’t is a contraction of does not. It should be used with a singular subject.

o    He doesn’t like it.

o    The President doesn’t support that policy.

o    A dollar doesn’t buy as much as it once did.

EXCEPTION: When using the pronouns I or you, the contraction don’t is the proper form.

o    I don’t like it.

o    You don’t like it.

6.  Some words and phrases are singular and require a singular verb. They are:

	anybody	anyone	each	each one
	either	neither	everyone	nobody
	no one	somebody	someone

o    Consider: Each is empty. [Leaving out the phrase.]

o    Right: Each of the jars is empty.

o    Wrong: Each of the jars are empty.

o    Consider: Someone is lying. [Leaving out the phrase.]

o    Right: Someone in this room is lying.

o    Wrong: Someone in this room are lying.

7.  There are nouns that have an "s" on the end that are, nevertheless, singular. Think about what they are. Measles is a disease. It is news, and there are no such things as newses (sic). These nouns require a singular verb. Some examples are:

	civics	mathematics	physics	stasis
	measles	news	tuberculosis	basis

Example: Mathematics is necessary for that major.

SPECIAL CASE: When referring to dollars as things, it requires a plural verb. When referring to an amount of money in dollars, it requires a singular verb.

o    Right: Ten-thousand dollars is a tidy amount.

o    Wrong: Ten-thousand dollars are a tidy amount.

o    Right: Dollars are the preferred medium of exchange.

o    Wrong: Dollars is the preferred medium of exchange.

8.  There are some nouns that refer to things that have two or more parts to them and the subject is, therefore, plural. Again, think about what they are and the two or more parts that they’re made of.

	pliers	tweezers	shears	trousers
	pants	slacks	shoes	lips
	ears	feet	sides	margins

o    The pliers are rusty.

o    My toes are cold.

o    The slacks are made of wool.

9.  When a sentence begins with there is or there are the subject is following the verb. The verb must then agree with the following subject. In other words, there is not the subject. In the following examples the subject is in italics and the verb is underlined.

o    There are many logs.

o    There are too many people to be counted.

o    There are a few simple rules that apply.

o    There is a log.

o    There is but one who stands to be counted.

o    There is a simple rule that applies.

10.                    Some nouns refer to a collection or group but are considered singular. Family is a good example. A family has more than one member by definition but is a recognizable entity in itself, and is therefore considered singular.

	family	team	inventory	group
	set	class	committee	membership

o    Their family holds a reunion every year.

o    The inventory is counted today.

o    The committee decides on matters of policy.

EXCEPTION: When referring to a portion or distinct members of the group the plural verb is used.

o    Her family are disagreeing with each other.

MASCULINE-FEMININE

In Grammar-Nouns, there are FOUR GENDERS.
1. Masculine gender:
A noun is said to be in the Masculine gender if it refers to a male character or member of a species.
Man, lion, hero, boy, king, horse and actor are nouns of masculine gender.
Example:
• A boy is playing in the play-ground.
• Hero of the movie is not a native of this country.
In these sentences the words “boy” and “hero” are masculine-gender nouns.

The next in the Noun-Gender is feminine gender.

2. Feminine gender:
A noun is said to be in the feminine gender if it refers to a female member of a species.

Woman, lioness, heroine, girl, mare, niece, empress, cow and actress are few of the feminine-gender nouns that we use.
Example:
• A girl is playing in the play-ground.
• Heroine of the movie is not a native of this country.
In these sentences the words “girl” and “heroine” are feminine-gender nouns.

The next in the Noun-Gender is common gender.

3. Common gender:
A noun is said to be in Common gender if it refers to a member of species which can be a male or a female.
Child, student, friend, applicant, candidate, servant, member,

parliamentarian and leader are few of the common-gender nouns.
Example:
• A child is playing in the play-ground.
• A Parliamentarian should have command over his language.
In these sentences the words, “child” and “parliamentarian” are nouns of common gender.

The next in the Noun-Gender is neuter gender.

4. Neuter gender:

A noun is said to be in the neuter gender if it refers to a member of a species which is neither a male nor a female.

Normally nouns referring to lifeless objects are in neuter nouns.

Chair, table, tree, star, mountain, street, book, car, school,
paper, pencil and computer are few of the neuter nouns which We use regularly.

Example:

• Computer has brought about drastic changes in our lives.
• Tree is cleansing the air.
• Stars are not visible in the day-time.
• Books are our best friends.

In these sentences the words, “computer”, “tree”, “stars” and “books” are the neuter-gender nouns.

NOTE:

a. Collective nouns, even if they refer to living-beings, are used as neuter-nouns.

Example:

i. The army is doing its task.

ii. The police are called to manage the situation.

In these sentences the nouns (army and police) refer to only living-beings. But they are used only as neuter-nouns.

b.Objects noted for their power, strength, and violence are used as Masculine gender nouns.

The sun, summer, time, death etc… are masculine-gender nouns.

Example:

i. The sun is so scorching now that we can not go out now to face him without an umbrella.

ii. The death is cruel. He is as certain as tomorrow.

In these sentences the words “sun” and “death” have been used as Masculine-gender nouns.

c. Objects noted for their beauty, gentleness and grace are used as feminine-gender nouns.

The moon, the earth, spring, charity etc… are feminine-gender nouns.

Example:

i. The moon is so bright at this time that she induces romantic mood in us.

ii. The earth is patient. Her beauty is spoiled day-by-day.

The masculine-genders and their respective feminine-genders have been given below for your reference.

Masculine	Feminine
abbot	Abbess
actor	Actress
Alexander	Alexandra
bachelor	Spinster
baron	baroness
beau	Belle
billy-goat	nanny-goat
boar	Sow
boy	Girl
bridegroom	Bride
brother	Sister
buck	Doe
buck-rabbit	doe-rabbit
bull	Cow
bull-calf	cow-calf
bullock	Heifer
Cecil	Cecilia
Charles	Charlotte
Christian	Christina
Clarence	Clara
cock	Hen
cock-sparrow	hen-sparrow
colt	Filly
count	countess
dog	Bitch
drake	Duck
duke	duchess
earl	countess
emperor	empress
enchanter	enchantress
father	Mother
father-in-law	mother-in-law
fiance	Fiancée
Francis	Frances
friar	Nun
gander	Goose
gentleman	Lady
George	Georgina
god	goddess
grandfather	grandmother
hart	Hind
he	She
he-goat	she-goat
headmaster	headmistress
heir	heiress
Henry	Henrietta
hero	heroine
him	Her
host	hostess
hound	Brach
husband	Wife
John	Joan
Joseph	Josephine
king	Queen
lad	Lass
landlord	landlady
lion	Lioness
lord	Lady
male	Female
male-child	female-child
man	Woman
manservant	maidservant
marquis	marchioness
masseur	masseuse
master	mistress
mayor	mayoress
monk	Nun
Mr	Mrs
nephew	Niece
Oliver	Olive
Patrick	Patricia
Paul	Pauline
postman	postwoman
postmaster	postmistress
priest	priestess
prince	princess
ram	Ewe
Robert	Roberta
shepherd	shepherdess
sir	Madam
sire	dam
son	daughter
son-in-law	daughter-in-law
sorcerer	sorceress
stag	hind
stallion	mare
steer	heifer
stepfather	stepmother
stepson	stepdaughter
steward	stewardess
Sultan	Sultana
tiger	tigress
tutor	governess
uncle	aunt
Victor	Victoria
waiter	waitress
widower	widow
William	Wilhelmina
wizard	witch