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Plurals

Presentation / Objective

One, two, three, many things in our world!

One of the most important things to learn in another language is WORDS! Along with your language learning you will have the opportunity to study grammar elements such as tenses, articles, adverbs, etc. At some point in your learning process, you will know all the grammar you need to understand the English language, but new WORDS will constantly appear. This happens because people create new words every day to identify things or objects in our world. When we think about words, we immediately think of vocabulary. There is a lot of vocabulary to learn. Among this vocabulary, there are specific rules about forming plurals in English.

Look at the following pictures, can you count how many mushrooms you see? Click on the mushrooms and discover more about this topic.

Mikeyskatie (2010) Mushroom [photo] Retrieved on 2017, May 23 from https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeyskatie/5458607051/

Objective

By the end of this topic you will:
Identify the characteristics and rules about plural noun formation in English to express the existence of objects in specific contexts.



By the end of the module, you will be able to work better with regular or irregular plural nouns. So let’s start!

Content

Hello again! In this module, you will review and work with plural nouns.

A noun is a grammatical category we have to talk about different things. Do you find it difficult to understand?

Let’s start with something easy.

Exercise 1

Identifying Nouns

Easy, isn’t it?

On the left column, you have photographs of different things like fruit, animals and objects. On the right column, you have the word that describes each of those objects. These words are called nouns.

Apple
Singular

King, J. (2010) Apple [photo] Retrieved on 2017, April 27 from https://www.flickr.com/photos/jking89/4573302424/sizes/l

Apples
Plural

Shafer, D. (2005) Apples [photo] Retrieved on 2017, May 5 from https://www.flickr.com/photos/opera-nut/4552446690/sizes/o/




It's easy, isn’t it? Of course, it is, because plurals refer to objects that have more than one element, as in the previous example, one apple and three apples.

Generally, plural nouns are formed by adding -s to the singular noun.
Let’s do one simple exercise to practice this rule.

Exercise 2

Listening to singular nouns

Now that you have completed the exercise, you may want to know the pronunciation of each word. Look at the following images and listen




Bhakti (2008) cow [photo] Retrieved on 2017, May 26 from https://pixabay.com/es/vaca-ganado-granja-animales-419081/

cows

Sharonang (2015) boy [photo] Retrieved on 2017, May 26 from https://pixabay.com/es/ni%C3%B1o-juguet%C3%B3n-guapo-lindo-travieso-598000/

boys

Langll (2015) sisters [photo] Retrieved on 2017, May 26 from https://pixabay.com/es/hermanas-ni%C3%B1as-verano-diversi%C3%B3n-931131/

girls

[photo] Retrieved on 2017, May 26 from https://pixabay.com/es/libro-lectura-edad-literatura-1659717/

books

Skitterphoto (2015) trees [photo] Retrieved on 2017, May 26 from https://pixabay.com/es/%C3%A1rboles-colina-verde-azul-790220/

trees

Visor (2016) pens [photo] Retrieved on 2017, May 26 from https://pixabay.com/es/bol%C3%ADgrafos-papeler%C3%ADa-oficina-1736044/

pens

Couleur (2017) oranges [photo] Retrieved on 2017, May 26 from https://pixabay.com/es/naranjas-c%C3%ADtricos-frutas-2100108/

oranges

Thomaspedrazzoli (2014) [photo] Retrieved on 2017, May 26 from https://pixabay.com/es/pl%C3%A1tanos-banano-arbustos-frutas-504478/

bananas

Mallander, J. (2007) kittens [photo] Retrieved on 2017, May 26 from https://pixabay.com/es/gatitos-gato-cachorro-de-gato-rush-555822/

cats

Pexels (2016) chairs [photo] Retrieved on 2017, May 26 from https://pixabay.com/es/sillas-sala-de-conferencias-vac%C3%ADo-2181919/

tables

In the last exercise, you added -s to the singular noun you form a plural noun.

However, this is not the case for ALL singular nouns. Let’s have a look at the following:

Class … classes
Dish … dishes
Match … matches
Box … boxes
Mango … mangoes

What can you see in the plurals? Is the spelling different?

We add -es to nouns ending in
-s; -sh; -ch; -x and to some nouns ending in -o

Let’s do an exercise to practice.

Exercise 3

So far, you know that you add -s or -es to make a singular noun plural. Be careful with the ending of the noun.

In this section, you will learn another rule for forming plural nouns. Look at the following word:

Ota (2012) City skyline [photo] Retrieved on 2017, May 25 from https://www.flickr.com/photos/101332430@N03/9681097554/


Aquarela (2012) Vista Aérea del Valle de México [photo] Retrieved on 2017, May 25 from https://www.flickr.com/photos/acuarela08/7992240759/sizes/l


Córdova, C. (2012) Panamá [photo] Retrieved on 2017, May 25 from https://www.flickr.com/photos/ccordova/8096242573/sizes/o/


Mantel, M. (2012) Brumas de Paris [photo] Retrieved on 2017, May 25 from https://www.flickr.com/photos/mariano-mantel/15033953541/sizes/l

City

Cities


Notice in the following example:

CONSONANT + Y

CONSONANT+IES

Look at the following examples:


Lady … ladies
Story … stories
Nanny … nannies

We have to be careful because some nouns end -y BUT they have a VOWEL before!:

Boy … boys
Toy … toys

Do you think you can identify the difference? Let’s try the following exercise!

Exercise 4

Can you spot the differences?

Was it difficult? I’m sure you found it easy!!

You just have to remember if the noun ends in CONSONANT Y then you add IES. If it ends in VOWEL, then you add S or ES.

WHAT ABOUT IRREGULAR NOUNS?

Some nouns do not follow the previous rules. These nouns are called irregular, so they have different rules. Take a look:

Man … Men
Woman … Women
Child … Children
Foot … Feet
Tooth … Teeth
Goose …Geese
Mouse … Mice

We also have some irregular nouns that DO NOT change:

Fish … Fish
Sheep … Sheep
Deer … Deer
Moose … Moose

Since irregular nouns are not the majority, you have to learn them by heart -using your memory.

Let’s work on an easy exercise before moving on to skills:

Exercise 5

Look at the words below and write on the line the plural form of the noun:

Now that we have gone over some of the most critical rules on forming plural nouns, let's have a look at grammar.

Reading

Activity 1

A bowl of fruit

How often do you eat healthily? Well, the fruit will help you eat healthily, and it is delicious. Look at the following bowl with fruits and choose the names of the fruits you see.

Couleor. 2016. Frutas. (Fotografpia).Tomada de: https://pixabay.com/es/photos/frutero-c%C3%A1scara-frutas-vitaminas-1600023/

Activity 2

You're everyday life

On the next exercise, you will have the opportunity to connect different activities with your regular activities. Read the following statements and decide if they are things you do (I do) or that you don’t (I don’t) do. Try to pay attention to the singular and plural nouns.

Activity 3

Jacob’s story

On this unit, you have learned how to turn single words to plurals. Now it is time to identify them in a text. Read the following passage and choose true, false or doesn’t say on the statements below.

Jacob is an 18-year-old student at Manchester University. He wakes up every day at 5 in the morning, takes a shower and has breakfast. He has two glasses of orange juice, three scrambled eggs with tomatoes and four toasts. Jacob says the first meal of the day is the most important because it gives you the energy you need to keep on doing everyday stuff. Jacob is a very energetic young man. He also exercises regularly too.
When he goes shopping and buys all the things, he needs. He buys apples, bananas, tomatoes, fish and lettuce. He loves salads!
When people ask him about his breakfast, he says: “I eat many things because I do a lot of things! And I don’t eat one tomato and three eggs, I enjoy three tomatoes with three eggs because they're good for me.” Jacob is very proud of his diet because he is in good shape.

Listening

Activity 4

Match the food

Memorising the name of the food is easy. Would it be because we eat it every day? Fruit, vegetables and meat are prepared every day for us to eat. In this activity, you will identify the names of each piece of food. Look at the words on the column on the left and select the appropriate image. You can try it as many times as you want. In the end, you will be able to see your score.

Activity 5

Shopping

Have you ever been to the supermarket to buy what you need for a recipe? You surely need more than one ingredient. In this activity, you will listen and complete the dialogue between Jim and John who will prepare a delicious salad. Click on the button and listen carefully. Follow the conversation, click on the spaces to see the options. Choose the best answer to complete the sentences. You can only do it once. Once you have finished the exercise, you can check your score.




Writing

Activity 6

Grocery shopping

Use the picture to describe the elements in the images. Where do you go shopping? What do you buy? What other products can you get in those places? Do you buy fruit and vegetables?

It is time for you to put into practice your knowledge. Based on what you see in the pictures write some sentences.

Maxmann (2017) Music [photo] Retrieved on 2017, June 5 from https://pixabay.com/en/music-shopping-shop-grocery-store-2060616/


Remember to use:

  • Appropriate grammar and vocabulary
  • Plural forms
  • Complete sentences

Before writing your sentences, have a look at the rubrics that we included so you can make good work. It will also help you to evaluate yourself.

Speaking

Activity 7

Recording a description about home.

How many objects can you find in your house? What kind of objects are there? Are there more of them at home?

In this activity, you will describe all the objects you can find in your room, bathroom, bedroom, kitchen, etc.

Write a few sentences describing the objects you can find in any of those rooms in your house using singulars and plurals.

After you finish, record yourself saying them in no more than 1 minute. Consider your fluency and vocabulary since it will be evaluated.

Before recording yourself, check the aspects that will be evaluated:

  • Organisation of the text.
  • Content of your description.
  • Pronunciation and intonation.



Self-assessment

Putting everything together

After everything you have checked and practised about plurals, it is time for your last exercise. It’ll be easy you’ll see. You will use the plural form of some words in the following sentences.

References

Basic references

• Grammarly blog (2017) Rules on plural forms. Blog. Retrieved on 2017, June 5 from https://www.grammarly.com/blog/plural-nouns/
• Woodward English (2017)Plural Nouns English Grammar Rules Grammar notes. Retrieved on 2017, June 13 from http://www.grammar.cl/Notes/Plural_Nouns.htm
• How to spell (N.D.) 7 Plural Spelling Rules. Website. Retrieved on 2017, June 13 from https://howtospell.co.uk/pluralrules.php

Complementary references

• Exercises on plural forms (N.D.) Grammar Exercises-Plurals. Website. Retrieved on 2017, June 13 from http://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/grammar-exercise-plural.php
• English exercises (N.D.) Plural Online Exercise. Website. Retrieved on 2017, June 13 from http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=723