When is something singular, plural, or neither?
Nouns can be singular, plural, uncountable, or collective.
Most English nouns are quite simple when compared to nouns in some other languages. Usually, you just add an "s" at the end to make the plural. However, English developed organically over many centuries, with no one in control, so some interesting "features" have crept in.
Here is a table showing some of the different types of nouns.
| Singular: one, a, the [is] |
Plural: 2, 3, etc. some, many, the [are] |
Uncountable: the, some [is] |
Collective: | Examples: |
| Car Test tube Ox Wife Person People |
Cars Test tubes Oxen Wives People (Persons) Peoples |
x | x | One car was parked in the garage. Two cars were parked in the garage. |
| x | x | Research Information Knowledge Equipment Software Furniture Safety Hunger Oxygen Cheese |
x | Much knowledge was gained by collecting information from participants. |
| Datum Curriculum Stratum Maximum Minimum Millennium Memorandum |
Data Curricula Strata Maxima Minima Millennia Memoranda |
x | x | The curriculum at this school was the same as the curricula at the other schools. |
| Phenomenon Criterion |
Phenomena Criteria |
x | x | Three criteria were used in selecting the respondents. Many phenomena are still unexplained by science. |
| Thesis Hypothesis Nemesis Analysis |
Theses Hypotheses Nemeses Analyses |
x | x | Various analyses were carried out to test the hypothesis. |
| Brother-in-law Passer-by Point of view |
Brothers-in-law Passers-by Points of view |
x | x | Passers-by were stopped and asked for their points of view. |
| Syllabus | Syllabi | x | x | There is a new syllabus for the Architecture course. Syllabi for all courses can be found on our website. |
| Vertebra Formula |
Vertebrae Formulae |
x | x | The adult human spine is usually composed of 24 vertebrae. Patient X has a cracked vertebra. |
| Matrix Appendix |
Matrices Appendices |
x | x | There are three appendices at the back of the thesis. |
| x | x | x | the police force the government the company everyone the panel the committee population |
The committee has decided on the winner of this year's Turner Prize. The members of the committee are all art experts. |
Singular nouns are used with singular verbs such as "is", "has", "goes" etc. (called the "third person"). The Third person verb is the verb used when talking about He, She, and It. This form of the verb usually ends with -s. Taking the verb to be as an example:
1st Person: "I am ..." (for talking about yourself)
2nd Person: "You are ..." (for talking to somebody)
3rd Person: "He / She / It is ..." (for talking about someone or something else)
So, taking the first example in the table above:
"A car is an expensive luxury."
"The car has many advantages"
"Smith's car reaches 150 mph"
In summary, in a sentence, the noun and the verb have to "agree" - a singular noun uses the third person singular verb.
As we will see in the next section, a plural noun uses the third person plural form of the verb.
If you are talking about two or more things, you use the plural form of the verb. Compare:
"The car has many advantages" (singular)
"These cars have many advantages" (plural)
In English, some nouns are seen as referring to substances that are stuff, or mass, or abstract and so it would be strange to think of counting them.
You can say "some electricity", but "two electricities" sounds odd and it is not clear what it could mean. Perhaps you are trying to refer to alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC). These are two types of electricity. The word "type" is countable; you can talk of one type or many types. But in English, the word "electricity" is uncountable. So, with uncountable words, it is better to add a countable word if you want to make yourself clear. Here are some examples:
Research - "Two pieces of research have been done."
Knowledge - "Two types of knowledge will be discussed."
Oxygen - "The diver used four bottles of oxygen."
Happiness - "There are different meanings for the word happiness."
Collective nouns are words that refer to a group. For example, a team can have 11 players. "Team" is a collective noun because it refers to a group as one collective. Collective nouns are countable - that means you can speak of one team or many teams.
The team is flying to Brazil tomorrow.
The two teams are playing well.
For a more detailed explanation about collective nouns see Grammarly. [Opens in new tab]
Some nouns that are used in English are not originally English. For example, there are words from Latin, Greek, French, and many other languages.
Sometimes, the plural of a foreign word keeps the original language's plural form. For example:
Curriculum (singular) becomes Curricula (plural).
You can see some more examples in the table at the top of the page.
In this activity, choose the correct word to fill the gap in each sentence.
