Singular and Plural Nouns

A noun names a person, place, thing, or idea. Usually, the first

page

of a grammar

book

tells you about

nouns

.

Nouns

give

names

of concrete or abstract

things

in our

lives

. As

babies

learn "

mom

," "

dad

," or "

milk

" as their first

word

,

nouns

should be the first

topic

when you study a foreign

language

. For the plural form of most nouns, add s.

  • bottle – bottles
  • cup – cups
  • pencil – pencils
  • desk – desks
  • sticker – stickers
  • window – windows

For nouns that end in ch, x, s, or s sounds, add es.

  • box – boxes
  • watch – watches
  • moss – mosses
  • bus – buses

For nouns ending in f or fe, change f to v and add es.

  • wolf – wolves
  • wife – wives
  • leaf – leaves
  • life – lives

Some nouns have different plural forms.

  • child – children
  • woman – women
  • man – men
  • mouse – mice
  • goose – geese

Nouns ending in vowels like y or o do not have definite rules.

  • baby – babies
  • toy – toys
  • kidney – kidneys
  • potato – potatoes
  • memo – memos
  • stereo – stereos

A few nouns have the same singular and plural forms.

  • sheep – sheep
  • deer – deer
  • series – series
  • species – species
[Quiz 1.1]

Choose the correct form of the noun in each sentence. 1)I have three (child, children). 2)There are five (man, men) and one (woman, women). 3)(Baby, Babies) play with bottles as toys. 4)I put two big (potato, potatoes) in the lunch box. 5)A few men wear (watch, watches). 6)I put a (memo, memos) on the desk. 7)I saw a (mouse, mice) running by. 8)There are few (bus, buses) on the road today.

View Answers

1) children 2) men, woman 3) Babies 4) potatoes 5) watches 6) memo 7) mouse 8) buses

Try the Best German Quiz

Practice what you learned with a fast quiz.

✅ Start the quiz