How to master Singular & Plural for Verbal Aptitude Test

Singular & Plural is a topic asked in Verbal Aptitude Tests. This topic tests your understanding of singular & plural words. A singular is a word which represents a single entity, while a plural is a word that represents multiple of the entity. In this post, we will take you through a few rules and examples to understand how to find the plural of a word in English.

How to Convert from Singular to Plural

Converting words from singular to plural in English involves several rules. Here are the main ones with examples:

  1. Add -s to most nouns:
    • Cat → Cats
    • Book → Books
  2. Add -es to nouns ending in -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, or -z:
    • Bus → Buses
    • Class → Classes
    • Brush → Brushes
    • Watch → Watches
    • Box → Boxes
    • Buzz → Buzzes
  3. For nouns ending in a consonant + y, change the y to i and add -es:
    • Baby → Babies
    • Party → Parties
  4. For nouns ending in a vowel + y, simply add -s:
    • Boy → Boys
    • Toy → Toys
  5. For nouns ending in -f or -fe, change the f to v and add -es:
    • Leaf → Leaves
    • Life → Lives
    • Wolf → Wolves (Exceptions include: Roof → Roofs, Chief → Chiefs)
  6. For nouns ending in -o, add -es (but there are exceptions where you just add -s):
    • Tomato → Tomatoes
    • Potato → Potatoes (Exceptions: Photo → Photos, Piano → Pianos)
  7. For irregular nouns, the plural form changes completely:
    • Child → Children
    • Man → Men
    • Woman → Women
    • Tooth → Teeth
    • Foot → Feet
    • Mouse → Mice

These rules cover the majority of cases, but English also has many exceptions and irregularities.

Some Exceptional Cases to keep in mind

Here are some examples of exceptions and irregular plural forms in English:

  1. Irregular Plural Forms:
    • Child → Children
    • Man → Men
    • Woman → Women
    • Tooth → Teeth
    • Foot → Feet
    • Mouse → Mice
    • Goose → Geese
    • Person → People
    • Ox → Oxen
  2. Same Singular and Plural Forms:
    • Sheep → Sheep
    • Fish → Fish (though Fishes can be used when referring to different species)
    • Deer → Deer
    • Moose → Moose
    • Aircraft → Aircraft
    • Species → Species
    • Series → Series
  3. Foreign-Origin Words:
    • Crisis → Crises
    • Thesis → Theses
    • Nucleus → Nuclei
    • Fungus → Fungi
    • Cactus → Cacti
    • Focus → Foci
    • Syllabus → Syllabi
    • Bacterium → Bacteria
    • Datum → Data
    • Phenomenon → Phenomena
    • Criterion → Criteria
  4. Special Cases with Different Plural Endings:
    • Mouse → Mice
    • Louse → Lice
    • Die → Dice (for gaming), but Dies (for tools used in manufacturing)
    • Penny → Pennies (when referring to individual coins) or Pence (when referring to the monetary amount)
  5. Irregular Compound Nouns:
    • Brother-in-law → Brothers-in-law
    • Passer-by → Passers-by
    • Attorney General → Attorneys General
    • Commander-in-chief → Commanders-in-chief

These exceptions highlight the complexities and irregularities of English pluralization.

Practice with Meritstore

Meritstore provides free online tools for you to practice Singular & Plural questions and answers and to improve your Verbal Aptitude.

Start now: Singular & Plural for Aptitude Preparation

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