{"id":3366,"date":"2025-07-15T19:09:49","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T12:09:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edumaenglish.edu.vn\/?p=3366"},"modified":"2025-07-15T19:09:49","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T12:09:49","slug":"english-singular-plural","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/edumaenglish.edu.vn\/en\/english-singular-plural\/","title":{"rendered":"English Singular\/Plural"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Summary<\/h2>\n<div class=\"summary\">Singular refers to one person, place, thing or idea (e.g., cat, book, child). Plural refers to more than one of those entities, often formed by adding -s or -es (e.g., cats, books, children). Some nouns have irregular plural forms, like man \u2192 men or mouse \u2192 mice.<\/div>\n<p><a id=\"toc-3\" name=\"toc-3\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>In-depth Explanation<\/h2>\n<div class=\"explanation\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Since the form of these nouns doesn\u2019t change, you must use context to determine whether the noun is singular or plural (often the verb form used with the noun). For example:<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The\u00a0<strong>sheep<\/strong>\u00a0is grazing in the field.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The\u00a0<strong>sheep<\/strong>\u00a0are grazing in the field.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">You can tell that \u201csheep\u201d in the first sentence refers to just one because the singular verb form \u201cis\u201d is used. In the second sentence, the verb \u201care\u201d shows that \u201csheep\u201d refers to more than one.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\n<p><a id=\"toc-4\" name=\"toc-4\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h3 dir=\"ltr\">Examples of Singular\/Plural Nouns<\/h3>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Here are some more nouns related to living things that are the same in the singular and plural:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" aria-level=\"1\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">fish*<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" aria-level=\"1\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">moose<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" aria-level=\"1\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">bison<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" aria-level=\"1\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">deer<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" aria-level=\"1\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">species<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" aria-level=\"1\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">offspring<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">*<strong>Note<\/strong>: &#8220;Fishes&#8221; is used in scientific contexts to refer to different species of fish. Here\u2019s an example in context:<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Singular<\/strong>:\u00a0I saw a\u00a0<strong>deer<\/strong>\u00a0in the forest.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Plural<\/strong>:\u00a0We saw three\u00a0<strong>deer<\/strong>\u00a0near the river.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">There are also some invariant nouns related to objects or technology. For example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" aria-level=\"1\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">aircraft<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" aria-level=\"1\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">headquarters<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" aria-level=\"1\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">crossroads<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" aria-level=\"1\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">series<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Here\u2019s an example in context:<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Singular<\/strong>:\u00a0The\u00a0<strong>series<\/strong>\u00a0was a hit on TV.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Plural<\/strong>:\u00a0Several new\u00a0<strong>series<\/strong>\u00a0are being released this year.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a id=\"toc-5\" name=\"toc-5\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h3 dir=\"ltr\">How to Use Invariable Nouns<\/h3>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Even though the noun looks the same, the verb must agree with whether the noun is singular or plural. For example:<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The\u00a0<strong>fish<\/strong>\u00a0swims quickly.\u00a0(refers to one fish)<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The\u00a0<strong>fish<\/strong>\u00a0swim quickly.\u00a0(refers to multiple fish)<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Remember not to add an \u201c<strong>-s<\/strong>\u201d to these nouns to make them plural. For example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" aria-level=\"1\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\"><strong>Incorrect<\/strong>:\u00a0She saw three sheeps in the pen.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" aria-level=\"1\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\"><strong>Correct<\/strong>:\u00a0She saw three\u00a0<strong>sheep<\/strong>\u00a0in the pen.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a id=\"toc-6\" name=\"toc-6\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h3 dir=\"ltr\">Plural Invariant Nouns<\/h3>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">There are also some nouns that are referred to as plural invariant nouns. They don\u2019t have a singular form and are only used in the plural. For example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" aria-level=\"1\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">scissors<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" aria-level=\"1\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">pants<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" aria-level=\"1\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">jeans<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" aria-level=\"1\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">shorts<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">However, we can use these nouns to refer to a singular or plural object. For example:<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">I bought a new pair of\u00a0<strong>pants<\/strong>.\u00a0(singular)<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">All of my\u00a0<strong>pants<\/strong>\u00a0are in the laundry.\u00a0(plural)<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">My\u00a0<strong>pants<\/strong>\u00a0are too tight.\u00a0(could be singular or plural, depending on context)<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Summary Singular refers to one person, place, thing or idea (e.g., cat, book, child). Plural refers to more than one of those entities, often formed by adding -s or -es (e.g., cats, books, children). Some nouns have irregular plural forms, like man \u2192 men or mouse \u2192 mice. In-depth Explanation Since the form of these &#8230;<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3367,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[255],"tags":[844,826,775,835,777,836,834,837,273,843,287,838,787,788,786,778,839,776,842,845,840,785,841],"class_list":["post-3366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-noun","tag-bai-tap-so-it-so-nhieu","tag-danh-tu-bat-quy-tac","tag-danh-tu-so-it","tag-danh-tu-so-it-va-so-nhieu-tieng-anh","tag-danh-tu-so-nhieu","tag-english-singular-and-plural-nouns","tag-english-singular-plural","tag-hoc-so-it-so-nhieu","tag-hoc-tieng-anh-cung-eduma","tag-irregular-nouns","tag-learn-english-with-eduma","tag-learn-singular-and-plural","tag-ngu-phap-danh-tu","tag-noun-grammar","tag-noun-vocabulary","tag-plural-nouns","tag-quy-tac-so-it-so-nhieu","tag-singular-nouns","tag-singular-plural-examples","tag-singular-plural-exercises","tag-singular-plural-rules","tag-tu-vung-danh-tu","tag-vi-du-so-it-so-nhieu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/edumaenglish.edu.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/edumaenglish.edu.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/edumaenglish.edu.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edumaenglish.edu.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edumaenglish.edu.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3366"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/edumaenglish.edu.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3368,"href":"https:\/\/edumaenglish.edu.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3366\/revisions\/3368"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edumaenglish.edu.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/edumaenglish.edu.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edumaenglish.edu.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edumaenglish.edu.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}