Grammar Time: Plural Nouns

Revise the rules how to form plural nouns and have practice doing these exercises.

Exam in Mind Level B1/B2

Exercise 1. Write the correct form of the noun in parentheses.

I met some interesting _______ at the meeting last night. (man)
I need some ______ to light the fire. (match)
The baby got two new _______. (tooth)
The farmer loaded his cart with ______ of fresh vegetables to take to market. His cart was pulled by two ______. (box, ox)
Alex saw some ______running across the floor. (mouse)
The north side of the island has no _____. There are only steep _____. No one can climb these steep walks of rock. (beach, cliff)
If a houseplant is given too much water, its lower _____ turn yellow. (leaf)
Before Marie signed the contract, she talked to two _________. (attorney)
New scientific ________ are made every day in _______ throughout the world. (discovery, laboratory)
I caught several ______ in the lake. (fish)
On our trip in the mountainous countryside, we saw some ______, ______, ______, and wild ______. (wolf, fox, deer, sheep)
When we spoke in the cave, we could hear ______ of our voices. (echo)
The music building at the university has 27 ________. Students need to sign up for practice times. (piano)
Thunder and lightning are ______ of nature. (phenomenon)
People get most of their news about the world through the mass ______, that is, through radio, television, the Internet, newspapers, and magazines. (medium)

Exercise 2. Make the nouns in brackets plural.

The (knife) get rusty when you put them into the water for a long time.
The (muff) of their new coats are rather lovely.
The (roof) of the houses look neat and nice.
In autumn all the (leaf) fall down.
They invited two (soprano) to our Opera House.
Young artists want to have their own (studio).
(Zoo) are popular all over the world.
Tom’s body is all covered with (tattoo).
We prepared new (memo) for our office.
Jack bought three new (piano) for his casino.
There are ten (radio) in the box.
Larry showed us a lot of (photo).
They said they needed two new (video) for their cinema theatre.
Look, there are five (cuckoo) in this cage.

Exercise 3. Give the plural of the following nouns if they have it.

Weather, chalk, house, child, mouse, cucumber, knife, boot, furniture, sheep, plum, deer, country, information, advice, salmon, news, trout, armchair, means, belief, loaf, zero, tornado, theses, jewellery, fly, donkey, key, day, city, monkey, toy, lady, play, army, boy, spy, cry, sky, dragonfly, butterfly, kerchief, wife, chief, life, leaf, proof, thief, calf, half, shelf, wolf, loaf.

Exercise 4. Give the singular of the following nouns if they have it.

Armchairs, gymnastics, clothes, spectacles, photos, shorts, cows, schools, pyjamas, enemies, kisses, wives, loaves, cliffs, oxen, men, teeth, grapes, girls, series, riches, people, persons, athletics, news.

Exercise 5. Choose the noun in brackets to complete each sentence.

Hail, thunder, lightning and rain are natural (phenomenon, phenomena).
The Hague is the city where a lot of (symposium, symposia) are held.
He published all the (analysis, analyses) of his scientific research.
At this factory they produce special (bacterium, bacteria) for producing pills.
Barbara has a large collection of (cactus, cacti).
The (data, datum) in the scientific research are very important.
This chemist left a lot of papers with hundreds of (formula, formulae).
The Earth moves round its (axis, axes).
It was one of the biggest (crisis, crises) in the world.
The rules for representing (thesis, theses) change every two years.

Exercise 6. Make the nouns in brackets plural.

How many (person) __________ study English as a second language?
Five (woman) __________ opened a computer services company.
Even (child) __________ enjoy learning on the Internet.
Most basketball players are 6 (foot) __________ tall or more.
Which breed of (sheep) __________ produces the finest wool?
My (tooth) __________ are sensitive to the cold.
At daylight savings time, we have to change our (watch) __________ .
The boys went fishing and caught 10 (fish).
There are 10 (man) __________ in the Maintenance Department.
The (wife) __________ keep their (knife) __________on the (shelf) __________ .
The store was overrun with rats and (mouse)__________.
I helped him put some (shelf)__________ in his bedroom.
He is one of the country’s national (hero)__________.
He collects (pocket-knife)__________.
His both (son-in-law)__________ were (fisherman)__________.
The police asked (passer-by)__________ if they had seen the accident.
Most parents have problems with their teenage (offspring)__________.
Yesterday’s crash has grim (echo)__________ of previous disaster.
(Salmon)__________ live in the sea but swim up rivers to lay their eggs.
Books provide (child)__________ with ideas and (stimulus)__________ to play.
I respect your religious (belief)__________.
Corn circles are one of the strangest (phenomenon)__________ of recent times.
Parliament consists of 653 (MP)__________, about two-thirds of whom belong to the Government.
Do you have any (spray) or anything else that will keep away (fly)__________ or (mosquito)__________?
Television and newspapers are the mass (medium)__________ of advertising.

Exercise 7 . Give the plural of the following nouns if possible.

Accommodation, baby, wife, piano, glass, brief, cliff, rubbish, knife, brush, scarf, sheaf, donkey, fly, permission, information, calf, ghetto, volcano, ox, foot, photo, brother, kilo, kangaroo, hobby, luck, chassis, sheep, kiss, wharf, proof, lily, echo, leisure, mouse, breath, elk, dynamo, goose, oath, progress, despair, hoof, mud, valley, chief, handkerchief, folio, tomato, salmon, youth, carp, woman, boy, child, veto, lady, wolf, loaf, country, china, day, zoo, man, Eskimo, tooth, mouth, thief, desk, life, equipment, self, cargo, behaviour, leaf, radio, potato, deer, courage, path, casino, louse, studio, moose.