Singular Plural Collective and Possessive Nouns A singular

Singular, Plural, Collective, and Possessive Nouns

A singular noun names a person, place thing, or idea. A plural noun names more than one person, place, thing or idea. n One author wrote a great book. (singular nouns) n Some authors write a number of books. (plural nouns)

Forming Plural Nouns Singular Rule Sample Plural shirt, hat Add –s to most nouns shirts, hats bush, mix Add –es to nouns ending in s, sh, ch, x, or z bushes, mixes alto, cello, piano radio Add –s to musical words ending in o Add –s to nouns when the letter o is preceded by a vowel Add –es to nouns when the letter o is preceded by a consonant altos, cellos, pianos radios Add –s to nouns when the letter y is preceded by a vowel Add –ies to nouns when the letter y is preceded by a consonant monkeys, days shelves, knives roof, cuff Change the f to a v and add –es to most nouns that end in f or fe Add –s to a few nouns that end in f or fe sheep, tuna, deer Some nouns keep the same spelling sheep, tuna, deer woman, foot The plural forms of some nouns are irregular women, feet echo, hero monkey, day pony, fly, shelf, knife echoes, heroes ponies, flies roofs, cuffs

Collective Nouns Collective noun is the name of a number (or collection) of people, animals, or things taken together and spoken of as one whole. For example, in the phrase "a pride of lions", pride is a collective noun.

Subject & Collective Nouns n n n n audience crowd crew jury class club family group n n n n chorus orchestra cast band choir nation committee staff

Subject & Collective Nouns n n n n n antelope/bison/elephants/cows/deer ants bees birds/ducks/goats chickens coyotes/dogs dolphins/whales fish frogs hyenas herd colony swarm flock brood pack pod school army cackle

Collective Nouns Practice 1. The team is/are headed to the nationals since winning the state finals. 2. The speech and drama team was/were happy with their performances to the judge. 3. Nearly 25% of the population is/are Muslim. 4. The OMS faculty meets/meet on Monday afternoons to discuss student concerns. 5. Our OMS staff works/work hard to meet their goals and deadlines.

Collective Nouns Answers –Practice Questions 1. The team is headed to the nationals since winning the state finals. Team is being used as a unit so a singular verb is required.

Collective Nouns Answers –Practice Questions 2. The speech and drama team were happy with their presentations to the judge. Team is plural because separate presentations were given. Also, when the plural their is used, the implication is that the collective noun is being used as a plural.

Collective Nouns Answers –Practice Questions 3. Nearly 25% of the population is Muslim. The word population is a collective noun that can take either a singular or plural verb, depending on the intention of the author. The intention here is to indicate that this percentage represents a single group.

Collective Nouns Answers –Practice Questions 4. The OMS faculty meets on Monday afternoons to discuss student concerns. Faculty, a collective noun, is acting as a single unit in this sentence.

Collective Nouns Answers-Practice Questions 5. Our OMS staff work hard to meet their goals and deadlines. Their is a clue that staff is not acting as a unit. Therefore, the plural work is needed.

n n Make a list of ten singular nouns. Exchange papers and write the plural form of each noun.

Bell Ringer Correct any misspellings in the following sentence: Before the autumn leafs began to fall, I took photoes of donkies, gardens of radishs, and other things we don’t see in the citys.

Bell Ringer Answers Correct any misspellings in the following sentence: Before the autumn leaves began to fall, I took photos of donkeys, gardens of radishes, and other things we don’t see in the cities.

Possessive Nouns A noun that shows ownership or possession is called a possessive noun. n Possessive nouns can be singular or plural. n

Using Possessive Nouns A good way to check whether a noun is possessive is to try using the noun in a whose question. For example, Molly’s boots are new. Molly’s is possessive because we can ask, “Whose boots are new? ” We then receive the possessive noun answer, “Molly’s”

Forming Possessive Nouns To Form Possessive Examples Most singular nouns Add an apostrophe and -s (‘s) Karen has new skis. Karen’s skis are new. Singular nouns ending in -s Add an apostrophe (‘s) Chris got new skis last year. Chris’s skis are in the attic. Plural nouns ending in -s Add an apostrophe (‘) Many skiers wear goggles. The skiers’ goggles are sturdy. Plural nouns not Ending in -s Add an apostrophe and -s (‘s) The men have warm sweaters. The men’s sweaters are warm.

Using Possessive Nouns Use a possessive noun to shorten the phrase. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. the flight of the geese flight the cries of the children wool from the sheep wool the cottage of the family the sting of a wasp the wings of butterflies geese’s children's cries sheep’s family’s cottage wasp’s sting butterflies’ wings

Creative Writing Using Possessive Nouns Imagine you recently spent an afternoon exploring a relative’s attic. Write a friendly letter to a cousin telling him or her about the interesting items you found. Mention some items and their original owners, such as grandparents, aunts, or uncles. Underline at least five possessive nouns in the letter.