Blog about English
Plural-only nouns, singular-only nouns and other exceptional noun patterns.
Some English nouns follow special grammatical patterns that differ from regular countable and uncountable nouns.
These nouns require special attention because they have unique plural forms, agreement or usage.
Some nouns exist almost exclusively in the plural form.
Examples include scissors, trousers, glasses, binoculars and surroundings.
Some nouns normally have no plural form.
Examples include furniture, advice, information, luggage and equipment.
Some nouns have the same form in both the singular and the plural.
Examples include sheep, deer, aircraft, series and species.
Nationality nouns follow different pluralization patterns.
Examples include the French, the Japanese, an Italian and two Canadians.
Nouns referring to objects made of two connected parts are often used with pair of.
Examples include a pair of scissors, two pairs of jeans and a pair of glasses.
Some nouns change meaning depending on whether they are singular or plural.
Compare custom/customs, good/goods, manner/manners and force/forces.
Some borrowed nouns retain their original plural forms.
Examples include criterion/criteria, phenomenon/phenomena, analysis/analyses and bacterium/bacteria.
Some nouns may be countable or uncountable depending on their meaning.
Examples include chicken, paper, glass, hair and experience.
Academic and scientific English frequently preserves traditional plural forms.
Examples include datum/data, nucleus/nuclei, syllabus/syllabi and stimulus/stimuli.
Some special noun forms differ between British and American English.
Examples include accommodation/accommodations, sport/sports and different treatments of collective nouns.
Learn special noun forms individually because they often do not follow regular grammar patterns.
Common mistakes include using informations, furnitures, scissor and incorrect foreign plurals.