Singular and Plural Nouns – English Grammar Exercises for A1
Choose the correct option (A, B, or C) to complete each sentence.
1 We are packing old documents. Please send us ten cardboard ______.
(a) boxes
(b) boxs
(c) box
2 We use the whiteboard every day. Could you order three new whiteboard ______?
(a) brushes
(b) brushs
(c) brush
3 Our department has a lot of paperwork. We need five hole ______.
(a) punches
(b) punchs
(c) punch
4 We received three important ______ from our clients this morning, but we lost them.
(a) faxes
(b) faxs
(c) fax
5 There is a team meeting at 12:00 PM. Please order fifteen ______ for lunch.
(a) sandwiches
(b) sandwichs
(c) sandwich
6 For the office kitchen, we need to buy twenty new water ______.
(a) glasses
(b) glasss
(c) glass
7 We also need some clean ______ to put the meeting snacks on.
(a) dishes
(b) dishs
(c) dish
8 The company is giving free bus ______ to all employees this month.
(a) passes
(b) passs
(c) pass
9 We need to buy welcome gifts for our two new department ______.
(a) bosses
(b) bosss
(c) boss
10 Please buy two smart ______ for the event coordinators to check the time.
(a) watches
(b) watchs
(c) watch
11 The managers need five new leather ______ to write their daily schedules.
(a) diaries
(b) diarys
(c) diary
12 We have too many books! Please order two more wooden ______.
(a) shelves
(b) shelfs
(c) shelf
13 Our computers are old. We need four new keyboards and four ______.
(a) mice
(b) mouses
(c) mouse
14 The new employees need a place to work. Please order three new ______.
(a) desks
(b) deskes
(c) desk
15 Don’t forget to order fifty blue ______ for the staff to write with.
(a) pens
(b) pennes
(c) pen
16 We need to lock the cabinets. Could you make three extra ______?
(a) keys
(b) keyes
(c) key
17 The printer is completely empty. We need to buy a lot of white ______.
(a) paper
(b) papers
(c) paperes
18 The design team needs to cut materials. Please buy five new pairs of ______.
(a) scissors
(b) scissor
(c) scissorses
19 We are moving to a new room and need some new ______ to sit on.
(a) furniture
(b) furnitures
(c) furnitureses
20 We need to print some important ______ about the new office rules.
(a) information
(b) informations
(c) informationes
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (a) boxes
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (a) ‘Boxes’. Nouns ending in ‘-x’ take ‘-es’ in the plural form.
- Common Mistake: (b) ‘Boxs’ is an incorrect spelling. It is impossible to pronounce properly.
- Structural Error: (c) ‘Box’ is singular, but the number “ten” requires a plural noun.
2 (a) brushes
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (a) ‘Brushes’. Nouns ending in ‘-sh’ require ‘-es’ to become plural.
- Common Mistake: (b) ‘Brushs’ is a spelling error.
- Structural Error: (c) ‘Brush’ is singular.
3 (a) punches
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (a) ‘Punches’. Nouns ending in ‘-ch’ require ‘-es’.
- Common Mistake: (b) ‘Punchs’ is an incorrect spelling.
- Structural Error: (c) ‘Punch’ is singular, contradicting the number “five”.
4 (a) faxes
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (a) ‘Faxes’. Nouns ending in ‘-x’ take ‘-es’.
- Common Mistake: (b) ‘Faxs’ is an incorrect spelling.
- Structural Error: (c) ‘Fax’ is singular.
5 (a) sandwiches
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (a) ‘Sandwiches’. The noun ends in ‘-ch’, so we add ‘-es’.
- Common Mistake: (b) ‘Sandwichs’ is a very common spelling mistake because learners often forget the “e”.
- Structural Error: (c) ‘Sandwich’ is singular.
6 (a) glasses
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (a) ‘Glasses’. Nouns ending in ‘-ss’ must take ‘-es’.
- Common Mistake: (b) ‘Glasss’ is an impossible spelling in English (three ‘s’ letters together).
- Structural Error: (c) ‘Glass’ is singular, but the number is “twenty”.
7 (a) dishes
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (a) ‘Dishes’. Nouns ending in ‘-sh’ take ‘-es’.
- Common Mistake: (b) ‘Dishs’ is a spelling mistake.
- Structural Error: (c) ‘Dish’ is singular, but “some” in this context requires a plural countable noun.
8 (a) passes
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (a) ‘Passes’. The base word is “pass”, ending in ‘-ss’, so we add ‘-es’.
- Common Mistake: (b) ‘Passs’ is an incorrect spelling.
- Structural Error: (c) ‘Pass’ is singular.
9 (a) bosses
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (a) ‘Bosses’. The base word ends in ‘-ss’, requiring ‘-es’.
- Common Mistake: (b) ‘Bosss’ is grammatically and typographically incorrect.
- Structural Error: (c) ‘Boss’ is singular.
10 (a) watches
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (a) ‘Watches’. Nouns ending in ‘-ch’ require ‘-es’.
- Common Mistake: (b) ‘Watchs’ is an incorrect spelling.
- Structural Error: (c) ‘Watch’ is singular.
11 (a) diaries
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (a) ‘Diaries’. When a noun ends in a consonant + y (r-y), change the ‘y’ to ‘i’ and add ‘-es’.
- Common Mistake: (b) ‘Diarys’ is a spelling mistake where the learner just adds ‘-s’.
- Structural Error: (c) ‘Diary’ is singular.
12 (a) shelves
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (a) ‘Shelves’. For nouns ending in ‘-f’, we change the ‘f’ to ‘v’ and add ‘-es’.
- Common Mistake: (b) ‘Shelfs’ is a very common beginner mistake.
- Structural Error: (c) ‘Shelf’ is singular.
13 (a) mice
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (a) ‘Mice’ is the irregular plural form of ‘mouse’ (even for computer mice in most standard contexts).
- Common Mistake: (b) ‘Mouses’ is sometimes used in IT, but ‘mice’ is widely taught and accepted as the standard A1 plural.
- Structural Error: (c) ‘Mouse’ is singular.
14 (a) desks
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (a) ‘Desks’. This is a regular noun, so we just add ‘-s’.
- Common Mistake: (b) ‘Deskes’ is an over-application of the ‘-es’ rule.
- Structural Error: (c) ‘Desk’ is singular.
15 (a) pens
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (a) ‘Pens’ is the regular plural form.
- Common Mistake: (b) ‘Pennes’ is an incorrect spelling.
- Structural Error: (c) ‘Pen’ is singular.
16 (a) keys
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (a) ‘Keys’. When a noun ends in a vowel + y (e-y), simply add ‘-s’.
- Common Mistake: (b) ‘Keyes’ is a spelling mistake.
- Structural Error: (c) ‘Key’ is singular.
17 (a) paper
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (a) ‘Paper’ (referring to the material used in printers) is an uncountable noun. It does not take an ‘-s’.
- Common Mistake: (b) ‘Papers’ usually means “documents” or “essays”, not the blank material in the printer.
- Structural Error: (c) ‘Paperes’ is a spelling and grammar error.
18 (a) scissors
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (a) ‘Scissors’. This tool is always in the plural form because it has two blades.
- Common Mistake: (b) ‘Scissor’ is incorrect. You cannot have “one scissor”.
- Structural Error: (c) ‘Scissorses’ is a double plural mistake.
19 (a) furniture
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (a) ‘Furniture’ is an uncountable noun. It NEVER takes an ‘-s’ in English.
- Common Mistake: (b) ‘Furnitures’ is a classic mistake, as the word is countable in many other languages.
- Structural Error: (c) ‘Furnitureses’ is completely incorrect.
20 (a) information
Explanation: – Correct (Key): (a) ‘Information’ is an uncountable noun. We cannot count it with numbers or add ‘-s’.
- Common Mistake: (b) ‘Informations’ is a very common error for English learners.
- Structural Error: (c) ‘Informationes’ is grammatically incorrect.
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
- The Core “-es” Rule: In English, if a noun ends in a hissing sound (-s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, -z), you MUST add -es to make it plural. This creates an extra syllable so you can pronounce the word easily.
- Examples from the office: box -> boxes, fax -> faxes, boss -> bosses, watch -> watches, brush -> brushes, glass -> glasses, sandwich -> sandwiches.
- The “Y” Rules: * Consonant + Y = Drop ‘y’, add -ies (diary -> diaries).
- Vowel + Y = Just add -s (key -> keys).
- The “-f/-fe” Rule: Change the ‘f’ to ‘v’ and add -es (shelf -> shelves).
- Always Plural Nouns: Some tools with two parts are always plural and always end in “s” (scissors, glasses/spectacles).
- Uncountable Nouns (The Traps): Some very important office words cannot be counted. They NEVER take an “-s”.
- Remember these three: paper (the blank material), furniture (desks, chairs), and information.