Do you know what a plural is? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on plural nouns, including the definition, usage, example sentences, and more!
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Kevin
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November 30, 2021
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Common Questions
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What is a plural?
According to 7ESL, a plural noun is a noun that represents more than one person, place, thing, or idea. There are many categories of nouns including a collective noun, common nouns, proper nouns, uncountable nouns, a possessive noun, noncount nouns, a countable noun, mass noun, and more. To make different plural forms from a singular noun, often an s, ies, ves, ch, ss or an es is added to the end of the singular forms for regular plural nouns. However, there are many irregular nouns that may have a different change to the end of the word to form the plural word, not the adding of letters. An example of an irregular plural noun are words like cactus, tooth, criterion, goose, alumnus or octopus, which in their plural forms are cacti, teeth, criteria, geese, alumni, and octopi (not octopuses!) This is often the case with Latin and Greek words where the noun ends in um. Remember: plural nouns need plural verbs.
Many different languages also contain words that mean plural. You may notice that some of these translations of plural look and sound similar to one another. These are called cognates, which are words and phrases in different languages that likely have the same root or language of origin, causing them to sound the same. The below list of translations of plural is provided by Word Sense.
- Hebrew: לשון רבים (lišon rabim)
- Dutch: meervoudig, meervoudige
- Volapük: plunumik
- Polish: mnogi
- Swahili: akthari
- Spanish: plural
- Ukrainian: чисельний (chyselny)
- Portuguese: plural
- Roman: množinski (masc.), pluralni (masc.)
- Turkish: çok
- German: Plural-, pluralisch, plural, mehrfach, Mehrzahl-
- Romanian: plural (masc.) (f)
- Russian: мно́жественный
- Icelandic: fleir-, marg-, fleirtölu-, í fleirtölu
- Indonesian: jamak
- Esperanto: plurnombra
- Cyrillic: множински (masc.), плурални (masc.)
- Walloon: pluriyal (masc.)
- Finnish: monikollinen, monikko-
- Albanian: shumës
- Ido: plurala
- Greek: πληθυντικός
- Italian: plurale
- Japanese: 複数 (ふくすう, fukusū)
- Catalan: plural
- Korean: 복수
- Armenian: հոգնակի
- French: pluriel
- Scottish Gaelic: iolra
- Occitan: plural
- Thai: พหูพจน์
- Swedish: plural, flertal
- Mandarin: 複數, 复数 (fùshù), 眾數, 众数 (zhòngshù)
- Lojban: su’oremei
What are examples of plural nouns?
A plural noun can be used in many different contexts in the English language. Trying to use a word or literary technique in a sentence is one of the best ways to memorize what it is, but you can also try making flashcards or quizzes that test your knowledge. Try using this term of the day in a sentence today! Below are many examples of plural nouns from 7 ESL and EF that can help get you started incorporating this tool into your everyday use. Try to use the term plural noun today or notice when someone else is using a plural noun.
- tomatoes
- dogs
- cherries
- radios
- fungi
- spectacles
- bacteria
- females
- athletics
- trousers
- rats
- candies
- buzzes
- oxen
- cars
- oases
- phenomena
- loaves
- chiefs
- analyses
- thieves
- halos
- rays
- diagnoses
- lives
- children
- pennies
- knockoffs
- tables
- pitches
- days
- heroes
- boats
- teeth
- fish
- syllabi/syllabuses
- dreams
- toys
- spies
- people
- cats
- girls
- scarves
- aircraft
- videos
- cities
- calves
- towns
- dominoes
- criteria
- halves
- cuffs
- species
- stereos
- cacti
- parties
- potatoes
- shelves
- roofs
- deer
- daisies
- boxes
- theses
- wives
- Boys
- ladies
- data
- rivers
- houses
- feet
- mice
- beliefs
- sopranos
- hooves
- holidays
- women
- buses
- mosquitoes
- keys
- bags
- wolves
- photos
- books
- nuclei
- leaves
- men
- babies
- geese
- foci
- knives
- pianos
- puppies
- volcanoes
- crises
- elves
- wishes
- echoes
- chefs
- vetoes
- sheep
- donkeys
- countries
What are synonyms and antonyms of plural?
There are many different words that one can use in place of the word plural. These are called synonyms, which are words and phrases that have the same meaning as another word or phrase. Synonyms are a useful tool to know in the English language because they can help people to avoid repeating themselves while simultaneously growing their vocabulary. This list of synonyms for the word plural is provided by Power Thesaurus.
- not singular
- combined
- plurative
- any
- pluralism
- distinct
- complex number
- multi-level
- hardly any
- scarcely any
- number
- handful
- certain
- disparate
- respective
- squirreled
- countless
- dual
- muthanna
- pluralistic
- pluralist
- pixels
- compound
- balanced
- arranged
- few
- flocculate
- personal
- sundry
- scarce
- several
- plural form
- cosmopolite
- frequent
- definite
- manifold
- nonuniqueness
- rare
- numerous
- device
- multiethnic
- pluralities
- multiplex
- divers
- multiform
- cohesive
- polyethnic
- not alone
- multitude
- numerousness
- quite a few
- many
- multiple
- infrequent
- abundance
- provided
- various
- army
- multidomestic
- non national
- polygamous
- non-national
- different
- pluralness
- actual
- multilateral
- considerable
- amount
- complementary
- composite
- more than one
- upwards of
- some of
- more
- abundant
- multinational
- multi-ethnic
- multifarious
- variety
- single
- indefinite
- complex
- special
- diverse
- multiplicity
- multi-domestic
- plurals
- miscellaneous
- particular
- trial
- singular
- separate
- assorted
- proportionate
- some
- cosmopolitan
- specific
- not many
- plurality
- only a few
The word plural also has a number of antonyms, or opposite words. These words have the opposite definition as the word spectrum. Learning antonyms is another quick and easy way to expand your English language vocabulary. This list of antonyms of plural is also provided by Power Thesaurus.
- noteworthy
- quirky
- out of the ordinary
- outlandish
- private
- special
- irregular
- queer
- astonishing
- rum
- surprising
- unrivaled
- only
- infrequent
- rare
- freaky
- exclusive
- atypical
- curious
- singular form
- discrete
- amazing
- unnatural
- perplexing
- alone
- unconventional
- puzzling
- unmatched
- unfamiliar
- quaint
- solitary
- distinct
- different
- unorthodox
- oddball
- abnormal
- unheard-of
- uncommon
- individual
- rummy
- odd
- notable
- kinky
- specific
- novel
- fantastic
- distinguished
- peculiar
- exotic
- eminent
- outstanding
- deviant
- without equal
- offbeat
- astounding
- original
- unequaled
- aberrant
- inimitable
- freak
- unique
- phenomenal
- striking
- personal
- mysterious
- isolated
- individualistic
- bizarre
- unparalleled
- sold
- unprecedented
- one and only
- signal
- anomalous
- untypical
- remarkable
- lone
- unusual
- especial
- matchless
- conspicuous
- weird
- unexampled
- one
- separate
- incomparable
- strange
- distinctive
- unwonted
- sole
- eccentric
- particular
- extraordinary
- unexpected
- idiosyncratic
- peerless
- exceptional
- characteristic
- single
- freakish
Overall, a plural is a noun that represents more than one person, place, thing, or idea. These are seen frequently in English.
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