Singular and Plural Nouns Worksheet (Free PDF)

What’s in the PDF

• Page 1 (Level 1, easier): circle one or many for six pictures, then add s to six words such as cat, dog and cup.
• Page 2 (Level 2, harder): choose s or es for eight words (box, frog, bus, dish and more), then circle the right word in five sentences.
• Page 3: an answer key for both levels.

Read the instructions aloud for early readers. Children can point or say the answer before they write it.

What do singular and plural mean?

A singular noun names one thing: a cat. A plural noun names more than one: two cats. Most words just add s. Words that end in s, x, sh, ch or z add es, because it is easier to say: one box, two boxes; one bus, two buses.

Examples

• Add s: cat to cats, hat to hats
• Add s: book to books, frog to frogs
• Add es: box to boxes, fox to foxes
• Add es: dish to dishes, brush to brushes
• Add es: bus to buses, watch to watches

How to teach it

Use toys. Put one car on the table and say “one car”. Add another and say “two cars”, stretching out the s sound. Your child will hear the difference. For es words, say them aloud together: “boxs” is hard to say, but “boxes” is easy. That extra syllable is the clue.

Common mix-ups

Children may add s to words that change in other ways, such as “mouses” or “childs”. These irregular plurals (mice, children) come later, so just mention that some words are different. Check that the number in the sentence matches the word: one dog, two dogs.

Game: One or lots?

Call out “one” or “lots” and a word: “Lots of… frog!” Your child answers with the right form: “frogs!” Add es words to keep it tricky: “Lots of… box!”

Questions to ask

• Is there one or more than one?
• What sound do we add for more than one?
• Does it need s or es?

Practise next

Try nouns, a and an, capitals and full stops. Older children can move on to our English grammar worksheets for grades 3 to 5.