-NOUNS :Singular + plural

Singular means one. Plural means more than one. Non-count nouns can, by definition, not be counted. Therefore, they can be neither singular nor plural. Only count nouns can be singular or plural.

In most cases, in order to change a singular count noun into a plural count noun, English adds an the ending -s. Some nouns, however, add -es, including nouns that end in -ch (church/churches), -sh (dish/dishes), -ss (princess/princesses), and -x (fax/faxes). Other nouns that end in a consonant followed by -y, change to -ies in the plural (poppy/poppies).

However, there are many exceptions that must be learned individually with the help of a dictionary. For example, some nouns don't change spelling in the plural (sheep/sheep) or change in dissimilar ways (man/men).

The two factors discussed above, count versus non-count and singular versus plural, have a big impact on the English article system. Before we take a closer look at that impact, however, we have to consider two additional factors.

An indefinite article indicates that its noun is not a particular one (or ones) identifiable to the listener. It may be something that the speaker is mentioning for the first time, or its precise identity may be irrelevant or hypothetical, or the speaker may be making a general statement about any such thing. English uses a/an, from the Old English forms of the number 'one', as its primary indefinite article. The form an is used before words that begin with a vowel sound (even if spelled with an initial consonant, as in an hour), and a before words that begin with a consonant sound (even if spelled with a vowel, as in a European).