Harvey's Elementary Grammar and Composition · Lesson 8 · Part 1: Part I: The elementary course

6. Singular and plural

Goal: Your child can say whether a noun names one thing or more than one, and forms plurals with s, es, ies and ves.

⏱ About 25 minutes · 7 steps

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You'll need

  • The book, open to this lesson
  • Paper and a pencil (or a slate)

What's in the book

Page 15 ends the noun lesson with a model for pointing out nouns. Lesson 8 defines singular and plural number and gives the rules for forming plurals, with thirty nouns to make plural.

The lesson, step by step

  1. Review

    The book gives a model sentence for pointing out nouns:

    Cicero was an orator.

    Ask: Which words are nouns? Which is proper and which is common?

  2. The new idea

    Read:

    The Singular Number denotes but one object.

    The Plural Number denotes more than one object.

    SayFan, one. Fans, more than one.

  3. The plural rules

    Go over the book's rules with examples:

    Most nouns add s. Nouns that end in a sound that won't join with s add es: church, churches.

    Nouns ending in y after a consonant change y to i and add es. Many ending in f or fe change to ves.

    Read this one together:

    A few nouns are alike in both numbers; as, sheep, deer, trout, vermin.

  4. Oral practice

    Say a singular noun and let your child say the plural: dog, box, baby, leaf, key, sheep.

  5. Write the plurals

    The book gives thirty nouns, beginning:

    Ox, City, Desk, Alley, Street, School, Girl, Fish

    Write the plurals. The book's note says the teacher should help with some of them, so do the tricky ones together.

  6. Check together

    Check with the answers below. Talk about any that broke the rules (ox, child, man, woman).

  7. Use it today

    In today's reading, find three plural nouns and say the singular of each.

Answers to the book's problems

oxen, cities, desks, alleys, streets, schools, girls, fishes (or fish), roads, children, houses, moneys, boys, men, follies, winds, pencils, wagons, calves, roses, books, knives, vessels, women, boxes, plows, chairs, fences, potatoes, monkeys.

Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.

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