Compound Nouns are nouns made of two or more words.

A compound noun can be one word, like story book, or more than one word,
like ice cream. A compound noun can also be joined by one or more hyphens,
like runner-up.

SINGULAR AND PLURAL NOUNS

A singular noun names one person, place, thing, or idea. A plural noun names
more than one.

To form the plural of most nouns, you simply add –s. Other plural nouns are
formed in different ways.

FORMING PLURAL NOUNS

NOUNS ENDING TO FORM
WITH PLURAL EXAMPLES
s, z, ch, sh, x Add -es bus buzz box
buses buzzes boxes
O preceded by a vowel Add -s rodeo studio radio
rodeos studios radios
o preceded by a Usually add –es hero potato echo
consonant heroes potatoes echoes
Sometimes add
–s. zero photo piano
zeros photos pianos
y preceded by a vowel Add -s day turkey toy
days turkeys toys
y preceded by a Usually change city diary penny
consonant y to i and add – cities diaries pennies
es.
f or fe Usually change wife leaf half
f to v and add – wives leaves halves
s or -es
Sometimes add roof chief belief
–s roofs chiefs beliefs

To form the plural of compound nouns written as one word, usually add
–s or –es. To form the plural of compound nouns that are written as more than
one word or are hyphenated, make the main noun in the compound word
plural, or check a dictionary.
 COMPOUND NOUNS
ONE WORD doorbells, necklaces, rosebushes, Exception: passersby
MORE THAN ONE post offices, dining rooms, maids of honor, high schools
WORD
HYPHENATED brothers-in-law, great-aunts, eighth-graders, push-ups

Words such as family and team are called collective nouns.

A collective noun names a group of people, animals, or things.

A collective noun subject may be followed by a singular or a plural verb,

depending on the meaning. The subject is singular when the members of the
group act as a single unit. The subject is plural when each member of the
group acts separately. Other words in the sentence can sometimes help you
decide heather a collective noun is singular or plural.

EXAMPLE The team shares the field with its opponent.

(shares, its, singular)

EXAMPLE The team share their jokes with one another.

(share, their, plural)