Question

Select the correct plural noun from the given singular form of the noun:
_____________ are sweet and innocent. (Child)
a. Childs
b. Childrens
c. Child
d. Children

Answer 1

Hint: Some plural words are exceptions to the rule and do not follow the addition of ‘s’ at the end of the word. They have their own special endings.

Complete step-by-step answer:

In its most basic sense, the singular is something that is single. It is a single item as opposed to many. In contrast to this, plural stands for many. You could say that it is the opposite of singular as they are two contrary concepts. There are many ways of making a noun plural. The most basic way is to an ‘s’ to the end of the word. E.g. horse - horses.
There are many other ways of making a noun plural. The method of making a word plural depends on its endings. Words that have the ending ‘ife’ like life and knife change into lives and knives. Words that end with ‘ss’ like dress and loss change into dresses and losses.
Some words do not follow any of these rules and have their own special plural forms. Such words are known as exceptions to the rule. The plural of man and woman are ‘men’ and ‘women’ respectively. Mouse changes into mice while tooth changes into teeth.
The question given above is also such an exception. The plural form of child is known as children. Therefore, option ‘d’ is the correct answer.

Note: Do not confuse option ‘a’ childs and option ‘b’ childrens as the correct answer because they end with ‘s’. These words do not exist and are therefore, incorrect.