Regular Plural Nouns | Singular and Plural Nouns

 Regular Plural Nouns | Singular and Plural Nouns

Singular and Plural Nouns! Learn how to form regular plural nouns in English with useful grammar rules and example sentences.

General Rules | Regular Plural Nouns

Most singular nouns are made plural by adding -s to the end of the singular form.

Singular and Plural Nouns Examples:

car – cars

bag – bags

table – tables

house – houses

dog – dogs

Nouns Ending in a Sibilant Sound | Regular Plural Nouns

When a noun ends in a sibilant sound – /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /tʃ/ or /dʒ/ – the plural is formed by adding -es, or -s if the singular already ends in -e.

Singular and Plural Nouns Examples:

kiss – kisses – /ˈkɪsɨz/

dish – dishes – /ˈdɪʃɨz/

witch – witches – /ˈwɪtʃɨz/

judge – judges – /ˈdʒʌdʒɨz/

Nouns Ending in ‘f’ or ‘fe’ | Regular Plural Nouns

The plural form of some nouns that end in ‘f’ or ‘fe’ is made by changing the ending to -V(es).

Singular and Plural Nouns Examples:

half – halves

hoof – hooves

calf – calves

elf – elves

shelf – shelves

leaf – leaves

loaf – loaves

thief – thieves

wolf – wolves

life – lives

knife – knives

scarf – scarves

wife – wives

Exceptions:

cuff – cuffs

knockoff – knockoffs

chef – chefs

belief – beliefs

roof – roofs

chief – chiefs

Nouns Ending in -o | Regular Plural Nouns

When a noun ends in “o” preceded by a consonant, the plural in many cases is spelled by adding -es.

Singular and Plural Nouns Examples:

potato – potatoes

tomato – tomatoes

hero – heroes

echo – echoes

veto – vetoes

domino – dominoes

mosquito – mosquitoes

volcano – volcanoes

Exceptions:

piano – pianos

photo – photos

halo – halos

soprano – sopranos

Nouns that end in ‘o’ preceded by a vowel are made plural by adding -s.

Examples:

radio – radios

stereo – stereos

video – videos

Nouns Ending in -y | Regular Plural Nouns

When the ‘y’ follows a consonant, changing ‘y’ to ‘i’ and adding -es.

Examples:

city – cities

candy – candies

country – countries

family – families

cherry – cherries

lady – ladies

puppy – puppies

party – parties

When the ‘y’ follows a vowel, the plural is formed by retaining the 

‘y’ and adding -s.

Singular and Plural Nouns Examples:

day – days

holiday – holidays

ray – rays

boy – boys

toy – toys

key – keys

donkey – donkeys

Regular Plural Nouns | Picture

Irregular Plural Nouns: Useful Rules, List & Examples

Some nouns have identical singular and plural. Many of these are the names of animals.

Irregular Plural Nouns List:

• Aircraft – aircraft
• Barracks – barracks
• Deer – deer
• Gallows – gallows
• Moose – moose
• Salmon – salmon
• Hovercraft – hovercraft
• Spacecraft – spacecraft
• Series – series
• Species – species
• Means – means
• Offspring – offspring
• Deer – deer
• Fish – fish
• Sheep – sheep
• Offspring – offspring
• Trout – trout
• Swine – swine

Irregular Plural Nouns | Changing the Spelling of the Singular Noun

The plural is sometimes formed by simply changing the vowel sound of the singular (these are sometimes called mutated plurals):

Irregular Plural Nouns List:

• Person – people
• Ox – oxen
• Man – men
• Woman – women
• Caveman – cavemen
• Policeman – policemen
• Child – children
• Tooth – teeth
• Foot – feet
• Goose – geese
• Mouse – mice
• Louse – lice
• Penny – pence

Note: There are many compounds of man and woman that form their plurals in the same way: postmen, policewomen, etc.

The following nouns are always singular:

• Furniture
• Scenery
• Traffic
• Milk
• Rice
• Cheese
• Butter
• Air

The following nouns are always plural:

• Trousers
• People
• Clothes
• Scissors
• Jeans
• News
• Athletics
• Darts
• Billards
• Glasses
• Savings
• Thanks
• Steps
• Stairs
• Customs
• Congratulations
• Wages
• Spectacles
• Goods

Irregular Plural Nouns from Latin and Greek

Final a becomes -ae (also -æ), or just adds -s

• Alumna – alumnae
• Formula – formulae/formulas

Final ex or ix becomes -ices

• Index – indices /indexes
• Matrix – matrices
• Vertex – vertices
• Appendix – appendices

Final is becomes es

• Axis – axes
• Genesis – geneses
• Nemesis – nemeses
• Crisis – crises
• Testis – testes

Final um becomes -a, or just adds -s

Irregular Plural Nouns List:

• Addendum – addenda
• Corrigendum – corrigenda
• Datum – data
• Forum – fora/forums
• Medium – media/ mediums
• Memorandum – memoranda/memorandums
• Millennium – millennia
• Ovum – ova
• Spectrum – spectra

Final us becomes -i or -era or -ora or just adds -es

• Alumnus – alumni
• Corpus – corpora
• Census – censuses
• Focus – foci
• Genus – genera
• Prospectus – prospectuses
• Radius – radii
• Campus – campuses
• Succubus – succubi
• Stylus – styli
• Syllabus – syllabi/syllabuses
• Viscus – viscera
• Virus – viruses/virii
• Cactus – cactuses/cacti
• Fungus – fungi
• Hippopotamus – hippopotamuses/hippopotami
• Octopus – octopuses
• Terminus – termini/terminuses
• Uterus – uteri/uteruses

Final us remains unchanged in the plural

• Meatus – meatus/meatuses
• Status – status/statuses

Final on becomes -a

• Automaton – automata
• Criterion – criteria
• Phenomenon – phenomena
• Polyhedron – polyhedra

Final as in one case changes to -antes

• Atlas – Atlantes (statues of the Titan); but Atlas – atlases (map collections)

Final ma in nouns of Greek origin can become -mata

Final ma in nouns of Greek origin can become -mata, although -s is usually also acceptable, and in many cases more common.

• Stigma – stigmata/stigmas
• Stoma – stomata/stomas
• Schema – schemata/schemas
• Dogma – dogmata/dogmas
• Lemma – lemmata/lemmas
• Anathema – anathemata/anathemas

Irregular Plural Nouns from Other Languages

Some nouns of French origin add an -x:

• Beau – beaux/beaus
• Bureau – bureaux/bureaus
• Tableau – tableaux/tableaus

Nouns of Slavic origin add -a or -i according to native rules, or just -s:

• Kniazhestvo – kniazhestva/kniazhestvos
• Kobzar – kobzari/kobzars
• Oblast – oblasti/oblasts

Nouns of Hebrew origin add -im or -ot (generally m/f) according to native rules, or just -s:

• Cherub – cherubim/cherubs
• Seraph – seraphim/seraphs
• Matzah – matzot/matzahs
• Kibbutz – kibbutzim/kibbutzes

Many nouns of Japanese origin have no plural form and do not change:

• Benshi – benshi
• Otaku – otaku
• Samurai – samurai

Nouns from languages other than the above generally form plurals as if they were native English words:

• Canoe – canoes
• Igloo – igloos
• Kangaroo – kangaroos
• Kayak – kayaks
• Kindergarten – kindergartens
• Pizza – pizzas
• Sauna – saunas
• Ninja – ninjas