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Home > Articles > English lessons > Plural forms of English nouns

Plural forms of English nouns

1st October 2017 by Andrew 2 Comments

In this lesson, you will learn how to form the plural form of nouns.

Only countable nouns have a plural forum. Uncountable nouns (example “milk”, “flour”, “water”) do not have a plural form.

The singular form of a countable noun is used to describe one unit of it. The plural form is used when there is more than one unit.

Example with a regular noun:


Singular form of noun: car ( I have one car.)
Plural form of noun: cars ( I have three cars.)

There are several rules for how to form the plural depending on the ending of the noun in the singular form. The spelling is very important.

Regular nouns

For most regular nouns, we add –s to the end of the singular form:

singularplural
coatcoats
dogdogs
househouses
roadroads
shipships

….and many more.

 

Nouns ending in -ch, -sh, -s (or “s” sound), -x or -z:

We add –es:

singularplural
boxboxes
busbuses
buzzbuzzes
churchchurches
dishdishes

Nouns ending in -y

For nouns ending in -y, the plural form depends on the letter before the “y”

Nouns ending in a VOWEL + y

(Vowels are the letters a, e, i, o, u)

Add –s

singularplural
boyboys
daydays
keykeys

Nouns ending in a CONSONANT + y

(Consonants are all the letters of the alphabet apart from the vowels: b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z)

Change the y to i and add –es

singularplural
babybabies
citycities
ferryferries
ladyladies

 

Nouns ending in -f or -fe

Replace the -f or -fe with –ves for these nouns:

singularplural
calfcalves
elfelves
halfhalves
knifeknives
leafleaves
lifelives
loafloaves
selfselves
shelfshelves
thiefthieves
wifewives
wolfwolves

For most other nouns ending in -f or -fe, just add –s:

singularplural
giraffegiraffes
roofroofs

and many more…

 

Nouns ending in -o

For nouns ending in -o, the plural form depends on the letter before the “o”

Nouns ending in a VOWEL + o

Add –s

singularplural
radioradios
zoozoos

Irregular nouns ending in a CONSONANT + o

For these irregular nouns, we add –es:

singularplural
buffalobuffaloes (or buffalo)
dominodominoes
echoechoes
embargoembargoes
heroheroes
mosquitomosquitoes
potatopotatoes
tomatotomatoes
torpedotorpedoes
vetovetoes

Example:  Here are some potatoes.

Potatoes

Regular nouns ending in a CONSONANT + o

All the other nouns ending in a CONSONANT + o are considered regular.

We add –s:

singularplural
casinocasinos
photophotos
solosolos

and many more.

There are a few nouns ending in a CONSONANT + o which have 2 possible plural forms:

We add –s or –es

singularplural
tornadotornados or tornadoes
volcanovolcanos or volcanoes

 

English nouns from foreign languages

There are many English words that originate from other foreign languages. These are called “borrowed words” because we borrow them! They all follow different rules for the plural form, depending on the exact origin of the word:

Latin nouns ending in -us

Replace the -us with –i

singularplural
cactuscacti
fungusfungi
nucleusnuclei
radiusradii

Certain nouns ending in -is

Replace the -is with –es

singularplural
analysis (Greek)analyses
axis (Latin)axes
crisis (Greek)crises
diagnosis (Greek)diagnoses
hypothesis (Greek)hypotheses
thesis (Greek)theses

Certain nouns ending in -ix or -ex

Replace the –ix or -ex with -ices

singularplural
appendix (Latin)appendices
index (Latin)indices
matrix (Latin)matrices
vertex (Latin)vertices

 

Irregular nouns

Some English nouns are completely irregular and do not follow any of the above rules at all. You have no choice but to learn them by heart:

Irregular nouns with different irregular plurals

singularplural
childchildren
footfeet
goosegeese
manmen
mousemice
oxoxen
personpeople
toothteeth
womanwomen

 

Irregular nouns with the same plurals

Some nouns are the same in the singular and plural:

singularplural
aircraftaircraft
buffalobuffalo (or buffaloes)
deerdeer
fishfish
hovercrafthovercraft
moosemoose
sheepsheep
spacecraftspacecraft

Video lesson on our YouTube channel

This video is the same lesson in video format with a more detailed explanation. I advise you to watch it and listen to the correct pronunciation of the nouns. Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel. 🙂

Other lessons

The verb GET | Phrasal verbs with GET
Prepositions of place IN, ON and AT
Business English phrases and expressions
ALL and EVERY – Determiners
The verb PREFER

Online English lessons and conversation

Comments

  1. Laxmi says

    19th September 2019 at 10:06 am

    Learns, goes, comes, does which word plural sir

    Reply
  2. Sohail reja Khan says

    29th October 2021 at 4:18 am

    British is a very bad

    Reply

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