Plural forms of English nouns

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:

….and many more.

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

We add –es:

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

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

Nouns ending in -f or -fe

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

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

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

Irregular nouns ending in a CONSONANT + o

For these irregular nouns, we add –es:

Example:  Here are some potatoes.

Regular nouns ending in a CONSONANT + o

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

We add –s:

and many more.

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

We add –s or –es

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

Certain nouns ending in -is

Replace the -is with –es

Certain nouns ending in -ix or -ex

Replace the –ix or -ex with -ices

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

Irregular nouns with the same plurals

Some nouns are the same in the singular and plural:

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. 🙂

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