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Plural of Nouns 1

Plural Nouns (Regular)

 Usually we can change a singular noun to a plural noun by adding “S” to the end of the word. However, with some nouns that end with specific letters, we have to obey specific rules to change a singular noun to a plural noun. Therefore we have to learn and then know those specific rules.

Plural Noun Rules (Regular)

It is very important to know the plural noun rules.The correct spelling of plural nouns depends on the letter of the singular noun that comes in the end.

1 – Add “S” to the end of the most nouns. Examples: lion > lions. car > cars. boat > boats. house > houses.

2 – In some singular nouns that end with “s, ss,sh, ch, x, or z”, we add “es” to the end of the noun. Examples: bus > buses. truss > trusses.clash > clashes.church > churches.box > boxes.blitz > blitzes.wish > wishes.pitch > pitches.

3 – In some singular nouns that end with “s” or “z”, we have to double “s” or “z”,before adding “es”to the end. Examples: gas > gasses.quiz > quizzes.fez > fezzes. ( “gases” is also correct and more popular).

4 – In some singular nouns that end with “f” or “fe”, we often change “f” or “fe”to “ve” before adding “s” . Examples: wolf >wolves.wife > wives. half> halves. leaf > leaves. life > lives. self > selves. thief > thieves. scarf > scarves. calf > calves. knife > knives. loaf > loaves. elf > elves. Exceptions: roof >roofs. chef >chefs. chief >chiefs. belief >beliefs. cliff >cliffs.  

5 - In some singular nouns that end with “y” and if a consonant letter is before “y”, we replace “y” with “ies” . Examples: city > cities. fly > flies. lady > ladies. penny > pennies. spy > spies. baby > babies. daisy daisies.

6 - In some singular nouns that end with “y” and if a vowel letter is before “y”, we only add “s” to the end of the noun. Examples: boy > boys. ray > rays.

7 - In some singular nouns that end with “o”, we add “es” to the end of the noun. Examples: potato >potatoes. tomato > tomatoes. Exceptions: photo > photos. piano > pianos. halo > halos. For “volcano”, we can use both type of pluralisation. volcanoes or volcanos.

8 – In some singular nouns that end with “us”, we usually replace “us” with “i”. Examples: cactus >cacti (Also cactuses). fungus >fungi (Also funguses). focus >foci (Also focuses). alumnus > alumni. nucleus > nuclei. syllabus > syllabi. Exceptions: circus > circuses. campus > campuses.

9 – In some singular nouns that end with “is”, we replace “is” with “es”. Example: analysis >analyses. ellipsis > ellipses. diagnosis > diagnoses. oasis > oases. thesis > theses. crisis > crises.

10 - In some singular nouns that end with “on”, we replace “on” with “a”. Examples: criterion >criteria. phenomenon > phenomena.

11 – In some singular nouns that end with “um”, we replace “um” with “a”. Examples: datum > data. bacterium > bacteria. referendum > referenda. candelabrum > candelabra. medium > media.

12 - Some singular nouns don't change in the plural form. Examples: series > series. sheep > sheep. deer > deer. species >species. aircraft > aircraft. dice > dice (or: dices)

Important notice: we can recognise those nouns in the context . Example: Jane caught one fish, but Anna caught four fish yesterday.

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