plural nouns

Plural nouns

plural nouns

Most singular nouns are made plural by simply putting an -s at the end. There are many different rules regarding pluralization depending on what letter a noun ends in. Irregular nouns do not follow plural noun rules, so they must be memorized or looked up in the dictionary.

Rules

If the noun ends with ‑f or ‑fe, the f is often changed to ‑ve before adding the -s to form the plural version.

If the singular noun ends in ‑s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, or -z, add ‑es to the end to make it plural.

To make regular nouns plural, add ‑s to the end.

examples: house-houses cat-cats girl-girls

examples: buttress-buttresses blotch-blotches bleach-bleaches

examples: wharf- wharves wolf-wolves sheaf- sheaves

Rules

If a singular noun ends in ‑y and the letter before the -y is a consonant, change the ending to ‑ies to make the noun plural.

If the singular noun ends in -y and the letter before the -y is a vowel, simply add an -s to make it plural.

example: berry- berries

example: birthday- birthdays

Rules

Ends in vowel + O add- s

Ends in consonat + o add - es

example: volcano- volcanoes

example: expo-expos

Plural Noun Rules for Irregular Nouns

Irregular nouns follow no specific rules, so it’s best to memorize these or look up the proper pluralization in the dictionary. child – children goose – geese man – men woman – women tooth – teeth foot – feet mouse – mice person – people