Singular noun-names one person, place, thing, or
idea; denoting or referring to just one person or
thing.
Plural noun-names more than one person, place,
thing, or idea; denoting more than one, or more than
two.
There are a few basic rules to remember when it
comes to turning a singular noun into a plural noun.
1. Most singular nouns need an 's' at the end to
become plural.
These are the easy ones. You can just add an 's' to
alien, taco, or skateboard, for example, and you
instantly have aliens, tacos, and skateboards.
There's a second rule for nouns that end with certain
letters.
2. Singular nouns ending in 's', 'ss', 'sh', 'ch', 'x', or
'z' need an 'es' at the end to become plural.
So, if you have a secretive, alcoholic octopus
drinking wine from a glass behind a bush, and you
decide that one of those just isn't enough, you'd
have two octopuses drinking from glasses behind
bushes.
The same would be true for a crutch, a box, and a
blintz, which would become crutches, boxes, and
blintzes.
1
Note that some singular nouns ending in 's' or 'z'
require that you double the 's' or 'z' before adding an
'es'. For example, a really bad day might involve
you having not one pop quiz, but two pop quizzes.
Irregular Plural Nouns
And then, there are a lot of nouns with weird rules
for becoming plural.
3. Some nouns are the same in both their singular
and plural forms.
So I can have one deer or two deer - or one sheep or
two sheep. Or I might be hooked on one T.V. series
or two T.V. series.
4. Some nouns ending in 'f' require that you change
the 'f' to a 'v' and then add an 'es' at the end to make
them plural.
For example, you might have not just one elf
sneaking into your house on Christmas night, but
two elves.
The English language loves to have exceptions,
though, so the houses in your neighborhood have
roofs, not rooves, and your wacky old uncle has
crazy beliefs, not believes.
5. Nouns that end in 'y' often require that you
change the 'y' to an 'i', and then add an 'es' at the
end to make them plural.
2
Singular nouns form the plural by adding -s.
SINGULAR NOUN PLURAL NOUN
BOAT BOATS
HOUSE HOUSES
CAT CATS
RIVER RIVERS
Singular noun ending in s, x, z, ch, sh makes the
plural by adding-es.
SINGULAR NOUN PLURAL NOUN
BUS BUSES
WISH WISHES
PITCH PITCHES
BOX BOXES
3
Singular noun ending in a consonant and
then y makes the plural by dropping the y and
adding-ies.
SINGULAR NOUN PLURAL NOUN
PENNY PENNIES
SPY SPIES
BABY BABIES
CITY CITIES
DAISY DAISIES
4
There are some irregular noun plurals. The most
common ones are listed below.
SINGULAR NOUN PLURAL NOUN
WOMAN WOMEN
MAN MEN
CHILD CHILDREN
TOOTH TEETH
FOOT FEET
PERSON POEPLE
LEAF LEAVES
5
SINGULAR NOUN PLURAL NOUN
MOUSE MICE
GOOSE GEESE
HALF HALVES
KNIFE KNIVES
WIFE WIVES
LIFE LIVES
ELF ELVES
6
SINGULAR NOUN PLURAL NOUN
LOAF LOAVES
POTATO POTATOES
TOMATO TOMATOES
CACTUS CACTI
FOCUS FOCI
FUNGUS FUNGI
NUCLEUS NUCLEI
7
SINGULAR NOUN PLURAL NOUN
ANALYSIS ANALYSES
DISGNOSIS DIAGNOSES
OASIS OASES
THESIS THESES
CRISIS CRISES
PHENOMENON PHENOMENA
CRITERION CRITERIA
SYLLABUS SYLLABI/SYLLABUSES
DATUM DATA
