Plurals
http://www.myenglishpages.com/images/grammar/plurals.pngEnglish plural nouns In order to change a singular noun to its plural form in English, you usually add "s". For example, the plural of book is books. The plural of table is tables. These are regular plurals.
But there are many nouns which don't follow this rule. For example the plural of fish is fish. The plural of tooth is teeth. These are irregular plurals
Regular plurals:Form:Add "s" to the noun:
Noun+ S
While many plural nouns follow this rule, the spelling sometimes differ.
Examples:
Singular Plural
snakesnakes
windowwindows
boxboxes
boyboys
lorrylorries
potatopotatoes
knifeknives
Spelling of plurals:The plural form of most nouns is created simply by adding the letter "s".
[*]more than one snake = snakes
[*]more than one girl = girls
[*]more than one window = windows
Nouns that end in -ch, x, s, z or s-like sounds, however, will require an es for the plural:
[*]more than one witch = witches
[*]more than one box = boxes
[*]more than one gas = gases
[*]more than one bus = buses
[*]more than one kiss = kisses
Nouns that end in a vowel + y take the letter s:
[*]more than one boy = boys
[*]more than one way = ways
Nouns that end in a consonant + y drop the y and take ies:
[*]more tha one baby = babies
[*]more than one lorry = lorries
A lot of nouns that end in o take es in the plural:
[*]more than potato = potatoes
[*]more than one hero = heroes
o becomes oes
echoechoes
embargoembargoes
heroheroes
potatopotatoes
tomatotomatoes
torpedotorpedoes
vetovetoes
Some nouns ending in o break the above rule and get os in the plural form:
o becomes os
autoautos
kangarookangaroos
kilokilos
memomemos
photophotos
pianopianos
pimentopimentos
propros
solosolos
sopranosopranos
studiostudios
tattootattoos
videovideos
zoozoos
Other nouns ending in o get either os or oes i the plural forms:
o becomes os or oes
buffalobuffalos/buffaloes
cargocargos/cargoes
halohalos/haloes
mosquitomosquitos/mosquitoes
mottomottos/mottoes
nonos/noes
tornadotornados/tornadoes
volcanovolcanos/volcanoes
zerozeros/zeroes
Plurals of nouns that end in f or fe usually change the f sound to a v sound and add s or -es.
[*]more than one knife = knives
[*]more than one leaf = leaves
[*]more than one hoof = hooves
[*]more than one life = lives
[*]more than one self = selves
[*]more than one elf = elves
Irregular plurals: There are several nouns that have irregular plural forms.
Singular Plural
fishfish
sheepsheep
barracksbarracks
footfeet
toothteeth
goosegeese
toothteeth
goosegeese
childchildren
manmen
womanwomen
personpeople
mousemice
Plurals formed in this way are sometimes called irregular plurals or mutated (or mutating) plurals.
[*]more than one child = children
[*]more than one woman = women
[*]more than one man = men
[*]more than one person = people
[*]more than one goose = geese
[*]more than one mouse = mice
[*]more than one barracks = barracks
[*]more than one deer = deer
Other irregular plural forms include the following:Some foreign nouns retain their plural. (Note that some of them adapted the s of the English plural form!)
SingularForeign pluralEnglish plural
algaalgae
amoebaamoebaeamoebas
antennaantennaeantennas
formulaformulaeformulas
larvalarvae
nebulanebulaenebulas
vertebravertebrae
Nouns ending in us get a, i or the s of the English plural:
SingularForeign pluralEnglish plural
corpuscorpora
genusgenera
alumnusalumni
bacillusbacilli
cactuscacticactuses
focusfoci
fungusfungifunguses
nucleusnuclei
octopusoctopioctopuses
radiusradii
stimulusstimuli
syllabussyllabisyllabuses
terminustermini
Nouns ending in um get a, i or the s of the English plural:
SingularForeign pluralEnglish plural
addendumaddenda
bacteriumbacteria
curriculumcurriculacurriculums
datumdata
erratumerrata
mediummedia
memorandummemorandamemorandums
ovumova
stratumstrata
symposiumsymposiasymposiums
Nouns ending in ex or ix get ices or get the s of the English plural:
SingularForeign plural English plural
apexapicesapexes
appendixappendicesappendixes
cervixcervicescervixes
indexindicesindexes
matrixmatricesmatrixes
vortexvortices
Nouns ending in is becoming es in plural:
SingularPlural form
analysisanalyses
axisaxes
basisbases
crisiscrises
diagnosisdiagnoses
emphasisemphases
hypothesishypotheses
neurosisneuroses
oasisoases
parenthesisparentheses
synopsissynopses
thesistheses
Nouns ending in -on becoming -a:
singularplural
criterioncriteria
phenomenonphenomena
automatonautomata
Nouns that are always singular:A handful of nouns appear to be plural in form but take a singular verb:
[*]The news is bad.
[*]Gymnastics is fun to watch.
[*]Economics/mathematics/statistics is said to be difficult.
Some nouns never take the s of the plural and are always singular:
[*]your luggage / baggage is so heavy
[*]I'd like to buy new furniture for the house
[*]you can find more information in our website.
Exercise on plurals.
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