There are so many rules for English plurals. I remember when I was first learning it how much it confused me. In this post I want to make them as easy for you as possible.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Regular English Plurals
Adding Just An “-s”
Most nouns take an “-s” at the end to make them plural:
one pen – two pens
one lion – three lions
Nouns ending on a vowel + “-y” only gets an “-s” in the plural:
boy – boys
key – keys
If a noun ends on a vowel + “-o”, you just add an “-s” to make it plural:
radio – radios
zoo – zoos
piano – pianos
canto – cantos
photo – photos
zero – zeros
cello – cellos (can also be celli)
halo – halos
Nouns That Get An “-es”
If a noun ends on a consonant + “-y”, the “y” changes to “i” and you add “-es”:
baby – babies
city – cities
When a noun ends on “-fe” or “-f”, you change the “f” to “v” and add “-es”:
wife – wives
leaf – leaves
If a noun ends on “-sh”, “-ch”, “-ss” or “-x”. you just add “es”:
match – matches
fish – fishes
class – classes
box – boxes
Nouns ending on a consonant + “-o” gets an “-es” at the end in the plural form:
potato – potatoes
tomato – tomatoes
hero – heroes
torpedo – torpedoes
veto – vetoes
There are some exceptions to words ending on “-o”. These words can either take “-es” or “-s”:
volcano – volcanos or volcanoes
Sometimes if a noun ends on “-s” or “-z”, you should double the “s” or “z” before adding “-es”:
fez – fezzes
gas – gasses (gases is also acceptable)
Irregular English Plurals
Some plurals in English do not follow the normal patterns that I outlined above. The good news is that there are not too many of them and in some cases there are some rules as to how they change.
Irregular Plurals With Rules
Nouns ending on “-us”: the “us” change to “i”
focus – foci (can also be focuses)
nucleus – nuclei
cactus – cacti
radius – radii (can also be radiuses)
fungus – fungi
alumnus – alumni
octopus – octopi (can also be octopi)
hippopotamus – hippopotami (can also be hippopotamuses)
If a noun ends on “-is” the “is” changes to “es”:
analysis – analyses
crisis – crises
thesis – theses
axis – axes
When a noun ends on “-on”, the “on” changes to “a”:
phenomenon – phenomena
criterion – criteria
Nouns ending on “-um”: the “um” changes to “a”:
datum – data
memorandum – memoranda
bacterium – bacteria
stratum – strata
curriculum – curricula (also curriculums)
If a noun ends on “-ex” or “-ix” that ending falls away and you add either “-ces” or “-xes” (both are correct):
index – indices or indexes
appendix – appendices or appendix (the latter is used in the medical field)
vortex – vortices or vortexes
Nouns ending on “-eau” gets either a “-z” or an “-s” at the end:
plateau – plateaux/plateaus
tableau – tableaux/tableaus
Words containing a preposition: the word before the preposition becomes plural:
sister-in-law – sisters-in-law
lady-in-waiting – ladies-in-waiting
hanger-on – hangers-on
runner-up – runners-up
looker-on – lookers on
Abbreviations are made plural by adding “-s”:
VIP – VIPs
MVP – MVPs
Irregular Plurals Without Rules
Unfortunately there are some English plurals that do not follow a rule. These you would have to learn by heart. They can be divided into three categories namely, a vowel changes, the word changes completely or there is no change at all.
Change of vowel:
man – men
foot – feet
tooth – teeth
goose – geese
woman – women
Complete change of the noun:
child – children
person – people
mouse – mice
die – dice
ox – oxen
person – people
penny – pence
Some nouns do not change when they are used in the plural. The way they are treated grammatically is the only thing that changes
swine trout sheep aircraft hovercraft watercraft spacecraft bison series tuna moose buffalo shrimp species deer
One word that upsets the applecart is: “fish” technically the plural is “fish” however in some contexts it is “fishes”. Here are some more information on “fish” vs “fishes”.
Something Important to Note About English Plurals
Note that you never make a word plural by adding an apostrophe before the added ending, for example:
NOT boy’s
BUT boys
Plurals in English Conclusion
I hope that this post can help to demystify English plurals.
xoxo,
Charlé
P.S. If you liked this post and would like to be notified when I post new content, feel free to join my mailing list. You can also save it to Pinterest to read it again later by clicking on the button below:
Leave a Reply