Plural Nouns

The rules

and the exceptions.

Add –s to most nouns

• skateboard – skateboards• painting – paintings• ticket – tickets• bee - bees

Add –es to nouns that end with a hissing sound (s, ss, sh, ch, x, z, zz)

• wrench – wrenches• walrus – walruses• compass - compasses• toolbox – toolboxes• buzz of bees - buzzes of bees

Add –s to most nouns that end in o preceded by a vowel or consonant

Words that follow the rule:• radio – radios• piano – pianos• auto – autos• igloo – igloos

Exceptions to the rule:• potato – potatoes• tomato - tomatoes• echo – echoes• hero – heroes• jingo – jingoes• no – noes

More o exceptions: Some nouns ending with the letter o preceded by a consonant can form the plural

two ways

• zero - zeros or zeroes• buffalo – buffalos or buffaloes• cargo – cargos or cargoes• desperado – desperados or desperadoes• halo – halos or haloes• mosquito – mosquitos or mosquitoes

When a noun ends in yIf a consonant comes before the y, change the y to i and add es

• butterfly – butterflies• flurry – flurries• deputy – deputies• battery – batteries• dairy - dairies

If a vowel comes before the y, just add -s

• monkey – monkeys• alley – alleys• play – plays• turkey - turkeys

Nouns Ending in f, fe, ffFor most nouns ending in f, fe, or ff, change the f to -ves

• calf - calves• elf - elves• half - halves• knife - knives• life - lives• loaf - loaves• self - selves (ourselves, yourselves,

themselves)

• shelf - shelves• thief - thieves• wife - wives

Just add –s to a few nouns that end in f, fe, ff

• surf - surfs• giraffe – giraffes• cliff – cliffs• belief – beliefs• safe – safes• chef – chefs• ref - refs

MORE...Nouns Ending in f, fe, ffFor some nouns ending in ife, change the f to a v and then add -s

• wife - wives• life - lives• knife - knives

Some nouns ending in f, fe, ff have two forms of the plural

• dwarf - dwarfs or dwarves• hoof - hoofs or hooves• scarf - scarfs or scarves• staff - staffs or staves• wharf - wharfs or wharves

Nouns Ending in i

Most nouns that end in i form the plural by adding the letter s.• ski – skis• alibi-alibis• khaki-khakis• rabbi-rabbis

Some nouns ending with the letter i form the plural both by adding s and/or es• taxi-taxis-taxies• alkali-alkalis-alkalies• chili-chilies

Nouns That Have Irregular Plural Forms

Some nouns change their vowels in the middle of the singular form when forming the plural

• goose – geese• foot - feet• louse - lice• man - men• mouse - mice• tooth - teeth

Compounds of words man and woman form plurals the same way:

• woman – women• mailman - mailmen

More... Nouns That Have Irregular Plural Forms

Several nouns form the plural by adding the letters -en

• child - children• ox - oxen

Some words with descriptive adjectives and hyphens form the plural by adding the correct affix to the noun portion of the word.

• father-in-law/fathers-in law• mother-in-law /mothers-in-

law• brother-in-law/ brothers-in-

law• sister-in-law /sisters-in-law• attorney-general /attorneys-

general

Even More... Nouns That Have Irregular Plural Forms

There are a number of animals that have the same singular and plural form:

• bison - bison • deer - deer• moose - moose• sheep - sheep• swine - swine

There are also some animal names that form the plural using -s or -es form:

• antelope - antelope or antelopes• cod - cod or cods• elk - elk or elks• fish - fish or fishes• flounder - flounder or flounders• grouse - grouse or grouses• herring - herring or herrings• quail - quail or quails• reindeer - reindeer or reindeers• salmon - salmon or salmons• shrimp - shrimp or shrimps• trout - trout or trouts

If all else fails...

• Use a dictionary or spell check!