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Spelling: Noun Plurals

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1. Add an -s to form the plural of most words.

• elephant--elephants
• stereo--stereos
  • In compound nouns, add s only to the main noun.
  Some families uses one air- conditioner and one washing machine, other families use three air- conditioners and two washing machines .  I have a son-in-law; my friend has three sons-in-law.

2. For words that end in a "hissing" sound (-s, -z, -x, -ch, -sh), add an -es to form the plural.
     When a verb ends in a sibilant sound such as ch, s, sh, x or z, the letter e is added
      before the s ending.  (Sibilant sounds: Air is pushed through a narrow opening in the teeth.)

• box--boxes
• church--churches

3. If the word ends in a vowel plus -y (-ay, -ey, -iy, -oy, -uy), add an -s to the word.

• tray--trays
• key--keys

4. If the word ends in a consonant plus -y, change the -y into -ie and add an -s to form the plural.

• enemy--enemies
• baby--babies
  
  Note: If the noun ending with a y represents a person or a country, add only s in any case.
  John Kennedy was the most famous of the Kennedys. In 1963, he didn’t visit the two
  Germanys after giving his speech in West-Berlin.

5. For words that end in -is, change the -is to -es to make the plural form.

• synopsis--synopses
• thesis--theses

6. Some words that end in -f or -fe have plurals that end in -ves.

• knife--knives
• self--selves 
  • Some nouns ending with f, fe, drop this ending and add ves to make the plural form. There may be alternative spellings.
  Yes : a knife – knives, one half – two halves, my life – their lives, a wolf – wolves.
  No : one roof – roofs, a cliff – many cliffs, a safe – safes
  Both : a dwarf – the seven dwarfs/ dwarves, one wharf – a few wharfs/ wharves
   

7. The plurals of words ending in -o are formed by either adding -s or by adding -es. The plurals of many words can be formed either way. To determine whether a particular word ends in -s or -es (or if the word
can be spelled either way), check your dictionary or the list below. There are two helpful rules:

a. All words that end in a vowel plus -o (-ao, -eo, -io, -oo, -uo) have plurals that end in just -s:

• stereo--stereos
• studio--studios
• duo--duos

b. All musical terms ending in -o have plurals ending in just -s.
     (These are words from languages other than English*)

• piano--pianos
• cello--cellos
• solo--solos

c. Plural forms of words ending in -o:

-os	-oes	-os or -oes
albinos armadillos autos bravos broncos cantos casinos combos gazebos infernos kimonos logos maraschinos ponchos sombreros tacos torsos tobaccos typos	echoes embargoes heroes potatoes tomatoes torpedoes vetoes	avocados/oes buffaloes/os cargoes/os desperadoes/os dodoes/os dominoes/os ghettos/oes grottoes/os hoboes/os innuendoes/os lassos/oes mangoes/os mosquitoes/os mottoes/os mulattos/oes noes/os palmettos/oes peccadilloes/os tornadoes/os volcanoes/os zeros/oes

Irregular Noun Plurals

 1.  Unique Old English Plural Nouns
• These nouns have unique plural forms that survived from Old English. Learn them well according to the following groups, as they are in common use.

a man – men a woman – women (Plural pronounced /wimen/) a person -- people	a foot – feet a goose – geese a tooth – teeth
a child – children an ox – oxen (castrated bulls) a brother – brethren (in church orders), brothers (in a family)	a mouse – mice a louse – lice a die – dice (for playing games)

2. One Form for Singular & Plural

• Many nouns have identical forms for both singular and plural.
a sheep – sheep, a deer – deer, a moose – moose
a fish – fish (fishes, if used for different species of fish)
a dozen – two dozen roses, a hundred – several hundred men
( but: dozens of roses, hundreds of people)
 

Special Singular - Plural Cases

1. Plural-Only Nouns

• Some nouns only have a plural form, ending with s or without.
The police are looking for the robbers.
I like these pants / jeans / shorts.
Use either scissors or nail clippers.
Binoculars are stronger than most glasses.

• Other nouns ending with s only have a plural form only with certain meanings.
customs (at the airport, not practices), guts (courage, not intestines)
quarters (lodgings, not 1/4s), clothes (garments, not fabrics)
goods (merchandise, not the opposite of bad), arms (weapons, not limb)

 

2. Singular Nouns with an S Ending

Watch out!
• Some nouns end with s but are usually singular. They take a singular verb with an s ending in the Present Simple.
diseases: measles, rabies.
fields of study and occupation: economics, ethics, linguistics, politics, physics, gymnastics.
games: dominoes, darts, cards

I study mathematics, which is very difficult. Dominoes is my favorite pastime.

• Some nouns have an identical form for singular and plural that both end with s.
barracks, means, headquarters, crossroads,
a TV series – many TV series,
Money is a means to an end.
Newspapers and TV are means of mass-communication.
There is one species of humans but many species of cats.

 

3. Plural Nouns from Other Languages

*As English has constantly borrowed words from other languages throughout its history, there are many nouns with plural endings taken from the source language. Some of these, notably Latin and classical Greek nouns, have been anglicized and may also have an English plural s ending.

Others have both forms, where the original is used in formal language or by specialists, while the anglicized is for more common use. Some of these are now almost only known or used in the plural form, which is treated as singular for subject-verb agreement (third person verb with s in the Present Simple). In the table below, the more common forms are underlined.

 

Endings	Singular	Plural
um – ia	One bacterium can multiply into millions. one datum The Internet is the newest medium. Each school should have a curriculum.	Bacteria multiply rapidly. Use this data for your calculations. The media is everywhere. curricula.
on – a	one criterion a natural phenomenon	several criteria natural phenomena
is – es	psychological analysis the oil crisis the basis for the hypothesis	financial analyses many life crises the bases of the hypotheses
a – ae	the TV antenna sea alga	TV antennas, insect antennae sea algae
us – i	a circle’s radius a fungus an alumnus	the circles’ radii fungi alumni
ex/ix – ices	an index The matrix appendix	Indices, indexes matrices Book appendices, appendixes in the abdomen
o – i	graffito concerto virtuoso	graffiti concerti virtuosi

This has been a general review of singular and plural nouns in English. There are many more unique cases and usages. Whenever in doubt, use the dictionary for more specific information. The WhiteSmoke unique spell checker is your best tool for proofreading noun plural usage.  
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Regular Plural Forms

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