A plural noun is a noun that refers to more than one thing. Plural nouns are different from singular nouns, which refer to exactly one thing.
 |
dog (singular) |
 |
dogs (plural) |
In English, we also sometimes use the plural form of a noun to talk about a noun in general (ex: I love dogs), so it is important to learn how to form plural nouns correctly.
In this article, we’ll take a look at the basic guidelines for spelling and pronouncing regular plural nouns in English. We’ll also examine some irregular plural nouns. Ready to start? Let’s dive in!
How to create regular plural nouns in English?
A regular noun can be made into a plural by adding the plural -s to the end of the noun. We can add -s to most nouns. Let’s take a look at this desk:
Let's pluralise the objects in the scene by adding -s.
- cup → cups
- book → books
- pen → pens
- flower → flowers
But there are also plural nouns that end in -es or have other spelling and pronunciation exceptions. Let’s have a look!
When to add a syllable to a plural noun?
When a singular noun ends in -s or in another “hissy” sound, we need to add an extra syllable when we form the plural, so that you can hear the plural -s.
glass → ✅ [glass·iz]
❌ transcribed glasss
bush → ✅ [bush·iz]
❌ transcribed bushs
quiz → ✅ [quiz·iz]
❌ transcribed quizs
To separate the “hissy” sound of the plural -s from the “hissy” sound of the singular, we add a neutral vowel sound before we can add the plural -s. Words that end in this “hissy” sound are often spelled with the following endings: -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, -z, -ge, -dge.
Let’s take a look at a few examples.
| Ending | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
-s | plus | transcribed plus·iz→ plusses |
-ss | glass | transcribed glass·iz→ glasses |
-sh | dish | transcribed dish·iz→dishes |
-ch | watch | transcribed watch·iz→ watches |
-x | fox | transcribed fox·iz→ foxes |
-z | quiz | transcribed quiz·iz→ quizzes |
-ge | garage | transcribed garage·iz→ garages |
-dge | grudge | transcribed grudge·iz→ grudges |
Do you notice that the plurals above are not just spelled with an -s? Let’s have a look at some of the spelling rules that apply to most regular nouns!
How to spell regular plural nouns?
Usually, we just spell regular plural nouns by adding the letter -s to the end of the singular noun, like we saw above. But there are some cases where we add -es instead!
When there is an extra syllable
If we need to add an extra syllable to make the plural form, we spell the plural ending -es, because there is an extra vowel:
- ✅ glass → glasses
- ✅ bush → bushes
- ✅ quiz → quizzes
If a singular noun ends in one -s or one -z, we usually write the plurals with double letters, -sses or -zzes.
- ✅ plus → plusses
- ✅ quiz → quizzes
When the singular noun ends in ‘-y’
If a noun ends in -y, follow these rules:
If the noun ends in a consonant + y, we remove the -y and add -ies.
- baby → babies
- city → cities
If the noun ends in a vowel + y, we simply add -s.
- boy → boys
- turkey → turkeys
When the singular noun ends in ‘-o’
When a singular noun ends in -o, we sometimes spell the with just an -s, and we sometimes spell it as -es. The pronunciation is the same either way. Plural nouns that end in -oes do not have an extra syllable, this is just a spelling rule.
| Plurals that ONLY end in -oes (this is the complete list!) | Plurals that end in -oes OR -os | Plurals that ONLY end with -os |
|---|---|---|
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|
|
There is one group of nouns where even more changes occur: those that end in -f or -fe. Read on to learn more!
How to form the plurals of nouns that end in ‘-f’ or ‘-fe’
For most nouns that end in -f or -fe, we just add the plural -s.
- belief → beliefs
- giraffe → giraffes
However, there is a short list of very common nouns that end in -f or -fe that change more in the plural. In these nouns, we still add the plural -s, but we also change the ending of the noun to -ves.
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
leaf | leaves |
wife | wives |
knife | knives |
roof | rooves / roofs |
hoof | hooves / hoofs |
loaf | loaves |
wolf | wolves |
calf | calves / calfs |
thief | thieves |
half | halves |
life | lives |
shelf | shelves |
dwarf | dwarves / dwarfs |
wharf | wharves / wharfs |
elf | elves |
Notice that some of these nouns can either use a -ves plural or regular plural with just -s. The plural depends on dialect!
Here are the three rules to follow for -ves plural nouns:
The -f or -fe of the singular form becomes -ves in the plural.
- leaf → leaves
- knife → knives
The f sound in the singular also changes to a v sound.
- leaf → leavesTranscription: leef → leevz
If the singular form has a short i, a short a, or a short o sound, the vowel becomes long in the plural.
knife transcribed nife → knives transcribed naivz
(an old-fashioned plural)
roof transcribed ruf → rooves transcribed roovz
(only in some dialects)
staff transcribed staf→ staves transcribed steivz
For the full list of every noun in this group, with notes to help you practice them, have a look at our English -ves plurals table.
So far we’ve looked at how to form regular plural nouns using pronunciation and spelling. Regular nouns are easy — they are like good students who follow the rules! But not all plural nouns in English are regular; some of them are irregular and follow their own rules for creating plurals. Now let’s take a look at irregular plural nouns!
What are irregular plural nouns in English?
Irregular plural nouns are nouns that don’t follow the rules for regular plural nouns.
There are a few different patterns of irregular plural nouns, but in the end, you will have to memorize all of them.
Let’s talk about a few of the different patterns of irregular plural nouns in English.
Nouns where the singular and plural are the same
For some nouns, like fish or deer, the singular and plural are the same.
- one fish → three fish
- one deer → three deer
Most nouns where the singular and the plural forms are the same are nouns for animals that people hunt, especially types of deer and sea creatures that swim. Here are some of the most common nouns that are the same in the singular and the plural.
- fish → fishalso: goldfish, jellyfish, salmon, trout, shrimp, squid ...
- deer → deeralso: elk, moose, caribou, reindeer
- sheep → sheep
- bison → bisonalso: buffalo
- quail → quailalso: grouse, snipe
In addition, any word that ends in -craft (ex: aircraft, spacecraft, ...) is the same in the singular and in the plural.
If you want to learn all the nouns in English that are the same in the singular and in the plural, check out our master list of English nouns that are the same in the singular and plural. We’ve given you some notes there that can help you practice!
Nouns where only the vowel changes in the plural
In some English nouns, the plural is formed just by changing the vowel. This mostly happens in very common English nouns that are also very old words.
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
foot | feet |
man | men |
woman | women |
goose | geese |
mouse | mice |
tooth | teeth |
louse | lice |
When the words in this list are used at the end of a compound noun, these compound nouns also follow the patterns above:
- policeman → policemen
- policeman → policemen
- woodlouse → woodlice
Nouns with a plural ending in ‘-en’
Three English irregular plural nouns end in -en. A long time ago, many nouns used to end this way, but now we have only three.
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
child | children |
ox | oxen |
brother | brothers (common) brethren (rare) |
Nouns that use the plural form from another language
A lot of English words come from other languages, like Greek, Latin, Italian, French, German, Spanish, and more. We call these “borrowed” words. Borrowed words will sometimes use the plural from the language that we borrowed them from.
Here are some of the common patterns for nouns that take their plural form from another language. Remember that though some foreign nouns follow these patterns, others are just regular plural nouns:
Latin nouns that end in -us change to -i transcribed ai or sometimes -era in the plural.
- syllabus → syllabi
- radius → radii
- genus → genera
Latin nouns that end in -a change to -ae transcribed ay in the plural.
- alumna → alumnae
- formula → formulae
Latin nouns that end in -ix or -ex change to -ices transcribed iseez in the plural.
- matrix → matrices
- vortex → vortices
Latin nouns that end in -um change to -a in the plural.
- datum → dataThough officially data is a count noun, with a plural form, most English speakers use it as a mass noun.
- minimum → minima
Latin nouns that end in -is change to -es transcribed eez in the plural.
- thesis → theses
- axis → axes
Greek nouns that end in -on change to -a in the plural.
- criterion → criteriaSome English speakers use criteria as a mass noun.
- automaton → automata
French nouns that end in -au change to -aux transcribed oh in the plural. These plurals are either pronounced just like the singular or just like a regular plural noun, but they are spelled the same as they are in French.
- château → châteaux
- beau → beaux
Nouns borrowed from other languages will usually be regular nouns in English (ex: canoe → canoes, avacado → avocados, or raccoon → raccoons), but occasionally we will use the same form of the word in the singular and the plural (ex: samurai → samurai).
Are there any nouns we use in English that are borrowed from your language? How do we create plurals of those nouns?
Nouns where the singular and plural are very different
There are a few nouns where the singular and plural are very different from each other, and you will just have to memorize them. But there are only a few English nouns that are like these.
- person → people
- die → dice
- penny → penceTranslation: (in British coins)
Summary
In this article we talked about how to create plural nouns in English, including:
For regular plural nouns, just add the plural ending -s.
The plural ending is spelled -ies on words that end in -y.
The plural ending is spelled -es for some words that end in -o and in words where you need to add a syllable.
In some nouns that end in -f or -fe, it’s spelled -ves.
Irregular plural nouns form their plural some other way!
For some irregular nouns, the singular and plural are the same.
For some irregular nouns, the vowel changes in the plural.
Three irregular nouns use the plural ending -en.
Many borrowed nouns use the plural form from their original language.
Wow, who knew there was so much to learn about plural nouns!
If you want to review everything we’ve covered, check out this handy English plural noun master sheet, which will give you all the rules for spelling regular nouns and forming irregular nouns in one place!
Or, if you’re feeling ready, test your skills with these English plural noun activities!
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