Regular (and Near-Regular) Plurals in English
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Nouns in English have singular and plural forms. When you have only one of something, you use the singular form. When you have more than one, the noun must be in its plural form.
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The general rule for plurals is to add -s or -es to the end of the word, but the spelling also changes for some words.
Let’s look at the regular plural of common words.
Regular Plurals
To make a regular plural in English, add -s to the end of the word.
Regular plurals with -s
You say 1 car but 2, 3, 4... cars.
apple - apples
book - books
color - colors
exam -exams
flower - flowers
star - stars
mother - mothers
week - weeks
Regular Plural with Irregular Spelling
Sometimes, the spelling changes at the end of the word when you add -s.
Add -es to the end of words ending in S, SS, SH, CH, X, or Z
beach - beaches
boss - bosses
bus - buses
church - churches
dish - dishes
lunch - lunches
mass - masses
tax - taxes
For nouns ending in O
1. For some nouns ending in O, add -es to the end of the word.
domino - dominoes
hero - heroes
potato - potatoes
tomato - tomatoes
torpedo - torpedoes
2. For nouns ending in O that are short forms of words, add -s.
bio (from biography) - bios
photo (from photograph) - photos
piano (from pianoforte) - pianos
zoo (from zoological garden) - zoos
3. For other nouns ending in O, you can add -s or -es.
flamingo - flamingos or flamingoes
mango - mangos or mangoes
mosquito - mosquitos or mosquitoes
tornado - tornados or tornadoes
volcano - volcanos or volcanoes
zero - zeros or zeroes
For nouns ending in Y
1. For nouns ending in a consonant and a Y, change the Y to -ies.
ability - abilities
activity - activities
French fry - French fries
army - armies
city - cities
2. For nouns ending in a vowel and a Y, change keep the Y and add -s.
bay - bays
boy - boys
monkey - monkeys
ray - rays
tray - trays
toy - toys
turkey - turkeys
valley - valleys
Change in Pronunciation in the Irregular Spelling
Sometimes there is a change in the pronunciation of the ending F or FE for some words, and you add -es to the end of those words. Other times, there is no change in pronunciation or spelling.
3 ways to make the plural of nouns ending in F or FE
1. The F or FE changes to -ve before adding -s, so there is a change pronunciation of the ending.
half - halves
knife - knives
leaf - leaves
life - lives
shelf -shelves
thief - thieves
wife - wives
wolf - wolves
Note. Use the same plural forms as above in compound nouns, for example,
pocketknife -pocketknives
bookshelf - bookshelves
2. However, you just add -s to the end of some words, so the plural is completely regular.
chef - chefs
cliff - cliffs
giraffe - giraffes
reef - reefs
roof - roofs
3. Some nouns have both forms.
calf - calfs or calves
hoof - hoofs or hooves
scarf - scarfs or scarves
Assess Your Learning
Practice 1. Fill in the blanks with the plural forms of nouns.
Practice 2. More practice with plurals.
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