Regular and Irregular plural noun

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Regular Plurals of Nouns

Introduction

Most nouns in English have both singular and plural forms, and the plural is usually formed by adding "-s" to the singular. Most nouns in English have both singular and plural forms, and the plural is usually formed by adding “-s” to the singular. This page explains the basic ways of forming regular plurals in English. For information about forming irregular plurals see Irrgular Plurals of Nouns.

How to form the plural

Noun ending	Forming the plural	Example
s, x, ch or sh	Add -es	boss bosses tax taxes bush bushes
consonant + y	Change y to i then add -es	baby babies candy candies curry curries
most others	Add -s	cat cats face faces day days

 Types of irregular plural

There are many types of irregular plural, but these are the most common:

Noun type	Forming the plural	Example
Ends with -fe	Change f to v then Add -s	knife knives life lives wife wives
Ends with -f	Change f to v then Add -es	half halves wolf wolves loaf loaves
Ends with -o	Add -es	potato potatoes tomato tomatoes volcano volcanoes
ends with -us	Change -us to -i	cactus cacti nucleus nuclei focus foci
ends with -is	Change -is to -es	analysis analyses crisis crises thesis theses
ends with -on	Change -on to -a	phenomenon phenomena criterion criteria
ALL KINDS	Change the vowel or Change the word or Add a different ending	man men foot feet child children person people tooth teeth mouse mice
Unchanging	Singular and plural are the same	sheep deer fish (sometimes)