THE PLURAL NOUNS
When
you are talking about two or more people, animals, places, or things, use
plural nouns. Please study the rules as the following:
How To Make
Singular Nouns Plural
Rule 1: Most nouns are made plural by
adding -s at the end.
Singular
– Plural
bird
- birds
broom
- brooms
camel
- camels
desk
- desks
doll
– dolls
flower
- flowers
fork
- forks
game
- games
lamb
- lambs
nest
- nests
pen
- pens
photo
- photos
shirt
- shirts
spoon - spoons
star – stars
bat – bats
mug – mugs
fan – fans
cap – caps
Rule
2: When the last letters of singular nouns are ch, sh, s, ss or x, you usually
add -es to form the plural.
beach
- beaches
branch
- branches
box
- boxes
bush
- bushes
church
- churches
dish
- dishes
dress
- dresses
sandwich
- sandwiches
witch - witches
bus – buses
glass – glasses
brush – brushes
watch – watches
fox – foxes
Rule
3: When a singular noun ending in consonant + -y, the y must be changed to –ies
to make the plural.
Singular
- Plural
baby
- babies
cherry
- cherries
diary
- diaries
dictionary
- dictionaries
fairy
- fairies
family
- families
fly
- flies
lady
- ladies
library
- libraries
puppy
- puppies
story
- stories
strawberry
- strawberries
butterfly
– butterflies
cannary
– cannaries
lily
– lilies
candy
– candies
Rule
4: What if there is a vowel before the y? In that case, add -s to form the
plural.
Singular
– Plural
chimney
- chimneys
cowboy
- cowboys
day
- days
donkey
- donkeys
jersey
- jerseys
kidney
- kidneys
monkey
- monkeys
toy
- toys
trolley
- trolleys
valley
– valleys
key –
keys
turkey
– turkeys
tray
– trays
Rule
5: If a noun ends in -f, you often change f to v, and add -es.
Singular
- Plural
calf
- calves
loaf
- loaves
elf
- elves
shelf
- shelves
half
- halves
thief
- thieves
leaf
- leaves
wolf
– wolves
Rule
6: Often nouns that end in -f, just need -s to form the plural.
Singular
- Plural
chef
- chefs
handkerchief
- handkerchiefs
chief
- chiefs
roof
- roofs
cliff
- cliffs
sheriff
– sheriffs
Rule
7: For some words that end in -f, the plural can be spelled in two different
ways.
Singular
– Plural
dwarf
- dwarfs or dwarves
hoof
- hoofs or hooves
scarf
- scarfs or scarves
Rule
8: With some words that end in -fe, you change f to v, and add -s.
Singular
– Plural
knife
- knives
life
- lives
wife
– wives
Note:
But you only add -s to giraffe to form the plural.
Rule
9: If a noun ends in -o, you just add -s to form the plural.
Singular-
Plural
a
hippo - hippos
a
video - videos
a
zoo – zoos
a
rhino – rhinos
photo
– photos
radio
– radios
kangaroo
– kangaroos
Note:
But with some nouns that end in -o, you add -es to form the plural.
Singular
– Plural
a
tomato - tomatoes
a
potato - potatoes
a
hero – heroes
a
flamingo – flamingoes
Note:
With some nouns that end in -o, you can add either -s or -es to form the
plural.
Singular
–Plural
a
mango – mangoes / mangos
a
mosquito – mosquitoes / mosquitos
a
zero - zeroes / zeros
a
buffalo - buffaloes / buffalos
Rule
10: Some plural nouns don’t follow the -s rule. They don’t end in -s, -es, -ies
or -ves. Instead, the word changes form.
Singular
– Plural
child
- children
man
- men
ox -
oxen
tooth
- teeth
woman
– women
mouse
– mice
goose
- geese
foot
– feet
louse
- lice
Note:
The plural of the mouse that you use with your computer is either mice or
mouses.
Rule
11: Some plural nouns are the same as the singular noun.
Singular
– Plural
bison
- bison
deer
– deer
sheep
– sheep
species
– species
series
– series
reindeer
– reindeer
fish
– fish
Note:
You can use fishes as the plural of fish when you are talking about
different
kinds of fish: all the fishes of the Pacific Ocean.
Rule
12: Some nouns are always plural.
pants
scissors
pajamas
sneakers
shorts
slippers
trousers
stockings
sandals
binoculars
goggles
pliers
jeans
spectacles
Rule
13: You can make these plural nouns singular by using a pair of:
a
pair of binoculars
a
pair of spectacles
a
pair of goggles
a
pair of jeans
a
pair of shorts
a
pair of pliers
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