THE REGULAR PLURAL NOUNS

Forming Regular Plural Nouns

How to form regular plural nouns in English.

Most singular nouns are made plural by adding -s to the end of the singular form.

When a noun ends in a sibilant sound – /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /tʃ/ or /dʒ/ – the plural is formed by adding -es, or -s if the singular already ends in -e.

The plural form of some nouns that end in ‘f’ or ‘fe’ is made by changing the ending to -V(es).

When a noun ends in “o” preceded by a consonant, the plural in many cases is spelled by adding -es.

Nouns that end in ‘o’ preceded by a vowel are made plural by adding -s.

When the ‘y’ follows a consonant, changing ‘y’ to ‘i’ and adding -es.

When the ‘y’ follows a vowel, the plural is formed by retaining the ‘y’ and adding -s.

Regular Plural Noun Examples

car – cars

bag – bags

table – tables

house – houses

dog – dogs

kiss – kisses

dish – dishes

witch – witches

judge – judges

half – halves

hoof – hooves

calf – calves

elf – elves

shelf – shelves

leaf – leaves

loaf – loaves

thief – thieves

wolf – wolves

life – lives

knife – knives

scarf – scarves

wife – wives

cuff – cuffs

knockoff – knockoffs

chef – chefs

belief – beliefs

roof – roofs

chief – chiefs

potato – potatoes

tomato – tomatoes

hero – heroes

echo – echoes

veto – vetoes

domino – dominoes

mosquito – mosquitoes

volcano – volcanoes

piano – pianos

photo – photos

halo – halos

soprano – sopranos

radio – radios

stereo – stereos

video – videos

country – countries

family – families

cherry – cherries

lady – ladies

puppy – puppies

party – parties

holiday – holidays