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Study Resource: English plural nouns reference sheet

By: Isabel McKay

The table below summarizes the rules for forming plural nouns in English.

Noun Ending	Plural Rule	Singular	Plural	Notes
Most regular nouns	Add -s	dogplant	dogsplants	Can be pronounced /s/ or /z/.
-s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, -z…	Add -es	buschurchbox	buseschurchesboxes	An extra syllable is added. A syllable is also added for -ge and -dge nouns, but these are just spelled with an -s.
-f, -fe (only some nouns)	-f / -fe → -ves	knifeloaf	knivesloaves	Pronunciation of f changes too. Short vowels are lengthened in the plural.
-y (after a consonant)	-y → -ies	partycountry	partiescountries	No difference in pronunciation. After a consonant, just add -s.
-o (only some nouns)	Add -es	tomatovolcano	tomatoesvolcanoes	No difference in pronunciation. Only a few nouns always follow this rule, mostly: potato, tomato, torpedo, echo, hero, zero, veto, volcano. More nouns can be spelled with either -s or -es. Many nouns can only be spelled with -s.
Types of irregular nouns
Some animals we hunt to eat	NO CHANGE	fishdeer	fishdeer	Used particularly for swimming sea creatures (fish), deer, and some game animals
Words that end in -craft	NO CHANGE	aircraft	aircraft	Some nouns that end in -craft are mass nouns, so they have no plural (witchcraft, stagecraft...).
Some old nouns	Vowel change only	mangoose	mengeese	List is very short: foot, man, woman, goose, mouse, tooth, louse.
child, ox, brother	Add -en	childoxbrother	childrenoxenbrethren	Vowel changes in children and brethren too. Brethren is old and not used for genetic brothers.
Nouns ending in -us	-us → -i / -era	syllabusgenus	syllabigenera	Usually only Latin nouns. -is is pronounced "-ai."
Nouns ending in -a	-a → -ae	alumnaformula	alumnaeformulae	Usually only Latin nouns. -ae is pronounced "-ay."
Nouns ending in -ix or -ex	-ix / -ex → -ices	matrixvortex	matricesvortices	Usually only Latin nouns. -ices is pronounced "-iseez."
Nouns ending in -um	-um → -a	datumminimum	dataminima	Usually only Latin nouns.
Nouns ending in -is	-is → -es	thesisaxis	thesesaxes	Usually only Latin nouns. -es is pronounced "-eez."
Nouns ending in -on	-on → -a	criterionautomaton	criteriaautomata	Usually only Greek nouns.
Nouns ending in -au	Add -x	châteaubeau	châteauxbeaux	Usually only French nouns. Plural pronounced like the singular or like a regular plural.

There is also a short list of irregular nouns that you’ll just need to memorize. Mostly:

person → people
die → dice
penny → pence (in England)

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Study Resource: English plural nouns reference sheet

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