Plural Nouns

Singular and plural nouns

An English noun is a word that names a person, place, or thing.

Examples: Tim, Lisa, Mexico, New York City, house, dog, cat, chair, boy, girl, school

A singular noun (apple, pencil, girl) refers to one person or thing.

A plural noun (apples, pencils, girls) refers to more than one person or thing.

It is usually easy to create plural nouns in English by adding -s to the singular form, but

there are some exceptions to keep in mind. In this lesson, you will learn the regular and
irregular plural nouns rules.

Plural nouns rules

1. Add -s

You can make the plural form of most nouns by adding -s to the singular form.

Examples:

 dog => dogs

 cup => cups
 girl => girls
 television => televisions
 desk => desks
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  school => schools
 book => books
 number => numbers
 computer => computers
 chip => chips
 boy => boys

2. Nouns ending in -ch, -s, -sh, -x, or -z

    If the noun ends in -ch, -s, -sh, -x, or -z, add -es to form plural
    nouns.

Examples:

 beach => beaches
 church => churches
 class => classes
 gas => gases
 waltz => waltzes
 wish => wishes
 box => boxes
 fox => foxes

3. Nouns ending in -f or -fe

    If the noun ends in -f /-fe, change the f / fe to -ves to form plurals.

Examples:

 knife => knives
 wolf => wolves
 hoof => hooves
 wife => wives
 self => selves
 elf => elves
 life => lives
 loaf => loaves
 half => halves
 leaf => leaves

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4. Nouns ending in -o
   
    If the noun ends in -o, add -es to form plural nouns.

Examples:

 buffalo => buffaloes

 potato => potatoes
 echo => echoes
 tomato => tomatoes
 hero => heroes
 volcano => volcanoes

5. Nouns ending in y

    If a noun ends in a vowel then -y, add -s.

Examples:

 boy => boys
 toy => toys
 valley => valleys
 day => days

   If a noun ends in a consonant then -y, remove -y and add -ies.

Examples:

 baby => babies
 bunny => bunnies
 pony => ponies
 jelly => jellies
 sky => skies
 lady => ladies

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 Irregular plural nouns
Some nouns in English have an irregular plural form. That means that the plural form
does not follow the rules above. It is important to memorize the most common ones.

Identical singular and plural forms

Some nouns in English have the same singular and plural forms. This means that you
don’t add an -s to these words. It is important to memorize these.

Examples:

 fish => fish (fishes is correct, but much less common)

 deer => deer (not deers)
 moose => moose (not mooses)
 series => series (not serieses)
 species => species (not specieses)
 aircraft => aircraft (not aircrafts)
 salmon => salmon (not salmons)
 shrimp => shrimp (shrimps is also correct)
 sheep => sheep (not sheeps)

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 Plural-only nouns
Some nouns in English do not have a singular form. They are only plural. This means
that we cannot use them as singular nouns.

Many of these plural-only nouns are used with the word pair.

Examples:

 clothes
 pajamas
 leftovers
 pants => a pair of pants
 trousers => a pair of trousers
 scissors => a pair of scissors
 glasses => a pair of glasses

Countable and uncountable nouns

Most nouns in English are countable nouns. This means we can say how many there are
of the noun.

Examples:

 girl => five girls

 boy => one boy
 fish => ten fish
 dog => three dogs

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Some nouns are uncountable nouns. This means that we cannot say how many there are
of the noun. These  nouns are always singular and are used with a singular verb.

Examples:

 sugar => Sugar is sweet.

 milk => The milk is in the cup.
 coffee => The coffee is fresh.
 money => Money makes me happy.
 food => The food is spicy.
 work => The work is too hard.
 hope => Hope keeps dreams alive.
 water => The water is cold.
 electricity => The electricity is off.
 love => Love is important.
 news => The news was surprising. 

Compound nouns
To create the plural form of a compound noun, the plural ending is usually added to the
main noun.

Examples:

 sister-in-law => sisters-in-law
 full moon => full moons
 stepsister => stepsisters
 sportsman => sportsmen
 lady-in-waiting => ladies-in-waiting
 toothbrush => toothbrushes
 doctor of philosophy => doctors of philosophy
You can learn more about English compound nouns here: Compound Nouns (soon to come!)