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The majority of English count nouns are regular and predictable in the spelling of the plural form. Add -s to the end of the singular form or -es to those singulars
that end in a sibilant sound (/s/, /z/, /ts/, /dz/).
-s -es
boy boys horse horses
bed beds edge edges
book books patch patches
pencil pencils prize prizes
day days box boxes
However, if the singular ends with -y and the -y is not preceded by a vowel (or is not a proper name) the -y changes to -i and the plural is then -es.
-y becomes -ies -y becomes -ys
spy spies osprey ospreys
poppy poppies bay bays
penny pennies Germany Germanys
Outside of this pattern, however, are several nouns which are irregular in their spelling. Below is a semi-comprehensive list compiled from various sources.
These include nouns that are traditionally plural, but are also used for singular forms:
singular plural
barracks barracks
crossroads crossroads
dice/die dice
gallows gallows
headquarters headquarters
means means
series series
species species
Other nouns retain foreign plurals. Note that some of these have adapted a regular English plural form as well.
If the noun is of Latin origin and ends in on, change the on to an a. For example, the following chart identifies the singular and plural forms of Latin
loanwords ending in on:
automaton – automata
criterion – criteria
phenomenon – phenomena
If the noun is of Latin origin and ends in um, change the um to an a. For example, the following chart identifies the singular and plural forms of Latin
loanwords ending in um:
addendum – addenda
datum – data
medium – media
memorandum – memoranda
millennium – millennia
If the noun is of Latin origin and ends in us, change the us to an i, era, ora, or es. For example, the following chart identifies the singular and plural
forms of Latin loanwords ending in us:
alumnus – alumni
cactus - cacti
corpus – corpora
census – censuses
focus – foci
fungus – fungi
genus – genera
radius – radii
syllabus – syllabi
uterus – uteri
viscus – viscera
If the noun is of Greek origin and ends in ma, add the suffix -ta to the end of the word. For example, the following chart identifies the singular and
plural forms of Greek loanwords ending in ma:
dogma – dogmata
schema – schemata
stigma – stigmata
stoma – stomata
If the noun is of French origin and ends in eau, add a silent -x suffix to the end of the word. For example, the following chart identifies the singular
and plural forms of French loanwords ending in eau:
beau – beaux
bureau – bureaux
château – châteaux
If the noun is of Hebrew origin, add the suffix -im or -ot to the end of the word. For example, the following chart identifies the singular and plural
forms of Hebrew loanwords:
cherub – cherubim
matzah – matzot
seraph – seraphim
Like with regular English nouns ending in o, the current trend for spelling the pronouncing the plurals of loanwords from foreign languages seems to
be moving in the direction of adding only the morphological suffix -s, particularly in the case of uncommon or infrequent nouns.