Irregular Plural Nouns

Irregular plural nouns are nouns that do not become

plural by adding -s or -es, as most nouns in the
English language do.

Nouns ending in -f and –fe

To make a plural of a word ending in -f, change the f to a v and add
es. Similarly, if a word ends in -fe, change the f to a v and add an s.
The result for both types is a plural that ends in -ves. This spelling
arose because of the difficulty of pronouncing f and s together in
English (an attempt to do this will produce a v sound).

Singular (-f, -fe) Plural (-ves)

knife knives
life lives
wife wives
calf calves
leaf leaves
thief thieves
Exceptions: roofs and proofs (among others).
Dwarfs, giraffes, chiefs, handkerchiefs, chefs,
There are many proofs about that person.
The cat jumps off the neighbors’ roofs
There are giraffes in the zoo.
Nouns Ending in -o
Plurals of words ending in -o are usually made by adding -es.

Singular (-o) Plural (-oes)

potato potatoes
tomato tomatoes
hero heroes
torpedo torpedoes
veto vetoes
But of course, there are exceptions. (Aren’t there always?) Some
words ending in -o that are borrowed from other languages take
only an s to make a plural, such as pianos, cantos, photos, and
zeros. Cello, which is an abbreviation of the Italian word violoncello,
can be written the traditional way, celli, or the commonly accepted
anglicized way, cellos.
Volcanos, avocados

My mom takes me many photos in the park.

In Ecuador there are plenty of volcanos.
In my house there are many avocados
In my school there is a canto.
Nouns That Change Vowels
Many English words become plural by changing their vowels, such
as oo to ee or an to en.

Singular Plural (vowel change)

Foot feet
tooth teeth
goose geese
man men
woman women

Fun fact: The eighteenth-century American dictionary reformer

Noah Webster preferred spellings that were closer to their most
common pronunciations. Thus, he advocated for the return of the
Old English plural wimmen. Wouldn’t that have been convenient?
Irregular Nouns That Change Substantially
For a variety of historical reasons, some words change in spelling
substantially when made plural.

Louse lice

Singular Plural
mouse mice
die dice
ox oxen
child children
person people*
penny pence (in British usage)
Irregular Nouns That Do Not Change At All When Made Plural
Some English nouns are identical in both the singular and the plural
forms. Many of these are names for animals.

Singular/ Plural (no change)

Sheep
Fish
Deer
moose
swine
buffalo
shrimp
trout
salmon
tuna
ice
aircraft – spacecraft

there is a fish in the fish tank. There are fish in the fish tank
I have two fish. There are many fish in the sea.
I saw a deer. I saw many deer
swine eat garbage/rubbish
ex: I have seen several deer when walking in the woods near here.
How many shrimp did you catch?

Aircraft, watercraft, hovercraft, and spacecraft are all the same

whether singular or plural.

Ex: NASA has made several different types of spacecraft in their

fifty-nine-year history.
Plurals of Latin and Greek Words
There are certain words we use on a regular basis, especially in
mathematical and scientific contexts, that are borrowed from Latin
or Greek. Many of these words retain their Latin or Greek plurals in
math and science settings. Some of them also have anglicized plural
forms that have come into common use.

Nouns Ending in -us

To make a word ending in -us plural, change -us to -i. Many plurals
of words ending in -us have anglicized versions, formed by simply
adding -es. The latter method sounds more natural in informal
settings. If there is an anglicized version that is well accepted, this
will be noted in the dictionary entry for the word you are using.

Singular (-us) Plural (-i)

Focus foci (also focuses)
radius radii (also radiuses)
fungus fungi
nucleus nuclei
cactus cacti
alumnus alumni*
octopus octopuses (or octopi)
hippopotamus hippopotami (or hippopotamuses)
the octopuses swim in the sea.
there are hippopotamuses in the jungle.
there are cacti in the living room.
The fungi are black and white.

With the double i, radii (pronounced RAY-dee-i) sounds unwieldy,

but if you are a mathematician, you probably use it every day. If
you are a zoologist, you might say, “Hey, did you see those
hippopotami?” but it would sound silly on a casual visit to the zoo.
Many people resist the spelling octopuses, but it is perfectly
acceptable. In fact, if you put a fine point on it, since octopus is of
Greek origin rather than from Latin, theoretically the spelling
should be octopodes, not octopi.

Irregular Formation of Nouns Ending in -is

Nouns with an -is ending can be made plural by changing -is to -es.
Some people have a hard time remembering that the plural of crisis
is crises and the plural of axis is axes, but crisises and axises are
incorrect.

Singular (-is) Plural (-es)

axis axes (this is also the plural of ax and axes)
analysis analyses
crisis crises
thesis theses

the economic crisis is bigger than not developed countries.

My brother’s theses were easy.
The document had a lot of analyses.

Irregular Formation of Nouns Ending in -on

These Greek words change their -on ending to -a.

Singular (-on) Plural (-a)

phenomenon phenomena
criterion criteria

the president’s criteria about the pandemic are too wrong.

Irregular Formation of Nouns Ending in -um

Words ending in -um shed their -um and replace it with -a to form a
plural. The plurals of some of these words are far better known
than their singular counterparts.

Singular (-um) Plural (-a)

Datum data
memorandum memoranda
bacterium bacteria
stratum strata
curriculum curricula (also curriculums)
spectrum spectra

today the business received some curricula.

my curriculum is very long because I have many courses.
The bacteria in the water cause many diseases.
Facility

Irregular Formation of Nouns Ending in -ix

Nouns ending in -ix are changed to -ices in formal settings, but
sometimes -xes is perfectly acceptable.

Singular (-ix) Plural (-ices, -xes)

Index indices (or indexes)
Appendix appendices (or appendixes, in a medical context)
vortex vortices (or vortexes)
Prix prices