Plural forms of nouns

Plural forms of nouns

1) Most singular nouns form the plural by adding ‘-s’.

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2) A singular noun ending in ‘s, x, z, ch, sh’ mostly makes the plural by adding ‘-es’.

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3) There’s one exception to this rule. If the ‘-ch’ ending is pronounced with a ‘k’ sound, add ‘-s’ rather than ‘-es’:

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4) A singular noun ending in a consonant and then ‘y’ makes the plural by dropping the ‘y’ and adding ‘-ies’.

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5) With nouns that end in a consonant or a single vowel plus ‘-f or -fe’, change the ‘-f or -fe’ to ‘-ves’:

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6) Nouns which end in two vowels plus ‘-f’ usually form plurals in the normal way, just add ‘-s’:

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7) Nouns ending in ‘-o’ can add either ‘-s or -es’ in the plural:

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8) Those which have a vowel before the final ‘-o’ always just add ‘-s’:

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9) Here’s a list of the most common nouns ending in ‘-o’ that are always spelled with ‘-es’ in the plural:

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10) Here are some of the common nouns ending in ‘-o’ that can be spelled with either ‘-s or -es’ in the plural:

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11) Plurals of foreign nouns

The plurals of words which have come into English from a foreign language such as Latin or Greek often have two possible spellings: the foreign plural spelling and an English one.

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Note that there are a few nouns which have come into English from Latin which should always form their plural in the Latin way.

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12) Irregular nouns

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13) Some nouns have the same form in the singular and the plural.

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Plural forms of nouns: Read and Remember

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