Plural Nouns

Singular = 1
Plural = 2, 3, 4… or more (plural = more than one)
In English we normally add S to a noun when it is plural.

• 1 car (car – singular)
• 2 cars (cars – plural)
• 1 book (book – singular)
• 2 books (books – plural)

More examples of regular plural nouns:

• I have a pen. She has three pens.
• I need a plate. We need two plates.
• He has a dog. I have two dogs.
• We need three apples, a banana and two oranges for the fruit salad.

Plural Nouns – Spelling exceptions

When the noun ends in S, SH, CH, X or Z, we add -ES to the noun.

• 1 bus – 2 buses
• 1 kiss – 2 kisses
• 1 dish – 2 dishes
• 1 match – 2 matches
• 1 box – 2 boxes
• 1 prize – 2 prizes

With the word Quiz, we double the final Z in plural form before adding the -ES.

• 1 quiz – 2 quizzes

When the noun ends in CONSONANT + Y, we remove the Y and add -IES to the noun.

• 1 city – 2 cities
• 1 baby – 2 babies
• 1 story – 2 stories
• 1 country – 2 countries

Note: when a noun ends in a VOWEL + Y, we just add -S

• 1 boy – 2 boys
• 1 day – 2 days
• 1 key – 2 keys
• 1 guy – 2 guys

When the noun ends in F or FE, we remove the F/FE and add -VES to the noun.

• 1 life – 2 lives
• 1 knife – 2 knives
• 1 leaf – 2 leaves
• 1 scarf – 2 scarves

Note: there are some exceptions to this rule:

• roof – roofs
• cliff – cliffs
• chief – chiefs
• belief – beliefs
• chef – chefs

If the noun ends in a CONSONANT + O, we normally add -ES to the noun.

• 1 tomato – 2 tomatoes
• 1 volcano – 2 volcanoes
• 1 hero – 2 heroes
• 1 potato – 2 potatoes

There are some exceptions to this rule:

• photo – photos
• piano – pianos

Notice how nouns that end in a VOWEL + O, we just add an -S:

• zoo – zoos
• radio – radios
• stereo – stereos
• kangaroo – kangaroos

Irregular Plural Nouns in English

There are some nouns that have very irregular plural nouns and that don’t have an S at the end.
Some common irregular plural nouns in English are:

• 1 man – 2 men
• 1 child – 2 children
• 1 foot – 2 feet
• 1 tooth – 2 teeth
• 1 mouse – 2 mice
• 1 person – 2 people

Irregular Plural Nouns that don’t change in English

Some other irregular plural nouns are the words that do NOT change in plural form.

For example with the word sheep.

We say 1 sheep and 2 sheep …there is no change between the singular and plural form.

We do not say sheeps … no, there is no S at the end.

• 1 sheep – 2 sheep
• 1 deer – 2 deer
• 1 fish – 2 fish
• 1 series – 2 series
• 1 species – 2 species

You can see there is no change.