Forming plural nouns

How to form plural nouns?

Plural nouns are used to name more than one person, place, thing, or idea.

There are 12 recognized rules to form plural nouns.


#1 If a noun ends in a consonant (except for the following rules), '-s' is added to form the plural noun.


examples:


blanket - blankets

pen - pens

book - books

slipper - slippers

shirt - shirts



#2 If a noun ends in -ch, -sh, -x, -z, -s, or -ss, '-es' is added to form the plural noun.


examples:


branch - branches

dish - dishes

glass - glasses

blitz - blitzes

tax - taxes

bus - buses



#3 If a noun ends in a vowel followed by -y, '-s' is added to form the plural noun.


examples:


chimney - chimneys

day - days

boy - boys



#4 If a noun ends in a consonant followed by -y, -y is replaced with '-i' and '-es' is added to form the plural noun.


examples:


university - universities

study - studies

theory - theories

country - countries



#5 If a noun ends in either -f or -fe, the -f or -fe is replaced with '-v' and an '-es' is added to form the plural noun.


examples:


thief - thieves

loaf - loaves

knife - knives

calf - calves


Exemptions: There are nouns that end in -f that should not be replaced with -v to form a plural form. Nothing should be changed, and an "-s" should be added to make the noun plural.


examples:


chef - chefs

reef - reefs

belief - beliefs




#6 If a noun ends in a vowel and an -o, an '-s' is added to form the plural noun.


examples:


radio - radios

ratio - ratios

taboo - taboos

video - videos



#7 If a noun ends in two vowels except -o, '-s' is added to form the plural noun.


examples:


employee - employees

tree - trees

pea - peas

sea - seas

bee - bees

freebie - freebies



#8 If a noun ends in a vowel and -o, either '-s' or '-es' is added to form the plural noun. Mostly, just '-s'.


examples:


potato - potatoes

tomato - tomatoes

cargo - cargos

taco - tacos

avocado - avocados

centavo - centavos



#9 If a noun ends in a consonant and -e, '-s' is added to form the plural noun.


examples:


cone - cones

throne - thrones

fine - fines

time - times

frame - frames

flame - flames




#10 If a noun is an irregular noun, it does not follow any of the above rules. It has its own rules.


examples:


child - children

mice - mouse

fungus - fungi

genus - genera




#11 Nouns that don't change from singular to plural remain as they are.


examples:


deer - deer

series - series

species - species

moose - moose



#12 Nouns that are plural in form but singular in meaning remain singular.


examples:


Physics - Physics

Mathematics - Mathematics

measles - measles

news - news

billiards - billiards

shingles - shingles

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