The Rules of Regular and Irregular Plurals
For most nouns, just add -s
| For nouns ending in s, x, z, ch or sh, add -es | |||
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
hand | hands | box | boxes | |
rabbit | rabbits | pitch | pitches | |
key | keys | wish | wishes | |
clock | clocks | boss | bosses | |
football | footballs | buzz | buzzes | |
door | doors | glass | glasses |
For some words ending in o, add -es
| However, for some words ending in o, just add -s | |||
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
potato | potatoes | cello | cellos | |
tomato | tomatoes | disco | discos | |
hero | heroes | hairdo | hairdos | |
echo | echoes | logo | logos | |
banjo | banjoes | patio | patios | |
The plural of many words ending in o can be spelt with -s or -es. | photo | photos | ||
piano | pianos | |||
radio | radios |
For some words ending in f, change the f to a v and add -es
| However, for some words ending in f, just add -s | |||
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
half | halves | chef | chefs | |
loaf | loaves | cliff | cliffs | |
elf | elves | ref | refs | |
leaf | leaves | roof | roofs | |
self | selves | The plural of some nouns ending in f can be spelt using either variation. | ||
shelf | shelves | |||
thief | thieves | |||
wolf | wolves |
For some nouns ending in ife, change the f to a v and then add -s
| For common nouns that end with consonant + y, change the y to an i and then add -es | |||
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
wife | wives | poppy | poppies | |
life | lives | fly | flies | |
knife | knives | penny | pennies | |
spy | spies | |||
nappy | nappies | |||
sty | sties |
Some nouns are the same in both singular and plural from
| For some nouns, change other letters or just change the word completely! | |||
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
fish | fish | person | people | |
sheep | sheep | child | children | |
deer | deer | ox | oxen | |
tuna | tuna | foot | feet | |
salmon | salmon | tooth | teeth | |
trout | trout | goose | geese | |
mouse | mice | |||
louse | lice | |||
man | men |