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Plurals

Most nouns come in singular (one of each) and plural (more than one).

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Nouns make plurals in different ways.

Because English is a conglomeration of multiple languages, some of them extinct, we have a wide variety of rules to cover simple matters.

The general rule to make a noun plural is to add an “-s” to the singular.

Examples:

  • house >> houses
  • flake >> flakes
  • home >> homes
  • horn >> horns
  • cow >> cows
  • oven >> ovens
  • tree >> trees
  • lie >> lies (untruths)
  • key >> keys
  • donkey >> donkeys

But then it gets complicated.

Singular nouns ending in “‑ch,” “‑sh,” “‑x,” “‑s,” or “‑z” add “‑es” to indicate more than one. (Double the “-z” for plural.)

Examples:

  • church >> churches
  • bush >> bushes
  • bus >> buses
  • kiss >> kisses
  • fox >> foxes
  • quiz >> quizzes

Singular nouns ending in a consonant followed by “‑o” follow the same pattern of adding “‑es.”

Examples:

  • potato >> potatoes
  • hero >> heroes
  • zero >> zeroes
  • tomato >> tomatoes (regardless of how you pronounce the “a”)

Nouns ending in “-y” change the “-y” to an “-i-” to add “-es.”

Examples:

  • bunny >> bunnies
  • city >> cities
  • cherry >> cherries
  • pony >> ponies
  • treaty >> treaties
  • story >> stories

A noun ending in “‑f” or “‑fe” changes the “‑f” to “‑v-” and follows the “-v-” with “‑es” to become more than one.

Examples:

  • wolf >> wolves
  • dwarf >> dwarves
  • half >> halves
  • knife >> knives
  • wife >> wives
  • life >> lives

Many English speakers tend to normalize foreign words, making them fit the regular pattern. English speakers often use the plural form of these nouns as if it were singular.

(Academics often maintain the original form.)

Each tab deals with a different ending.

Nouns ending in “-um” frequently change the “-um” to “-a.”

Examples:

  • addendum >> addenda (or addendums)
  • bacterium >> bacteria
  • curriculum >> curricula
  • datum >> data
  • medium >> media
  • memorandum >> memoranda

Nouns ending in “-us” frequently change the “-us” to “-i” to form the plural.

Examples

  • alumnus >> alumni
  • cactus >> cacti (or cactus or cactuses)
  • focus >> foci (or focuses)
  • fungus >> fungi (or funguses)
  • nucleus >> nuclei (or nucleuses)
  • radius >> radii (or radiuses)
  • stimulus >> stimuli
  • syllabus >> syllabi (or syllabuses)

Nouns ending in “-is” frequently change the “-is” to “-es” to create their plural forms.

Examples:

  • thesis >> theses
  • parenthesis >> parentheses
  • analysis >> analyses
  • crisis >> crises
  • oasis >> oases
  • basis >> bases

Nouns ending in “-ex” or “-ix” often convert the “x” to a “c” and add “-es.”

Examples:

  • appendix >> appendices
  • apex >> apices
  • index >> indices
  • vertex >> vertices

Examples:

Nouns ending in “-on” often convert the “-on” to “-a.”

  • criterion >> criteria
  • phenomenon >> phenomena

Nouns ending in “-a” often convert the “-a” to “-ae.”

Examples:

  • alga >> algae*
  • amoeba >> amoebae (amoebas)
  • antenna >> antennae (antennas)
  • larva >> larvae*
  • vertebra >> vertebrae*
  • formula >> formulae (formulas)

*The spell checker did not like these with an “-s” for the plural.

Words from French ending in “-eau” often keep the original French plural, “eaux.”

Or their plural may be formed simply by adding “s.” The more common the word, the more likely the plural will end in “s.”

Examples:

  • beau >> beaux or beaus
  • chateau >> chateaux or chateaus
  • plateau >> plateaux or plateaus
  • bureau >> bureaux or bureaus

Then we have the weird ones that do not make any sense at all.

And then there are the weird ones that do not follow any rule. 
Some become more than one by adding “-en.”
Others change internal vowels. 
And then there are those that simply do their own thing.

Examples:

  • child >> children
  • ox >> oxen
  • goose >> geese
  • tooth >> teeth
  • foot >> feet
  • mouse >> mice
  • louse >> lice
  • man >> men
  • woman >> women
  • die >> dice (often used as singular)

Some nouns don’t care how many they are. The form is the same for both singular and plural.

Examples:

  • fish >> fish
  • deer >> deer
  • moose >> moose
  • aircraft >> aircraft
  • offspring >> offspring
  • shrimp >> shrimp
  • advice >> advice

Some nouns end in “s” whether one or more than one.

Examples:

  • barracks >> barracks
  • means >> means
  • series >> series
  • species >> species
  • trousers >> trousers
  • glasses >> glasses (eye aids)
  • jeans >> jeans
  • binoculars >> binoculars

Some nouns have no singular form!

  • “Cattle” always refers to more than one, taking a plural verb. The singular would be referred to as “a head of cattle.”
    • On the other hand, a “herd” implies more than one, but “herd” itself takes a singular verb.
      • The cattle were scattered all over the beach, so the herd was not gathered until late afternoon. When all were counted, four head (of cattle) were missing.
        • (“cattle were” = plural, “herd was” = singular”, “four head” = four cows)
  • “People” implies more than one person, requiring a plural verb.
    • Its singular form could be “person,” but “person” does have its own plural (“persons”).
    • “People” may have a number with it, if the number is greater than one or if it is none.
      • (People at the rodeo are frightened when a bull escapes from the arena. No people are injured, but several people are fleeing in their cars.)
        • (“People … are” = plural, “No people are” = plural, “several people are” = plural)

The singular of some nouns refers to more than one entity, but it treats them as a single unit.

Examples:

  • Juan’s family is vacationing in France.
    • (His family includes his parents and his brothers and sisters.)
    • (The family is a single unit, so the verb is singular.)
  • The Finance Committee is scheduled to meet on Thursday.
    • (The committee is made up of several individuals.)
    • (The committee is a single unit, so the verb is singular.)

The noun itself may be used in the singular or the plural.

Examples:

  • Juan’s family was on vacation in France while his friends’ families were in Germany.
    • (“Juan’s family was” = “family” is singular, but refers to parents, children, etc.)
    • (“his friends’ families were” = plural, referring to several families [more than one friend])
  • The Finance Committee was scheduled to meet early so the other committees were able to use its calculations.
    • (“Finance Committee was” = “committee” is singular, but refers to several people)
    • (“other committees were” = plural, referring to several committees)

Non-count nouns are not used with numbers or other words to indicate quantity.

Without some unit of measurement to distinguish amounts, the nouns are treated as singular.

Examples:

  • Furniture
    • A bed is a piece of furniture.
      • (“a piece” is the unit of furniture)
    • The furniture includes a couch, three chairs, a desk, a recliner, and a rocking chair.
      • (“furniture includes” = singular verb)
  • Water
    • A single glass of water does not quench my thirst, but three glasses of water do.
      • (“a glass” is the unit of water)
    • When the dam breaks, water floods the town, forcing a complete evacuation.
      • (“water floods” = singular verb)

Examples of other non-count nouns:

  • Nouns ending in “-ness” (i.e., forgiveness, helplessness, eagerness)
  • Academic subjects (i.e., biology, math, art, geography)
  • Sports (i.e., football, basketball, tennis)
  • advice
  • alcohol
  • architecture
  • confusion
  • dust
  • electricity
  • food
  • garbage
  • gossip
  • information
  • knowledge
  • news
  • pork
  • rain
  • weather

Credit: Photo by Eric Prouzet on Unsplash


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