Rules for Making Nouns Plural
This is a decidedly practical post. Here you’ll find all the rules (and non-rules) for making nouns plural. This is an area of some complexity in English, and I hope you find this article helpful reference. If you would like a hard copy of this material, click here to download a PDF version, including a linked table of contents: Spelling Rules for Plurals
Normal Nouns
Normal nouns are made plural simply by adding an s. Because normal nouns are very numerous, this is a very limited list.
Singular |
Plural |
artichoke | artichokes |
bubble | bubbles |
chart | charts |
drum | drum |
egg | eggs |
Nouns ending in s, x, z, ch, or sh
Nouns that end in s, x, z, ch, or sh are made plural by adding es. The list below includes only a small sampling.
Singular |
Plural |
boss | bosses |
bus | buses |
class | classes |
fox | foxes |
box | boxes |
ax | axes |
buzz | buzzes |
fizz | fizzes |
witch | witches |
stitch | stitches |
rash | rashes |
dish | dishes |
marsh | marshes |
Nouns ending in y, preceded by a consonant
Nouns that end in y, preceded by a consonant, are made plural by replacing the y with ies.
Singular |
Plural |
ability | abilities |
battery | batteries |
candy | candies |
city | cities |
daisy | daisies |
energy | energies |
fairy | fairies |
Nouns ending in y, preceded by a vowel
Nouns that end in y, preceded by a vowel, are treated like normal nouns: just add s.
Singular |
Plural |
day | days |
play | plays |
toy | toys |
valley | valleys |
Nouns ending in o, preceded by a consonant
Some nouns that end in o, preceded by a consonant, are made plural by adding es.
Singular |
Plural |
echo | echoes |
hero | heroes |
potato | potatoes |
tomato | tomatoes |
tomato | tomatoes |
zero | zeroes |
Other nouns that end in o and are preceded by a consonant are made plural by just adding s. If in doubt, check a dictionary.
Singular |
Plural |
casino | casinos |
disco | discos |
egos | egos |
Intro | intros |
inferno | infernos |
photo | photos |
promo | promos |
ratio | ratios |
Still other nouns ending in o and preceded by a consonant have both recognized plural forms: add either s or es. If in doubt, check a dictionary.
Singular |
Plural |
buffalo | buffalos or buffaloes |
halo | halos or haloes |
mosquito | mosquitos or mosquitoes |
gazebo | gazebos or gazeboes |
tornado | tornados or tornadoes |
embargo | embargos or embargoes |
Nouns ending in f or fe
Some nouns that end in f or fe become plural by changing the f or fe to ves.
Singular |
Plural |
calf | calves |
elf | elves |
half | halves |
knife | knives |
leaf | leaves |
life | lives |
shelf | shelves |
wife | wives |
Other nouns that end in f or fe are treated as normal nouns: just add s.
Singular |
Plural |
belief | beliefs |
brief | briefs |
chef | chefs |
chief | chiefs |
cliff | cliffs |
gulf | gulfs |
proof | proofs |
safe | safes |
A small group of nouns that end in f can be made plural either way:
Singular |
Plural |
hoof | hoofs or hooves |
dwarf | dwarfs or dwarves |
scarf | scarfs or scarves |
loaf | loafs or loaves |
staff | staffs or staves |
wharf | wharfs or wharves |
Irregular Plurals
Many nouns are just, well, different. There’s nothing to do but learn which these are. If in doubt, consult a dictionary.
Some nouns ending in us are made plural by changing the us to i.
Singular | Plural |
alumnus | alumni |
cactus | cacti |
focus | focuses or foci |
fungus | funguses or fungi |
octopus | octopuses or octopi |
nucleus | nuclei |
radius | radii |
stimulus | stimuli |
Some nouns ending in is are made plural by changing the is to es.
Singular |
Plural |
axis | axes |
analysis | analyses |
basis | bases |
crisis | crises |
diagnosis | diagnoses |
ellipsis | ellipses |
hypothesis | hypotheses |
oasis | oases |
paralysis | paralyses |
synthesis | syntheses |
synopsis | synopses |
thesis | theses |
Some nouns ending in ix or ex are made plural by changing the ix to ices.
Singular |
Plural |
appendix | appendices |
index | indices |
matrix | matrices |
vertex | vertices |
Some nouns ending in eau are made plural by changing the eau to eaux.
Singular |
Plural |
beau | beaux |
bureau | bureaus or bureaux |
chateau | chateaux |
tableau | tableaux or tableaus |
Some nouns become plural by changing the ending to en.
Singular |
Plural |
child | children |
man | men |
ox | oxen |
woman | women |
Some nouns become plural by changing the ending to a.
Singular |
Plural |
bacterium | bacteria |
corpus | corpora |
criterion | criteria |
curriculum | curricula |
datum | data |
genus | genera |
medium | media |
memorandum | memoranda |
phenomenon | phenomena |
stratum | strata |
Some nouns become plural by changing oo to ee.
Singular |
Plural |
foot | feet |
goose | geese |
tooth | teeth |
Some nouns become plural by changing the ending a to ae.
Singular |
Plural |
antenna | antennae or antennas |
formula | formulae or formulas |
nebula | nebulae or nebulas |
vertebra | vertebrae |
Some nouns become plural by replacing ouse with ice.
Singular |
Plural |
louse | lice |
mouse | mice |
Some nouns don’t change at all between singular and plural forms.
Singular |
Plural |
aircraft | aircraft |
deer | deer |
means | means |
moose | moose |
offspring | offspring |
series | series |
sheep | sheep |
species | species |
Some nouns only have a plural form.
Plural |
|
dregs | pliers |
grits | scissors |
mumps | shorts |
news | victuals |
Some nouns have only a singular form in ordinary usage (some of these, like money, cotton, and sugar can be plural when talking about particular kinds).
Singular |
|
coffee | money |
corn | silver |
cotton | sugar |
gold | wheat |
Some nouns naming animals have two plural forms.
Singular |
Plural |
antelope | antelope or antelopes |
cod | cod or cods |
elk | elk or elks |
fish | fish or fishes |
flounder | flounder or flounders |
grouse | grouse or grouses |
herring | herring or herrings |
quail | quail or quails |
reindeer | reindeer or reindeers |
salmon | salmon or salmons |
shrimp | shrimp or shrimps |
trout | trout or trouts |
Compound nouns are usually made plural by making the first noun part plural.
Singular |
Plural |
attorney-general | attorneys-general |
brother-in-law | brothers-in-law |
father-in-law | fathers-in-law |
mother-in-law | mothers-in-law |
run batted in | runs batted in |
sister-in-law | sisters-in-law |
*****
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Hi!
Its v good.
Thnx 4 sharing.
Thanks for this post .
Hello Brian!
Could you please help with this one?
“It came straight from the horses mouth!”
The question is; What is the correct usage of punctuation in the word “horses” to show ownership?
I was using an apostrophe AFTER the “s” but, people are saying it’s BEFORE the “s” and, to me, that is making it plural.
Thank you so much!
Tiffany
Hi. What are some plural nouns that make a new word:man/men
That’s an unusual way of putting it. Men isn’t a new word. It’s just the plural form of the same word. I guess you mean nouns that have nonstandard plural forms? A large number of them are listed in this article.
OMG Brian just replied to me!!! (so cool)
i totally agree with brian…
does brian like my text?
Of course.
Consider the word “do”. Normally, a verb, but could be a noun. Most specifically, which is correct;
1) Dos and don’ts
2) Do’s and don’ts
My own thinking is that 1) above is correct, but unsightly. Any thoughts?
Good question.
The ONLY time apostrophes may be used to create a plural is in unusual situations that would cause confusion in the reader:
Mind your p’s and q’s.
He is learning his abc’s (or ABCs).
You have kind of situation here. “Dos” looks like the word for old computer code. I’d go with 2).
A Google N-gram shows that it is the preferred option in print publications: http://bit.ly/1c7MkGA