Singular nouns and plural nouns
Most nouns in English can be said to be either singular or plural.
The most usual way of forming a plural noun from a singular is to add –s.
Examples:
- dog/dogs
- boy/boys
- desk/desks
Most nouns ending in -s, -x, -z, -ch or –sh add –es to form the plural.
Examples:
- boss/bosses
- church/churches
- bush/bushes
- kiss/kisses
Nouns ending in a consonant followed by –y change the y to i and add –es.
Examples:
- berry/berries
- fairy/fairies
- enemy/enemies
Nouns ending in –o usually add –es to form the plural.
Examples:
- tomato/tomatoes
- potato/potatoes
Some nouns ending in –f, replace the –f with –v and add –es.
Examples:
- loaf/loaves
- leaf/leaves
- scarf/scarves
A few nouns are irregular in the way they form the plural.
Examples:
- man/men
- woman/women
- child/children
- tooth/teeth
- goose/geese
- foot/feet
- mouse/mice
- sheep/sheep
- fish/fish (fishes is also acceptable – usually when there are different sorts of fish)
Some words which have been adopted from Latin use their Latin plurals, (but the rule is less strict now than in the past).
Examples:
- focus/foci (although focuses might be acceptable)
- larva/larvae
- criterion/criteria
- curriculum/curricula (although curriculums is usually acceptable)
- fungus/fungi (although funguses might be acceptable)
- stadium/stadia (although stadiums is usually acceptable)
Some words are always used in the singular:
Examples:
- news
- mathematics
- music
Some words are always used in the plural:
Examples:
- scissors (but ‘a pair of scissors’)
- jeans (but ‘a pair of jeans’)
- thanks
- cattle
- police (but ‘a police officer’)
