Plural Nouns

Plural nouns are words used to indicate that there is more than one person, animal, place, thing, or idea. When you talk about more than one of anything, you’re using plural nouns. When you write about more than one of anything, you usually use the same word, simply adding s, es, or ies to the end. There are a few exceptions to this rule, but not many – one of the best is that a single moose is a moose, and a group of moose are still moose.

  

  ü  Most nouns are made plural by adding -s at the end.

Ex:- stars, pens, books, trees, students, cats, games, flowers, photos, fruits

  ü  When the last letters of singular nouns are ch, sh, s, ss or x, you usually add -es to form the plural.

Ex:- beaches, branches, brushes, dishes, glasses, classes, dresses, buses, boxes, foxes

  ü  When the last letter of the singular noun is y and last before letter must be a consonant (not a vowel). Nouns like these are made plural by changing y to i, and adding –es

Ex:-  

Singular	Plural
baby	babies
cherry	cherries
diary	diaries
dictionary	dictionaries
fairy	fairies
family	families
fly	flies
lady	ladies
library	libraries
story	stories
strawberry	strawberries

  ü  What if there is a vowel before the y? In that case, add -s to form the plural.

Ex:-

Singular	Plural
key	keys
jersey	jerseys
day	days
donkey	donkeys
toy	toys
tray	trays
monkey	monkeys
boy	boys

  ü  If a noun ends in -f, you often change f to v, and add -es.

Ex:-

Singular	Plural
calf	calves
loaf	loaves
elf	elves
shelf	shelves
half	halves
thief	thieves
leaf	leaves
wolf	wolves

  ü  Often nouns that end in -f, just need -s to form the plural.

Ex:-

Singular	Plural
chef	chefs
handkerchief	handkerchiefs
chief	chiefs
roof	roofs
cliff	cliffs
sheriff	sheriffs

   

  ü  For some words that end in -f, the plural can be spelled in two different ways.

Ex:-

Singular	Plural
dwarf	dwarfs or dwarves
hoof	hoofs or hooves
scarf	scarfs or scarves

  ü  With some words that end in -fe, you change f to v, and add -s.

Ex:-

Singular	Plural
knife	knives
life	lives
wife	wives

Exception: But you only add -s to giraffe to form the plural

  ü  If a noun ends in -o, you just add -s to form the plural

Ex:-

Singular	Plural
a hippo	hippos
a video	videos
a zoo	zoos
a rhino	Rhinos
a kangaroo	kangaroos

  ü  some nouns that end in -o, you add -es to form the plural.

Ex:-

Singular	Plural
a tomato	tomatoes
a potato	potatoes
a hero	heroes
a flamingo	flamingoes

  ü  some nouns that end in -o, you can add either -s or -es to form the plural.

Ex:-

Singular	Plural
a mango	mangoes/ mangos
a mosquito	mosquitoes/ mosquitos
a zero	zeroes /zeros
a buffalo	buffaloes/ buffalos

  ü  Many English words become plural by changing their vowels, such as oo to ee or an to en.

Ex:-

Singular	Plural
man	men
tooth	teeth
woman	women
foot	feet
goose	geese

Note:- The plural of the mouse that you use with your computer is either mice or mouses.

Irregular Plural nouns

Ø  Some words change in spelling substantially when made plural.

Singular	Plural
louse	lice
mouse	mice
die	dice
ox	oxen
child	children
person	people
penny	pence

           Ø  Some plural nouns are the same as the singular noun. Many of these are names for animals.

Singular	Plural
sheep	sheep
reindeer	reindeer
fish	fish
bison	bison
deer	deer
moose	moose
swine	swine
buffalo	buffalo
shrimp	shrimp
trout	trout

           

Aircraft, watercraft, hovercraft, and spacecraft are all the same whether singular or plural.

Note: - You can use fishes as the plural of fish when you are talking about different kinds of fish

Example: - all the fishes of the Pacific Ocean.

Ø  Some nouns are always plural.

Ex:- pants, scissors,  pajamas, sneakers, shorts, slippers, trousers, stockings, sandals, binoculars, spectacles, jeans, goggles, pliers

Ø  Nouns are ending in –us. In plural form change –us to –i.

Singular	Plural
focus	foci(focuses)
radius	radii(radiuses)
fungus	fungi
nucleus	nuclei
cactus	cacti
alumnus	alumni
octopus	octopi(octopuses)
hippopotamus	hippopotami(hippopotamuses)

Ø  Nouns are ending in –is, In plural form change –is to –es.

Singular	Plural
axis	axes (ax or axe)
analysis	analyses
crisis	crises
thesis	theses

Ø  Nouns are ending in  –on, in plural form change -on to –a.

Singular	Plural
phenomenon	phenomena
criterion	criteria

Ø  Nouns are ending in –um, in plural form change –um to –a.

Singular	Plural
datum	data
memorandum	memoranda
bacterium	bacteria
stratum	strata
curriculum	curricula(curriculums)

Ø  Nouns are ending in –ix and –ex, in plural form change –ix and –ex to –ices or sometimes –xes

Singular	Plural
index	indices(indexes)
appendix	appendices(appendixes)
vortex	vortices(vortexes)

Note: - You can make these plural nouns singular by using a pair of 

Example: - a pair of binoculars, a pair of spectacles, a pair of goggles, a pair of jeans, a pair of shorts, a pair of pliers, a pair of shoes

   

 Exercise-xii

 Fill in the blank with suitable plural noun. First one is done for you

1.    Toyota introduced new type……buses....in the market. (bus)

2.    My fish tank has only seven gold ……………(fish)

3.    A number of ……………. looted the jewelry. (thief)

4.    Thailand people used to cook the…………. with different foods. (mouse)

5.    I like to eat …………. with salt and pepper. (mango)

6.    Five………………. died during the accident. (Policeman)

7.    Education must important for the…………………(child)

8.    Thasarathan had three…………… in Ramayana. (wife)

9.    We have to brush our…………. at least three times a day.(tooth)

10.  The men sharpened their …………………. before throwing them at the targets. (knif)

11.  Wireless ……………. are very easy to use. (mouse)

12.  . ……………. have a lots of protein. (potato)

13.  ……………. walked very slowly. (goose)

14.  There are several types of ……………. Living in to the Indian ocean.(fish)

15.  The hunter killed many ………… in the forest. (deer)

16.  The ……………. told the stories of unforgettable events. (Diary)

17.  I collect a lots of ……………. about you.(datum)

18.  They arranged the exam papers by the order of the …………… (index)

19.  Some of the ………………. are helping in the medical purposes. (bacterium)

20.  …………….. are called devil fish. (octopus)

21. Glaciers are unique and interesting natural …………………..(phenomenon)

Answers-xii

2.    fish

3.    thieves

4.    mice

5.    mangos or mangoes

6.    Policemen

7.    children

8.    wives

9.    teeth

10.  knives

11.  mouses or mice

12.  Potatoes

13.  Geese

14.  fishes

15.  deer

16.  diaries

17.  data

18.  indices or indexes

19.  bacteria

20.  octopi or octopuses

21.  phenomena