Forming plurals of countable nouns - Reference Section - English Grammar

English Grammar, Third edition (2011)

Reference Section

Forming plurals of countable nouns

R2 Information on which nouns have plurals is given in Chapter 1 (1.14 to 1.193).

R3 In most cases, the plural is written s.

hat

hats

tree

trees

R4 The plural is written es after sh, ss, x, or s, and it is pronounced /Iz/.

bush

bushes

glass

glasses

box

boxes

bus

buses

The plural is also written es and pronounced /Iz/ after ch, when the ch is pronounced /tʃ/.

church

churches

match

matches

speech

speeches

R5 When the s follows one of the sounds /f/, /k/, /p/, /t/, or /θ/, it is pronounced /s/.

belief

beliefs

week

weeks

cap

caps

pet

pets

moth

moths

R6 When the s follows one of the sounds /S/, /z/, or /ʤ/, it is pronounced /IΖ/.

service

services

prize

prizes

age

ages

R7 Some nouns that end with the sound /θ/, for example mouth, have their plural forms pronounced as ending in /ðΖ/. With others, such as bath and path, the pronunciation can be either /θs/ or /ðΖ/. You may need to check the pronunciations of words like these in a Cobuild dictionary.

R8 In most other cases the s is pronounced /z/.

bottle

bottles

degree

degrees

doctor

doctors

idea

ideas

leg

legs

system

systems

tab

tabs

R9 With nouns that end in a consonant letter followed by y, you substitute ies for y to form the plural.

country

countries

lady

ladies

opportunity

opportunities

With nouns that end in a vowel letter followed by y, you just add s to form the plural.

boy

boys

day

days

valley

valleys

R10 There are a few nouns ending in f or fe where you form the plural by substituting ves for f or fe.

calf

calves

elf

elves

half

halves

knife

knives

leaf

leaves

life

lives

loaf

loaves

scarf

scarves

sheaf

sheaves

shelf

shelves

thief

thieves

wife

wives

wolf

wolves

R11 With many nouns that end in o, you just add s to form the plural.

photo

photos

radio

radios

However, the following nouns ending in o have plurals ending in oes :

domino

echo

embargo

hero

negro

potato

tomato

veto

The following nouns ending in o have plurals that can end in either s or es:

buffalo

cargo

flamingo

fresco

ghetto

innuendo

mango

manifesto

memento

mosquito

motto

salvo

stiletto

tornado

torpedo

volcano

R12 The following nouns in English have special plural forms, usually with different vowel sounds from their singular forms:

child

children

foot

feet

goose

geese

louse

lice

man

men

mouse

mice

ox

oxen

tooth

teeth

woman

women

R13 Most nouns that refer to people and that end with man, woman, or child have plural forms ending with men, women, or children.

postman

postmen

Englishwoman

Englishwomen

grandchild

grandchildren

R14 In addition to the nouns mentioned above, there are words that are borrowed from other languages, especially Latin, and that still form their plurals according to the rules of those languages. Many of them are technical or formal, and some of those that are given below are also used with a regular s or es plural ending in non-technical or informal contexts. You may need to check these in a Cobuild dictionary.

R15 Some nouns ending in us have plurals ending in i.

cactus

cacti

focus

foci

nucleus

nuclei

radius

radi

stimulus

stimuli

R16 Some nouns ending in um have plurals ending in a.

aquarium

aquaria

memorandum

memoranda

referendum

referenda

spectrum

spectra

stratum

strata

R17 Most nouns ending in is have plurals in which the is is replaced by es.

analysis

analyses

axis

axes

basis

bases

crisis

crises

diagnosis

diagnoses

hypothesis

hypotheses

neurosis

neuroses

parenthesis

parentheses

R18 With some nouns ending in a, the plurals are formed by adding e.

larva

larvae

vertebra

vertebrae

Some, such as antenna, formula, amoeba, and nebula, also have less formal plurals ending in s.

R19 Other nouns form their plurals in other ways. Some of these have two plural forms, one formed with s and one formed in a different way. Usually the form with s is used in less formal English.

appendix

appendices or appendixes

automaton

automata or automatons

corpus

corpora or corpuses

criterion

criteria

genus

genera

index

indices or indexes

matrix

matrices

phenomenon

phenomena

tempo

tempi or tempos

virtuoso

virtuosi or virtuosos

vortex

vortices