Singular and Plural Nouns in English

2025-07-10
 

Singular = 1
Plural = more than one

Plural nouns in English follow a few consistent patterns.

1. Basic Rule: Add –s

  • cat → cats
  • book → books
  • car → cars
  • plate → plates
  • dog → dogs
  • apple → apples
  • banana → bananas
  • orange → oranges
  • bird → birds
  • birthday → birthdays
  • present → presents
  • animal → animals
  • monkey → monkeys
  • pencil → pencils

2. Add –es for Nouns Ending in s, x, z, ch, sh

Use –es for words ending in s, x, z, ch, sh

  • bus → buses
  • box → boxes
  • quiz → quizzes (requires doubling the "z")
  • church → churches
  • dish → dishes
  • fox → foxes
  • match → matches
  • lunch → lunches
  • peach → peaches
  • watch → watches
  • wish → wishes
  • brush → brushes

3. Nouns Ending in -o

Add –es for Nouns Ending in Consonant + o
  • tomato → tomatoes
  • potato → potatoes
  • hero → heroes
  • echo → echoes
  • torpedo → torpedoes
  • tornado → tornadoes
  • domino → dominoes
  • mango → mangoes / mangos *
  • cargo → cargoes / cargos *
  • mosquito → mosquitoes / mosquitos *
  • volcano → volcanoes / volcanos *
  • buffalo → buffaloes / buffalos *

* Adding -es is more common. But adding –s is considered acceptable too.

Add –s for Nouns Ending in Vowel + o
  • zoo → zoos
  • radio → radios
  • studio → studios
  • video → videos
  • kangaroo → kangaroos
  • portfolio → portfolios
  • bamboo → bamboos
Exception.:
  • piano → pianos
  • photo → photos
  • memo → memos
  • casino → casinos
  • piccolo → piccolos
  • zero * → zeros / zeroes
  • * Both "zeros" and "zeros" are correct. But "zeros" is more common and widely accepted.
  • avocado → avocados / avocadoes *

* Both "avocados" and "avocadoes" are correct plural forms of the word "avocado". While "avocados" is more common and widely accepted, "avocadoes" is also grammatically correct, following the general rule of adding "-es" to nouns ending in a consonant + "o".

4. Nouns Ending in –y

If a noun ends in a consonant + y, change y to ies:
  • baby → babies
  • city → cities
  • story → stories
  • country → countries
  • spy → spies
  • army → armies
  • puppy → puppies
  • butterfly → butterflies
  • cherry → cherries
But if the noun ends in a vowel + y, just add –s:
  • toy → toys
  • key → keys
  • boy → boys
  • day → days
  • guy → guys

5. Change –f or –fe to –ves

For some nouns ending in –f or –fe, you switch to –ves:
  • knife → knives
  • leaf → leaves
  • wolf → wolves
  • life → lives
  • thief → thieves
  • shelf → shelves
  • scarf → scarves
  • loaf → loaves
  • wife → wives
  • calf → calves
  • elf → elves
  • half → halves
  • self → selves
⚠️ Not all of them change—some just get –s
  • roof → roofs
  • belief → beliefs
  • chef → chefs
  • cliff → cliffs
  • chief → chiefs

6. Irregular Plurals: No Clear Pattern

  • man → men
  • woman → women
  • child → children
  • person → people
  • foot → feet
  • tooth → teeth
  • mouse → mice
  • goose → geese
  • ox → oxen
  • crisis → crises
  • criterion → criteria
  • phenomenon → phenomena
  • stimulus → stimuli
  • cactus → cacti
  • focus → foci
  • nucleus → nuclei
  • fungus → fungi
  • louse → lice
  • thesis → theses
  • datum → data
  • appendix → appendices
  • syllabus → syllabi

7. Unchanging Plural Nouns

Some nouns stay the same. They also called Invariable Nouns

  • aircraft → aircraft

So whether you're talking about one jet or an entire fleet, you just say aircraft. No "s", no "es".

Other nouns like this include:

  • aircraft → aircraft
  • sheep → sheep
  • deer → deer
  • salmon → salmon
  • tuna → tuna
  • fish → fish

The word "fish" is both the singular and plural form:

"I caught one fish."

"We saw ten fish in the pond."

But, you can say fishes when you're talking about multiple species of fish:

"The aquarium contains fishes from the Amazon, the Pacific, and the Atlantic."

  • species → species
  • series → series
  • trout → trout
  • moose → moose
  • bison → bison
  • swine → swine
  • cod → cod
  • reindeer → reindeer
  • offspring → offspring
  • headquarters → headquarters

8. Plural-Only Noun

Some nouns are already plural by nature.

They all refer to things that are essentially one item, but made of two parts—so the plural form is the default.

  • trousers
  • jeans
  • shorts
  • scissors
  • glasses
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