The Rules to Form Plural Nouns - Explained with Examples

What Is a Singular Noun?

A singular noun refers to just one person, animal, place, or an idea.

Examples:

This is my computer.

I met the engineer.

What Is a Plural Noun?

A plural noun is used to denote more than one person, animal, place, or idea.

Examples:

The kids are in the park.

Animals should not be caged in zoos.

Rules for Forming Plural Nouns

There are many rules to form plural nouns.

• The general rule in English to form plurals is to add an -s.

  Examples:

  toy - toys

  rat - rats

• To make the plurals of nouns ending in -s, -x, -sh, -ch, -ss or -z, add an -es.

  Examples:

  bus - buses

  box - boxes

  bush - bush

  church - churches

  glass - glasses

  buzz - buzzes

• Some nouns ending in -s or -z are made plural by the -s or -z being doubled prior to adding the -es.

  Example:

  quiz - quizzes

• To make plurals from nouns ending in a -y where the letter before the -y is a consonant, change the y to an i and add an -es.

  Examples:

  city - cities

  country – countries

• If the noun ending in a -y is preceded by a vowel, its plural is formed by adding an -s.

  Examples:

  boy - boys

  tray - trays

• To make plurals of nouns ending in the letter -f or -fe, change -f and -fe to -v and add an -es.

  Example:

  wife - wives

  There are a few exceptions to this rule. The nouns ending in an -ff take an -s in the plural form.

  Example:

  cliff - cliffs

  The nouns ending in -ief, -oof, eef, ff, or -rf generally take -s to form plurals.

  Examples:

  belief - beliefs

  dwarf - dwarfs

  gulf - gulfs

• To make plurals of nouns ending in the letter -o, add -es. If -o is preceded by a vowel, just add -s.

  Examples:

  hero - heroes

  foe - foes

  If -o is preceded by a vowel, then just add -s.

  Examples:

  radio - radios

  photo - photos

• Some nouns remain the same when pluralized.

  Examples:

  fish - fish

  deer - deer

• Irregular nouns follow no specific rules, so it’s best to memorize these or look them up in a good dictionary.

  Examples:

  man - men

  mouse - mice

• Some irregular plurals are formed by changing the vowels.

  Examples:

  foot - feet

  goose - geese

• Some nouns ending in -us can be made plural in two ways: by changing the -us to -i and by adding an -es.

  Examples:

  cactus - cacti or cactuses

  radius - radii or radiuses

  stimulus - stimuli or stimuluses

  terminus - termini or terminuses

• Certain words that end in -us and have come to the English language from Latin become plural by replacing -us with -i.

  Examples:

  alumnus - alumni

  stimulus - stimuli

  Words that end in -us and do not have a Latin origin don't come under this rule.

  Examples:

  status - statuses

  octopus - octopuses

• If the singular noun ends in -is, the plural ends in -es.

  Example:

  axis - axes

• If the singular noun ends in -on, the plural ends in -a.

  Example:

  phenomenon - phenomena

• Some nouns have no plural form.

  Examples:

  alphabet

  furniture

  money

  Fruit

• Some nouns have no singular form.

  Examples:

  alms

  spectacles

  trousers

Subject-Verb Agreement with Singular and Plural Nouns

The basic rule is that a singular subject takes a singular verb, whereas a plural subject takes a plural verb.

Examples:

Alex is working on his assignment.

Alex and Emma are working on their assignments.

Nouns That Look like Plural

• Certain nouns look like plural nouns, but are actually singular and take singular verbs.

  Examples:

  The news covers all major events.

  Billiards is a popular game.

• Certain nouns like "trousers" and "glasses" take plural verbs.

  Example:

  Where are my trousers?

Plurals of Compound Words

• The plurals of compound nouns are formed by adding -s to the principal word or headword.

  Example:

  brother-in-law – brothers-in-law

• Compound nouns with the suffix -ful have two possible plural forms.

  Examples:

  handful - handfuls or handsful

  spoonful - spoonfuls or spoonsful

  The version with -s at the end of the word: handfuls and spoonfuls, is a little more widely practiced though.

• For compound nouns formed with a preposition, the -s is added to the noun.

  Example:

  passer-by - passers-by

• When neither of the two words that make up a compound noun is a noun, the -s is added to the preposition.

  Example:

  grown-up - grown-ups

  go-between - go-betweens

Hone your skills using our free printable Singular and Plural Noun Worksheets.