Plural Nouns
Here are some general rules for spelling plural nouns.
Regular Nouns
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Nouns
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Plural
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Examples
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Most nouns
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+ s
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book – books
cup – cups
pencil – pencils
pen - pens |
Nouns ending in s, x, o, z, ss, zz, ch and sh.
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+ es
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box – boxes
bus – buses
hero – heroes
class – classes
witch – witches
buzz - buzzes
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Nouns ending in a vowel + y
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+ s
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boy – boys
day – days
key – keys
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Nouns that end in a consonant + y
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y becomes
ies
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baby – babies
country – countries
dictionary - dictionaries
spy – spies
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Nouns that end in f or fe
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f or fe
becomes ves
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elf – elves
loaf – loaves
leaf – leaves
thief – thieves
wife - wives |
Irregular Nouns
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Nouns
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Plural
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Examples
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mouse - mice
ox – oxen
corpus - corpora
genus - genera
criterion - criteria
phenomenon - phenomena
person – people
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ends in en
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man – men
woman – women
child – children
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um becomes a
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bacterium - bacteria
medium - media
curriculum - curricula
datum - data
stratum - strata
memorandum - memoranda
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Some nouns ending in o
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+ s
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kangaroo – kangaroos
piano – pianos
video – videos
kimono – kimonos
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us becomes i
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alumnus - alumni
cactus – cacti/ cactuses
focus - foci/focuses
fungus - fungi/funguses
radius - radii
stimulus - stimuli
nucleus – nuclei
syllabus – syllabi
criterion – criteria
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is becomes es
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axis - axes
analysis - analyses
basis - bases
crisis - crises
diagnosis - diagnoses
ellipsis - ellipses
hypothesis - hypotheses
oasis - oases
paralysis - paralyses
parenthesis - parentheses
synthesis - syntheses
synopsis - synopses
thesis - theses
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ix becomes ices
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appendix - appendices
index - indices/indexes
matrix - matrices/matrixes
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eau becomes eaux
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beau - beaux
bureau - bureaux /bureaus
tableau - tableaux/tableaus
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a becomes ae
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antenna - antennae/antennas
formula - formulae/formulas
nebula - nebulae
vertebra - vertebrae
vita - vitae
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oo becomes ee
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foot - feet
goose - geese
tooth - teeth
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ouse becomes ice
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louse - lice
mouse - mice
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No change
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news - news
deer - deer
fish – fish/fishes
means - means
offspring - offspring
series - series
sheep – sheep
species - species
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