Plural Noun Rules For English

Understanding Plural Forms

Forming the plural version of nouns is not difficult, but there are several rules to consider in writing the plural form. Plural means to have more than one noun. Nouns name people, places, or things, and most of the time, plural nouns are formed by adding an -s or -es. This rule does not apply in several cases, but the rules for creating plural nouns are easy to understand. With practice, forming plural nouns will become easier.

Forming Plurals

Most nouns are made plural by adding -s to the end of the singular form.

• girl, girls
• train, trains

Remember that we said there would be some exceptions? Here is the first exception to the add an -s rule. Look at what happens when a word ends in 'f'.

The plural form of some nouns that end in 'f' or 'fe' is made by changing the ending to -ves.

• leaf, leaves
• life, lives

An exception to this rule is that if a word ends in 'ff', the plural is formed by adding only -s.

• cuff, cuffs
• knockoff, knockoffs

Singular nouns that end in 's', 'sh', 'x', or 'ch', form the plural by adding -es

• kiss, kisses
• brush, brushes
• church, churches
• box, boxes

Typically, nouns that end in 'o' preceded by a vowel are made plural by adding -s.

• radio, radios
• igloo, igloos

Nouns that end in 'o' preceded by a consonant, however, form the plural by adding -es. This is another one of those exceptions to the rule.

• potato, potatoes
• hero, heroes

Compound Nouns

Compound nouns are two or more words that function together as a unit. There are two different ways to form plurals of compound nouns.

When two are more nouns form the compound word (regardless of whether the compound noun uses a hyphen), an -s is added to the last word to form the plural.

• city-states
• bucket seats

When a noun is joined with other parts of speech to form a compound word, an -s is added to the noun to form the plural.

• passersby
• brothers-in-law

Nouns Ending in Y

Some words change their spelling to form the plural version. When a word ends in 'y', the 'y' is changed to -ies when the 'y' follows a consonant.

• supply, supplies
• beauty, beauties

When the 'y' follows a vowel, the plural is formed by retaining the 'y' and adding -s.

• day, days
• valley, valleys

Foreign Plural Forms

Some English nouns that are borrowed from another language form the plural according to the originating language.

• medium, media
• oasis, oases

Names

People are often unsure about how to make a name plural and will mistakenly add an apostrophe -s. Remember, though, that apostrophes show possession. To make a surname plural, we simply add an -s. We can have dinner with the Browns and the Kings.

As usual, there is an exception to the name rule. If the name ends in 's', 'x', 'sh', 'ch', or 'z', we add an -es to pluralize the name. As a result, we might try to keep up with the Joneses or go to the movies with the Burches.