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Making irregular plural nouns in English Posted by on Sep 2, 2012 in English Grammar

Creating plurals nouns in English is easy, all you have to do is add -s to the end of the nouns (+ s).  For example, girl → girls and boy → boys.  Well, it is almost that easy.  Some nouns you have to add -es to the end of the word (+ es).  And then there are other nouns that are even more complicated!  Like most grammar rules in English the simple rule for making plurals does not always apply, there are exceptions.  There are irregular nouns that require a little more work for you to create the plural, but hopefully after taking a look at this post you will have a better idea of what you have to do.  Below is a table to help you better understand how to make some of the most common irregular plural nouns.  This table does not include nouns that change form entirely, for example man → men and person →people as there are not as many concrete rules for these irregular plural nouns.  These irregulars are ones you will just have to memorize – sorry.  I hope this table helps, you can always bookmark this page and come back to it when you need help in this area.  Remember that Transparent Language has many resources to help you learn English, so be sure to check out all we offer at www.transparent.com.

Noun type by word ending: How to make the plural: Some examples:
words ending in -fe f → v + s knife → knives, wife → wives
words ending in -f f → v + es half → halves, loaf → loaves
words ending in -is is → es analysis → analyses, crisis → crises
words ending in -o, -s, -sh, -ch, -x, -z + es potato → potatoes, box → boxes
words ending in -on on → a phenomenon → phenomena, criterion → criteria
words ending in -us us → i focus → foci, syllabus → syllabi
words ending in a consonant + -y y → i + es spy → spies, fly →flies
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About the Author: Gabriele

Hi there! I am one of Transparent Language's ESL bloggers. I am a 32-year-old native English speaker who was born and raised in the United States. I am living in Washington, DC now, but I have lived all over the US and also spent many years living and working abroad. I started teaching English as a second language in 2005 after completing a Master's in Applied Linguists and a Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults' (CELTA). Since that time I have taught ESL in the United States at the community college and university level. I have also gone on to pursue my doctorate in psychology and now I also teach courses in psychology. I like to stay connected to ESL learners around the world through Transparent Languages ESL Blog. Please ask questions and leave comments on the blog and I will be sure to answer them.