rules in forming the plural of count nouns

2.  Most
nouns form the plural by adding
‘s’ to the singular.
*office --- offices
*idea --- ideas
*room --- rooms
 Nouns which end in ‘s’, ‘sh’, ‘ch’, ‘x’ or
‘z’ form the plural by adding ‘es’.
*match
--- matches
*box --- boxes
*dish --- dishes

3. Nouns ending in ‘y’ preceded by a
consonant form the plural by changing
‘y’ to ‘i’ and adding ‘es’.
*baby --- babies
*city --- cities
*dormitory -dormitories
 Nouns ending in ‘y’ preceded by a
vowel form the plural merely by adding
‘s’.
*bay --- bays
*toy
--- toys
*key
--- keys


4. Some nouns ending in ‘f’ or ‘fe’ form the
plural by changing ‘f’ or ‘fe’ to ‘v’ before
adding ‘s’ or ‘es’.
*half --- halves
*life
--- lives
*self
--- selves
 Some nouns retain the ‘f’ in the plural
form.
*chief --- chiefs
*proof --- proofs
*belief --- beliefs


5. Nouns ending in ‘o’ preceded by a
vowel form the plural by adding ‘s’.
*radio --- radios
*bamboo --- bamboos
*folio --- folios
 Nouns ending in ‘o’ preceded by a
consonant form the plural by adding
‘es’.
*potato
--- potatoes
*hero --- heroes
*motto --- mottoes


6. Nouns pertaining to music that end in ‘o’
form their plural by adding ‘s’.
*piano --- pianos
*solo --- solos
*soprano
--- sopranos
 Some nouns show plural inflection by
changes in form.
*foot --- feet
*child --- children
8ox
--- oxen


7. Nouns ending in ‘is’ change ‘i’ to ‘e’ in
the plural.
*crisis --- crises
*hypothesis --- hypotheses
*parenthesis
--- parentheses
 Foreign nouns ending in ‘us’ form the
plural by changing the ending to ‘i’.
*cactus
--- cacti
*syllabus
--- syllabi
*alumnus
--- alumni


8. Nouns ending in ‘um’ or ‘on’ form the
plural by changing the ending to ‘a’.
*datum
--- data
*phenomenon --- phenomena
*memorandum --- memoranda
 Compound nouns form the plural in
different ways. In general, ‘s’ or ‘es’ is
added to the more important word.
*sister-in-law
--- sisters-in-law
*editor-in-chief --- editors-in-chief
*spoonful --- spoonfuls


9. Some nouns have the same singular and
plural form.
*sheep --- sheep
*deer --- deer
*Chinese
--- Chinese
 Some nouns are always plural.
*scissors
*pants
*eyeglasses
*shorts
 Plurals of numerals and letters are
formed by adding ‘s’.
*t’s
*10’s
*5’s
*m’s


10. Bagel
 Basis
 Syllabus
 Datum
 Furniture


11. ANGELICA B. ENRIQUEZ
Bachelor of Secondary
Education II