This document discusses the rules for forming plural nouns in English. It provides 10 generalizations for making nouns plural, including adding 's', 'es', or changing the word ending. It notes exceptions like nouns ending in 'y' or 'f'. Irregular plurals are also mentioned. Compound nouns and numbers/letters as nouns have special pluralization rules. The document concludes with an activity to practice identifying singular and plural nouns in a newspaper article.

1. regular and
irregular
nouns

2. Singular vs. Plural
A singular noun names one person,
place, thing, or idea.
• One cat, one store, one item
A plural noun names two or more
persons, places, things, or ideas.
• Two cats, four stores, fifteen items

4. Generalizations for forming plural
nouns:
1. For most singular nouns, add s.
Singular Plural
teacher teachers
street streets
pencil pencils
book books
elephant elephants

5. Generalizations for forming plural
nouns:
2. For nouns ending with s, x, z, sh, or ch,
add es.
Singular Plural
gas gases
wax waxes
waltz waltzes
dish dishes
church churches

6. Generalizations for forming plural
nouns:
3. For nouns ending with a consonant and y,
change the y to i and add es. For nouns ending
with a vowel and y, add s.
Singular Plural
sky skies
army armies
penny pennies
boy boys
alley alleys

8. Generalizations for forming plural
nouns:
4. For some nouns ending with f or fe, add s. For others,
change the f to v and add s or es. (You will need to
memorize the spellings for such words or look them up
in a dictionary to check.
Singular Plural
belief beliefs
roof roofs
loaf loaves
life lives
knife knives

10. Generalizations for forming plural
nouns:
These are a little more tricky . . .
5. For nouns that end with o, add s or es. (Again, you
would need to memorize the spellings of such words or
look them up in a dictionary to double-check.)
—One trick to remember: if it has to do with sound (“music”),
just add s.—Ex: cello. piano, radio
Singular Plural
cello cellos
piano pianos
radio radios
zoo zoos
potato / tomato potatoes / tomatoes

12. Generalizations for forming plural
nouns:
Singular Plural
child children
foot feet
tooth teeth
mouse mice
man / woman men / women
6. Some nouns have irregular plural forms. You
will have to memorize the spelling for irregular
plurals.

14. Generalizations for forming plural
nouns:
Singular Plural
sheep sheep
Chinese Chinese
moose moose
grapefruit grapefruit
deer deer
salmon salmon
7. A few nouns have the same singular and
plural forms.

16. Generalizations for forming plural
nouns:
8. A few nouns have only plural forms.
Plural
scissors
jeans
savings
dues

17. Generalizations for forming plural
nouns:
9. A few nouns that end with s look plural
but are considered singular.
Singular
measles
news
economics
pants

18. Generalizations for forming plural
nouns:
Compound Nouns
10. For most compound nouns, make the most
important word plural.
• For a compound noun written as one word,
make the last part plural.
• For a compound noun written with hyphens
or as separate words, make the key word
plural.

19. Generalizations for forming plural
nouns:
Singular Plural
billboard billboards
cupful cupfuls
campground campgrounds
maid of honor maids of honor
attorney-at-law attorneys-at-law
step-brother step-brothers
Great-grandma Great-grandmas
One word
compound
nouns
Hyphenated
compound
nouns
Separate
words

20. Generalizations for forming plural
nouns:
11. Letters, numbers, symbols, and words used as
words are made plural by adding an apostrophe (‘)
and s.
Singular Plural
# #’s
A A’s
25 25’s
and and’s
& &’s
ABC & 123 ABC’s & 123’s

21. Using a Dictionary:
Nouns that are made plural in other ways
besides just adding -s or -es can be looked up
in a dictionary to check the correct spelling.
Sample Dictionary entries:
dic-tion-ar-y (dik’ she ner’ e), n., pl. –aries, a book containing
words of a language, usually arranged alphabetically,
with their meanings, pronunciations, etymologies, etc.
en-try (en’ tre), n., pl. -tries. 1. entrance. 2. the act of
recording something in a book, register, etc. 3. the
item so recorded. 4. a person or thing entered in a
contest. 5. a word, phrase, etc. listed alphabetically
in a dictionary or reference book, usually with its
definition or explanation.

22. Multiple Choice
Which 2 words correctly complete
these sentences?
We bought a pair of _____ and some _____
at the yard sale.
A. ski . . . dishes
B. skis . . . dishs
C. skies . . . dish
D. skis . . . dishes

24. CORRECT!
We bought a pair of _skis_ and
some _dishes_ at the yard sale.

25. Multiple Choice
One of her _______ is studying _______ in
the wild.
A. hobbys . . . monkeyes
B. hobbyes . . . monkies
C. hobbies . . . monkeys
D. hobbys. . . monkees

27. One of her _hobbies_ is
studying _monkeys_ in the wild.
CORRECT!

28. A team of ______ pulled a wagon with three
_______ inside.
A. ox . . . woman
B. oxen . . . women
C. oxes . . . women
D. oxens . . . womans
Multiple Choice

30. CORRECT!
A team of _oxen_ pulled a wagon
with three _women_ inside.

31. Multiple Choice
Near the campsite they saw two _______
and several ________.
A. deer . . . moose
B. deers . . . moose
C. deers . . . mooses
D. deer . . . meese

33. CORRECT!
Near the campsite they saw two
_deer_ and several _moose_.

34. Newspaper Nouns
Use a newspaper or magazine article for this
activity:
•In the article, find at least 25 singular nouns.
Circle them with a colored pencil.
•On your own paper, make a T-chart. . . on the
left side write “Singular” and write “Plural” on
the right side of the T-chart.
•List the singular nouns you found in the article
on the left side of the T-chart, then write the
correct plural form of each on the right side.

35. Scoring Guide:
You should find at least 25 singular nouns.
Each of the plural nouns formed correctly from
these 25 singular nouns is worth 4 points, for a
total of 100.
Opportunity for BONUS points:
For every 5 additional singular nouns you identify,
list, and form the plural of correctly, you can earn one
bonus point.—up to a maximum of 5 bonus points (i.e. it
takes 25 additional singular nouns correctly made plural to
earn all 5 bonus points—but you can do it!!!)

36. Scoring Guide:
100% = 25 singular nouns identified and listed
with plural form spelled correctly.
96% = 24 singular nouns identified and listed
with plural form spelled correctly.
92% = 23 singular nouns identified and listed
with plural form spelled correctly.
Etc.
Grading: A = 90-100%, B = 80-89%,
C = 70-79%, D = 60-69%,
F = Below 60%
4 points each = total points 100