Plural Nouns: A Beginner's Guide to Learning English Grammar

If you’re learning English grammar, you’ll quickly discover that plural nouns are an essential part of the language. In this article, we’ll cover the basics of plural nouns, including the rules for forming them and some common exceptions. We’ll also provide examples to help you understand how to use plural nouns in different contexts. By the end of this article, you’ll have a solid understanding of plural nouns and be able to use them correctly in your own writing and speech.

Table of Contents

Understanding Plural Nouns

In English grammar, a plural noun refers to more than one person, place, thing, or idea. This means that when we want to talk about more than one of something, we need to use plural nouns.

For example, instead of saying “I have one cat“, we would say “I have two cats“.

Most regular nouns become plural by adding “-s” or “-es” to the singular noun.

For example, “cat” becomes “cats” and “box” becomes “boxes”. However, there are some irregular plural nouns that have unique spellings and do not follow the standard pattern.

Some examples of irregular plural nouns include “child” (which becomes “children“), “man” (which becomes “men“), and “foot” (which becomes “feet“).

It’s important to note that not all nouns can be made plural simply by adding “-s” or “-es”. Some nouns have special plural forms that need to be learned separately. For example, “mouse” becomes “mice” and “person” becomes “people“.

When using plural nouns, it’s also important to pay attention to subject-verb agreement. This means that the verb should agree in number with the noun it is referring to.

For example, “the cats play” is correct because “cats” is plural, but “the cats plays” is incorrect because “plays” is singular and does not agree with the plural noun “cats”.

Regular Plural Nouns

As we learn English grammar, it’s essential to understand how to make plural nouns. Most regular plural nouns are formed by adding an “s” or “es” to the end of a singular noun. Here are the most common ways to form regular plural nouns:

Adding ‘S’

For most singular nouns, we add “s” to the end to make them plural. For example, the singular noun “book” becomes “books” in the plural form. Some examples are:

Cat → Cats
Cog → Cogs
Couse → Couses
Lamp → Lamps
Table → Tables
Glass → Glasses
Tree → Trees
Shoe → Shoes
Bookcase → Bookcases
Bicycle → Bicycles

Adding ‘Es’

For singular nouns that end in “s,” “x,” “z,” “ch,” or “sh,” we add “es” to make them plural. For example:

buzz → buzzes
church → churches
Bus → Buses
Fox → Foxes
Quiz → Quizzes
Watch → Watches
Dish → Dishes
Class → Classes
Wrench → Wrenches
Buzz → Buzzes
Kiss → Kisses
Box → Boxes

Changing ‘Y’ to ‘Ies’

When a singular noun ends with a consonant and “y,” we change the “y” to “i” and add “es” to make it plural. For example:

Baby → Babies
City → Cities
Party → Parties
Cherry → Cherries
Candy → Candies
Butterfly → Butterflies
Lady → Ladies
Country → Countries
Story → Stories
Pony → Ponies

Adding ‘Ves’

For some singular nouns that end in “f” or “fe,” we change the “f” or “fe” to “ves” to make them plural. For example:

Knife → Knives
Leaf → Leaves
Wolf → Wolves
Half → Halves
Life → Lives
Calf → Calves
Loaf → Loaves
Self → Selves
Shelf → Shelves
Thief → Thieves

Remember that these are just the most common ways to form regular plural nouns. There are exceptions, such as irregular plural nouns, that don’t follow these rules. But understanding these basic rules will help you communicate effectively in English.

Irregular Plural Nouns

As we learn English, we come across many nouns that form their plural in an irregular way. These nouns do not follow the typical pattern of adding an -s or -es to the end of the singular form. In this section, we will explore the different types of irregular plural nouns and how they are formed.

No Change in Form

Some nouns remain the same in both singular and plural forms. This means that there is no change in the spelling of the word when it is used in its plural form. Here are some examples:

Sheep
Deer
Fish
Series
Species
Aircraft
Crossroads
Fruit
Hair
Information

Completely Different Forms

Other nouns have completely different forms in their plural form. These nouns can be tricky to remember, but with practice, you can master them. Here are some examples:

Singular Form	Plural Form
Child	Children
Foot	Feet
Tooth	Teeth
Man	Men
Woman	Women
Goose	Geese
Mouse	Mice
Ox	Oxen
Person	People
Die	Dice
Cactus	Cacti
Datum	Data
Criterion	Criteria
Index	Indices
Syllabus	Syllabi
Thesis	Theses
Analysis	Analyses

As you can see, some of these nouns change their vowel sound to form the plural, while others have completely different forms. It’s important to learn these irregular plural nouns so that you can use them correctly in your writing and speaking.

Practice Exercise

Now that we’ve covered the rules for forming plural nouns, it’s time to put that knowledge into practice with some exercises. Practicing with exercises is an effective way to reinforce your understanding of plural nouns and to improve your English grammar skills.

Below are some practice exercises with answers to help you practice forming plural nouns.

Exercise 1

Write the plural form of each of the following nouns: