In English, the plural is often formed by adding “s” to the singular form. This is also the case for words that end with vowel+y. For example:
| Singular | Plural |
| lesson
book car person dog boy toy |
lessons
books cars persons dogs boy toys |
But there are cases where we add more than “s”. For words ending with consonant+y, we substitute -y with -ies.
| Singular | Plural |
| City
Cherry Lady Trolley Pony Baby … |
cities
cherries ladies Trolleys Ponies Babies … |
For words ending by x, s, z, ch or sh, we add -es.
| Singular | Plural |
| Church
Sandwich Box Lunch Beach Fox … |
churches
sandwiches boxes Lunches Beaches Foxes… |
For the words ending with f or fe, we substitute with -ves.
| Singular | Plural |
| Thief
Knife Wife Life Leaf Elf … |
thieves
knives wives lives leaves elves… |
For the words ending with o, we add -es.
| Singular | Plural |
| Tomato
Potato Volcano Mosquito Mango Zero … |
Tomatoes
Potatoes Volcanoes Mosquitoes Mangoes Zeroes … |
In addition to these forms of plural, there are irregular forms:
| Singular | Plural |
| Man
Woman Mouse Foot Tooth Ox Child … |
Men
Women Mice Feet Teeth Oxen Children … |
Latin and Greek words also change irregularly.
Words that end with -us can become -i for plural like alumnus to alumni. Words that end with -um will usually end with -a like medium and media. Words that end with -ex and -ix can end with -ices like appendix and appendices. Nouns that end with -is will usually end with -es like analysis and analyses. Nouns that end with -on will usually end with a like criterion and criteria.
Some nouns have an -s at the end but are actually singular like news and economics.
Some nouns do not have any change at the end but are actually plural like baggage and luggage. The only way to be sure about these words is to actively memorize and recognize them.
Let’s do some exercises with what we have learned already. Write the plural version of the following words:
apartment, street, road, sky, fly, tornado, avocado, loaf, half, punch, bus, goose, appendix.