Irregular Plurals of English Nouns
Regular Plural Nouns: Add -S
wall walls
ski skis
cat cats
Nouns Ending in -ch, -sh, -x, -s sounds: Add -ES
switch switches
brush brushes
box boxes
address addresses
Exception: When -CH is pronounced like K (stomach/
Nouns Ending in -y: End with -IES
baby babies
army armies
puppy puppies
Nouns Ending in -F sound: Change to -VES
knife knives
wife wives
half halves
self selves
wolf wolves
leaf leaves
There are some exceptions, such as chef/chefs & roof/roofs
Nouns Ending in -O: -S or -ES
(depends on the word!)
Always –ES:
potato/tomato potatoes/
hero heroes
torpedo torpedoes
echo echoes
Always –S:
stereo stereos
memo memos
solo solos
zoo zoos
studio studios
Some can be both!
ghetto ghettos ghettoes
mango mangos mangoes
motto mottos mottoes
tornado tornados tornadoes
tuxedo tuxedos tuxedoes
volcano volcanos volcanoes
Nouns that look plural, but take a singular verb:
news – The news was so depressing.
gymnastics – Gymnastics is great for getting in shape.
economics/
Nouns that look singular, but take a plural verb:
pants – These pants are too small.
scissors – Where are the scissors?
glasses – When I last saw your glasses, they were on the table.
VERY Irregular Nouns
man men
woman women
child children
person people
tooth teeth
foot feet
vertebra vertebrae
mouse mice
goose geese
Nouns that do not change
one sheep, two sheep
one deer, two deer
one fish, two fish
one series, two series
one species, two species
Latin/Greek words: US –> I
alumnus/alumna alumni
cactus cacti
fungus fungi
nucleus nuclei
stimulus stimuli
Latin/Greek words: IS –> ES
analysis analyses
crisis crises
diagnosis diagnoses
hypothesis hypotheses
oasis oases
Latin/Greek Words: UM/ON –> A
bacterium bacteria
criterion criteria
curriculum curricula
datum data
millennium millennia
phenomenon phenomena