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    Plural Nouns

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    jess
    The document discusses rules for forming plural nouns in English. It notes that most singular nouns form plurals by adding -s, but there are many exceptions. Specific rules are provided for nouns ending in certain letters like -s, -x, -f. Irregular nouns do not follow rules and must be memorized. The rules cover a variety of endings like -y, -o, -us, and -is. Some nouns do not change form between singular and plural.

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    Plural Nouns

    Uploaded by

    jess
    224 views3 pages
    The document discusses rules for forming plural nouns in English. It notes that most singular nouns form plurals by adding -s, but there are many exceptions. Specific rules are provided for nouns ending in certain letters like -s, -x, -f. Irregular nouns do not follow rules and must be memorized. The rules cover a variety of endings like -y, -o, -us, and -is. Some nouns do not change form between singular and plural.

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    The document discusses rules for forming plural nouns in English. It notes that most singular nouns form plurals by adding -s, but there are many exceptions. Specific rules are provided for nouns ending in certain letters like -s, -x, -f. Irregular nouns do not follow rules and must be memorized. The rules cover a variety of endings like -y, -o, -us, and -is. Some nouns do not change form between singular and plural.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    224 views3 pages

    Plural Nouns

    Uploaded by

    jess
    The document discusses rules for forming plural nouns in English. It notes that most singular nouns form plurals by adding -s, but there are many exceptions. Specific rules are provided for nouns ending in certain letters like -s, -x, -f. Irregular nouns do not follow rules and must be memorized. The rules cover a variety of endings like -y, -o, -us, and -is. Some nouns do not change form between singular and plural.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 3

    Plural Nouns: Rules and Examples

    Most singular nouns are made plural by simply putting an -s at the end. There are
    many different rules regarding pluralization depending on what letter a noun ends in.
    Irregular nouns do not follow plural noun rules, so they must be memorized or looked
    up in the dictionary.

    Plural Noun Rules

    There are many plural noun rules, and because we use nouns so frequently when
    writing, it’s important to know all of them! The correct spelling of plurals usually
    depends on what letter the singular noun ends in.

    1 To make regular nouns plural, add -s to the end.

    cat – cats

    house – houses

    2 If the singular noun ends in -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, or -z, add -es to the end to
    make it plural.

    truss – trusses

    bus – buses

    marsh – marshes

    lunch – lunches

    tax – taxes

    blitz – blitzes

    3 In some cases, singular nouns ending in -s or -z, require that you double the -
    s or -z prior to adding the -es for pluralization.

    fez – fezzes

    gas –gasses

    4 If the noun ends with -f or -fe, the f is often changed to -ve before adding the -
    s to form the plural version.

    wife – wives

    wolf – wolves
    Exceptions:

    roof – roofs

    belief – beliefs

    chef – chefs

    chief – chiefs

    5 If a singular noun ends in -y and the letter before the -y is a consonant,


    change the ending to -ies to make the noun plural.

    city – cities

    puppy – puppies

    6 If the singular noun ends in -y and the letter before the -y is a vowel, simply
    add an -s to make it plural.

    ray – rays

    boy – boys

    7 If the singular noun ends in -o, add -es to make it plural.

    potato – potatoes

    tomato – tomatoes

    Exceptions:

    photo – photos

    piano – pianos

    halo – halos

    With the unique word volcano, you can apply the standard pluralization for words that
    end in -o or not. It’s your choice! Both of the following are correct:

    volcanoes

    volcanos

    8 If the singular noun ends in -us, the plural ending is frequently -i.

    cactus – cacti

    focus – foci

    9 If the singular noun ends in -is, the plural ending is -es.

    analysis – analyses
    ellipsis – ellipses

    10 If the singular noun ends in -on, the plural ending is -a.

    phenomenon – phenomena

    criterion – criteria

    11 Some nouns don’t change at all when they’re pluralized.

    sheep – sheep

    series – series

    species – species

    deer –deer

    You need to see these nouns in context to identify them as singular or plural.
    Consider the following sentence:

    Mark caught one fish, but I caught three fish.

    Plural Noun Rules for Irregular Nouns

    Irregular nouns follow no specific rules, so it’s best to memorize these or look up the
    proper pluralization in the dictionary.

    child – children

    goose – geese

    man – men

    woman – women

    tooth – teeth

    foot – feet

    mouse – mice

    person – people

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