Nouns - The Formation of Plurals

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CHAPTER 13. NOUNS: THE FORMATION OF PLURALS

A noun is a word used as the name of a person or a thing. In the following examples, the nouns are

underlined.

He opened the parcel.

She is a student.

The weather is warm.

A cat is sitting on the steps.

1. Proper nouns

Names of individual persons or things are referred to as proper nouns. In English, proper nouns

must begin with a capital letter. The underlined words in the following sentences are proper nouns.

e.g. The capital of England is London.

My friend, George, is an American.

2. Countable nouns

Countable nouns are nouns which can form a plural, and which can be preceded by a, an, or a

number. In the following examples, the countable nouns are underlined.

e.g. A bus is coming.

You may need an umbrella.

Here are two books.

Twenty students are present.

3. The formation of plurals

In general, when a countable noun refers to two or more things, it must be put into the plural. In

English, the plural of most countable nouns is formed by adding s. For example:

Singular Plural

hat hats

letter letters

pencil pencils

student students

It has already been explained that a verb must agree with its subject. When the subject of a verb is a

singular noun, the verb must be in the third person singular. The third person singular is the form of

the verb used with the personal pronouns he, she, and it.

When the subject of a verb is a plural noun, the verb must be in the third person plural. The third

person plural is the form of the verb used with the personal pronoun they. In the following

examples, the verbs are printed in bold type and their subjects are underlined.

Singular Subject: The bookis interesting.

Plural Subject: The books are interesting.

Singular Subject: A duckwas flying overhead.

Plural Subject: Two ducks were flying overhead.


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Singular Subject: One student lives here.

Plural Subject: Three students live here.

a. Nouns ending in ch, s, sh, x or z

For nouns ending in ch, s, sh, x orz, the plural is formed by adding es. The reason for this is thatthese words would be difficult to pronounce if only s were added. The ending es is pronounced as a

separate syllable. For example:

Singular Plural

branch branches

match matches

bus buses

pass passes

dish dishes

marsh marshes

ax axesfox foxes

buzz buzzes

It should be noted that when a plural is formed by adding s to words ending in ce, ge, se orze, the

final es is pronounced as a separate syllable. For example:

Singular Plural

place places

voice voices

change changes

page pageshouse houses

phrase phrases

size sizes

In each of the preceding examples, the singular noun consists of one syllable, whereas the plural

noun consists two syllables.

b. Nouns ending in y

Nouns ending in y preceded by a consonant usually form the plural by changing the y to i and

adding es. For example:

Singular Plural

candy candies

city cities

lady ladies

story stories

Nouns ending in y preceded by a vowel usually form the plural simply by adding s. For example:

Singular Pluralboy boys

day days

key keys


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toy toys

c. Plurals of proper nouns

Proper nouns form plurals following the rules given above, except that proper nouns ending in y

always form the plural simply by adding s, even when the y is preceded by a consonant. Forexample:

Singular Plural

Jill Jills

Tom Toms

George Georges

Grace Graces

Jones Joneses

Max Maxes

May Mays

Nancy NancysSally Sallys

d. Nouns ending in f or fe

Some English nouns ending in forfe change the fto v when forming the plural. For instance, the

following nouns ending in fform the plural by changing the fto v and adding es:

Singular Plural

calf calves

elf elves

half halvesleaf leaves

loaf loaves

self selves

sheaf sheaves

shelf shelves

thief thieves

wolf wolves

In addition, the following nouns ending in fe form the plural by changing the fto v and adding s:

Singular Pluralknife knives

life lives

wife wives

There are also a few nouns ending in fwhich can form the plural in two different ways. For

example:

Singular Plural

hoof hoofs or hooves

scarf scarfs or scarves

staff staffs or staveswharf wharfs or wharves

Most other nouns ending in forfe form the plural simply by adding s.


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e. Nouns ending in o

Some English nouns ending in o form the plural by adding s, some form the plural by adding es,

and some can form the plural by adding eithers ores. The following fairly commonly used nouns

form the plural by adding es:

Singular Plural

archipelago archipelagoes

cargo cargoes

echo echoes

hero heroes

innuendo innuendoes

mosquito mosquitoes

potato potatoes

tomato tomatoes

tornado tornadoes

torpedo torpedoesveto vetoes

volcano volcanoes

Most other nouns ending in o, particularly those of Spanish or Italian origin, can form the plural

simply by adding s; however a good dictionary should be consulted in cases of doubt. For example:

Singular Plural

albino albinos

alto altos

casino casinos

piano pianos

radio radiosratio ratios

silo silos

solo solos

sombrero sombreros

soprano sopranos

studio studios

f. Foreign words

Many words from other languages have been adopted into the English language. Most of these form

the plural by adding s ores, but some, particularly Greek and Latin words used for scientific

purposes, form the plural in the same way that they do in the original language. For example:

Singular Plural

analysis analyses

axis axes

basis bases

crisis crises

criterion criteria

honorarium honoraria

hypothesis hypothesesmedium media

nebula nebulae


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nucleus nuclei

oasis oases

parenthesis parentheses

phenomenon phenomena

spectrum spectra

stimulus stimuli

stratum stratasynopsis synopses

synthesis syntheses

thesis theses

vertebra vertebrae

g. Hyphenated nouns

In the case of nouns formed from two or more words joined by hyphens, usually only the last word

forms a plural. However, there are a few cases in which only the first word forms a plural. For

example:

Singular Plural

brother-in-law brothers-in-law

daughter-in-law daughters-in-law

father-in-law fathers-in-law

mother-in-law mothers-in-law

runner-up runners-up

sister-in-law sisters-in-law

son-in-law sons-in-law

h. Numbers and letters

Numbers, letters, and other symbols can form plurals by adding 's. For example:

Singular Plural

3 3's

b b's

% %'s

i. Irregular plurals

The English language has not always used s to form plurals. There are still a few words surviving

from Old English, which do not use s to form the plural. For example:

Singular Plural

child children

foot feet

goose geese

tooth teeth

louse lice

mouse mice

ox oxen

man men

woman women

Nouns ending in man usually form the plural by changing man to men. For example:


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Singular Plural

gentleman gentlemen

policeman policemen

policewoman policewomen

A few nouns do not change in the plural. For example:Singular Plural

deer deer

sheep sheep

salmon salmon

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Nouns - The Formation of Plurals