Nouns: singular and plural

Singular

Plural

Uses

day

bird

street

rose

days

birds

streets

roses

The plural of a noun is usually made by adding -s to the singular

tomato

match

dish

class

box

tomatoes

matches

dishes

classes

boxes

Nouns ending in -o, -ch, -sh, -s, -ss or -x form their plural by adding -es.

(NOTE: words of foreign origin or abbreviated words ending in -o add -s only: dynamo - dynamos; kilo - kilos; photo - photos; piano - pianos);

baby city

babies cities

Nouns ending in -y following a consonant form their plural by dropping the -y and adding -ies.

loaf

wife

wolf

calf

half

knife

shelf

life

sheaf

loaves

wives

wolves

calves

halves knives

shelves

lives

sheaves

Twelve nouns ending in -f or -fe drop the -f or -fe and add -ves: loaf, wife, wolf, calf, half, leaf, self, knife, life, sheaf, shelf, thief.

(Exceptions: beliefs, chiefs, roofs, cliffs, safes, cuffs, handkerchiefs).

The nouns hoof, scarf and wharf take either -s or -ves in the plural: wharfs or wharves, hoofs or hooves; scarfs or scarves.

man

woman

foot

goose

tooth

louse mouse

child

men

women

feet

geese

teeth

lice

mice

children

A few nouns form their plural by a vowel change.

sheep

deer

fish

species

swine

sheep

deer

fish

species

swine

Some nouns have the same form for singular and plural.

crisis

criterion datum

crises

criteria

data

Some nouns that English has borrowed from other languages have foreign plurals.

a) SingularNoun

the girl

my wife

my baby

Tom

Archimedes

Pythagoras

Thomas

Carlos

my brother-in

-law

Possessive Form

the girl's name

my wife's coat

my baby's toys

Tom's friend

Archimedes' Law

Pythagoras' Theorem

Thomas's/Thomas'

Carlos's/Carlos'

my brother-in-law's guitar

1. 's is used with singular nouns not ending in -s.

2. Classical names ending in -s usually add only the apostrophe.

3. Other names ending in -s take 's or the apostrophe alone.

4. With compounds, the last word takes the 's.

b) Plural Noun

the girls

the men

my children

Possessive Form

the girls' names

the men's work

my children's toys

1. A simple apostrophe (') is used with plural nouns ending in -s.

2. 's is used with plural nouns not ending in -s.