Overview
A singular noun refers to one person, place, thing, or idea (a dog, the city). A plural noun refers to more than one. Most plurals are formed by adding -s (cats, books) or -es (buses, boxes). Nouns ending in consonant + y change to -ies (city → cities). Some nouns have irregular plurals that must be memorised: child → children, man → men, woman → women, mouse → mice, tooth → teeth, foot → feet, goose → geese. Some nouns are the same in singular and plural: sheep, deer, fish.
Regular Plural Rules
- + sMost nouns: book → books, cat → cats
- + esEnding in -s/-sh/-ch/-x/-z: bus → buses, box → boxes
- -y → iesConsonant + y: city → cities, baby → babies
- vowel+yVowel + y: day → days, key → keys (just add -s)
- -f → vesleaf → leaves, half → halves, wife → wives
Irregular Plurals
- man/menman → men, woman → women
- child/childrenchild → children, ox → oxen
- tooth/teethtooth → teeth, foot → feet
- mouse/micemouse → mice, goose → geese
- same formsheep → sheep, deer → deer, fish → fish
Common Mistakes
- ❌ childs → ✅ children
- ❌ tooths → ✅ teeth
- ❌ mouses → ✅ mice
- ❌ sheeps → ✅ sheep (no plural -s)
- ❌ citys → ✅ cities (consonant + y → ies)
When to use
Regular -s/-es
books, buses, churches, boxes
Y → ies
city → cities, country → countries
Irregular
child → children, person → people
No Change
one sheep / two sheep, one fish / five fish