Singular and Plural Nouns

A noun names a person, place, thing, or idea.

Usually, the first page of a grammar book tells you about nouns. Nouns give names of concrete or abstract
things in our lives. As babies learn "mom," "dad," or "milk" as their first word, nouns should be the first topic
when you study a foreign language.

For the plural form of most nouns, add s.

 bottle – bottles
 cup – cups
 pencil – pencils
 desk – desks
 sticker – stickers
 window – windows

For nouns that end in ch, x, s, or s sounds, add es.

 box – boxes
 watch – watches
 moss – mosses
 bus – buses

For nouns ending in f or fe, change f to v and add es.

 wolf – wolves
 wife – wives
 leaf – leaves
 life – lives

Some nouns have different plural forms.

 child – children
 woman – women
 man – men
 mouse – mice
 goose – geese

Nouns ending in vowels like y or o do not have definite rules.

 baby – babies
 toy – toys
 kidney – kidneys
 potato – potatoes
 memo – memos
 stereo – stereos

A few nouns have the same singular and plural forms.

 sheep – sheep
 deer – deer
 series – series
 species – species

IRREGULAR PLURALS LIST

US -> I

SINGULAR PLURAL
alumnus alumni
cactus cacti
focus foci/focuses
fungus fungi/funguses
nucleus nuclei
radius radii
stimulus stimuli

IS -> ES

SINGULAR PLURAL
axis axes
analysis analyses
basis bases
crisis crises
diagnosis diagnoses
ellipsis ellipses
hypothesis hypotheses
oasis oases
paralysis paralyses
parenthesis parentheses
synthesis syntheses
synopsis synopses
thesis theses

IX -> ICES

SINGULAR PLURAL
appendix appendices
index indeces/indexes
matrix matrices/matrixes

EAU -> EAUX

SINGULAR PLURAL
beau beaux
bureau bureaus/bureaux
tableau tableaux/tableaus

*** -> EN

SINGULAR PLURAL
child children
man men
ox oxen
woman women

*** -> A
 SINGULAR PLURAL
bacterium bacteria
corpus corpora
criterion criteria
curriculum curricula
datum data
genus genera
medium media
memorandum memoranda
phenomenon phenomena
stratum strata

NO CHANGE

SINGULAR PLURAL
deer deer
fish fish
means means
offspring offspring
series series
sheep sheep
species species

OO -> EE

SINGULAR PLURAL
foot feet
goose geese
tooth teeth

A -> AE

SINGULAR PLURAL
antenna antennae/antennas
formula formulae/formulas
nebula nebulae
vertebra vertebrae
vita vitae

OUSE -> ICE

SINGULAR PLURAL
louse lice
mouse mice

A B
mouse mice
woman women
house houses
ox oxen
friend friends
sheep sheep
door doors
church churches
potato potatoes
cat cats
cow cows
mosquito mosquitoes
man men
child children
story stories
store stores
watermelon watermelons
sister-in-law sisters-in-law
smile smiles
meter meters
fox foxes
cross crosses
staple staples
farm farms
computer computers
teacher teachers
country countries
loaf loaves
life lives
chief chiefs
foot feet
deer deer
fish fish
bus buses
thirty thirties
bluff bluffs
thief thieves
home homes
sky skies
city cities
waste wastes
problem problems
factory factories
river rivers
turkey turkeys
day days
tax taxes
night nights
car cars
business businesses
spy spies
cloud clouds
farmer farmers
kitten kittens
product products
highway highways
toy toys
lady ladies
gentleman gentlemen
nose noses
pepper peppers
oven ovens
mess messes
lion lions
owl owls
mountain mountains
cuff cuffs
carpet carpets
light lights
flower flowers
line lines
coin coins
dollar dollars
cupful cupfuls
trout trout
editor-in-chief editors-in-chief
penny pennies
scissors scissors
pants pants
inch inches
goose geese
tooth teeth
office offices
valley valleys
copy copies