Singular noun-names one person, place, thing, or

idea; denoting or referring to just one person or

thing.
Plural noun-names more than one person, place,
thing, or idea; denoting more than one, or more than
two.

There are a few basic rules to remember when it

comes to turning a singular noun into a plural noun.
1. Most singular nouns need an 's' at the end to
become plural.
These are the easy ones. You can just add an 's' to
alien, taco, or skateboard, for example, and you
instantly have aliens, tacos, and skateboards.
There's a second rule for nouns that end with certain
letters.
2. Singular nouns ending in 's', 'ss', 'sh', 'ch', 'x', or
'z' need an 'es' at the end to become plural.
So, if you have a secretive, alcoholic octopus
drinking wine from a glass behind a bush, and you
decide that one of those just isn't enough, you'd
have two octopuses drinking from glasses behind
bushes.
The same would be true for a crutch, a box, and a
blintz, which would become crutches, boxes, and
blintzes.

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Note that some singular nouns ending in 's' or 'z'
require that you double the 's' or 'z' before adding an
'es'. For example, a really bad day might involve
you having not one pop quiz, but two pop quizzes.

Irregular Plural Nouns

And then, there are a lot of nouns with weird rules
for becoming plural.
3. Some nouns are the same in both their singular
and plural forms.
So I can have one deer or two deer - or one sheep or
two sheep. Or I might be hooked on one T.V. series
or two T.V. series.
4. Some nouns ending in 'f' require that you change
the 'f' to a 'v' and then add an 'es' at the end to make
them plural.
For example, you might have not just one elf
sneaking into your house on Christmas night, but
two elves.
The English language loves to have exceptions,
though, so the houses in your neighborhood have
roofs, not rooves, and your wacky old uncle has
crazy beliefs, not believes.
5. Nouns that end in 'y' often require that you
change the 'y' to an 'i', and then add an 'es' at the
end to make them plural.

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Singular nouns form the plural by adding -s.

SINGULAR NOUN PLURAL NOUN

BOAT BOATS

HOUSE HOUSES

CAT CATS

RIVER RIVERS

Singular noun ending in s, x, z, ch, sh makes the

plural by adding-es.

SINGULAR NOUN PLURAL NOUN

BUS BUSES

WISH WISHES

PITCH PITCHES

BOX BOXES

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Singular noun ending in a consonant and
then y makes the plural by dropping the y and
adding-ies.

SINGULAR NOUN PLURAL NOUN

PENNY PENNIES

SPY SPIES

BABY BABIES

CITY CITIES

DAISY DAISIES

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There are some irregular noun plurals. The most
common ones are listed below.

SINGULAR NOUN PLURAL NOUN

WOMAN WOMEN

MAN MEN

CHILD CHILDREN

TOOTH TEETH

FOOT FEET

PERSON POEPLE

LEAF LEAVES

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SINGULAR NOUN PLURAL NOUN

MOUSE MICE

GOOSE GEESE

HALF HALVES

KNIFE KNIVES

WIFE WIVES

LIFE LIVES

ELF ELVES

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SINGULAR NOUN PLURAL NOUN

LOAF LOAVES

POTATO POTATOES

TOMATO TOMATOES

CACTUS CACTI

FOCUS FOCI

FUNGUS FUNGI

NUCLEUS NUCLEI

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SINGULAR NOUN PLURAL NOUN

ANALYSIS ANALYSES

DISGNOSIS DIAGNOSES

OASIS OASES

THESIS THESES

CRISIS CRISES

PHENOMENON PHENOMENA

CRITERION CRITERIA

SYLLABUS SYLLABI/SYLLABUSES

DATUM DATA