A noun that refers to one person, place, thing, event or idea is a singular noun. A noun that refers to more than one is a plural noun. Nouns can be countable of non-countable. Non-countable nouns are also known as mass nouns which are not usually counted and have no plural forms. Count nouns can be counted and form their plural in different ways.
Forming the Plural of Nouns:
1) Most nouns form their plural by adding s
Examples:
| Singular | Plural |
| Books | books |
| Girl | girls |
| Ball | balls |
| Flower | flowers |
| Tree | trees |
2) Nouns ending in s, ss, ch,sh, x or z form their plural by adding es
Examples:
| Singular | Plural |
| bus | buses |
| dress | dresses |
| church | churches |
| brush | brushes |
| box | boxes |
| quiz | quizzes |
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3) Nouns ending in y preceded by a vowel form their plural by adding s
Examples:
| Singular | Plural |
| boy | boys |
| valley | valleys |
| key | keys |
| turkey | turkeys |
| day | days |
4) Nouns ending in y preceded by a consonant form their plural by changing y to i and adding es
Examples:
| Singular | Plural |
| family | families |
| butterfly | butterflies |
| lily | lilies |
| lady | ladies |
| story | stories |
5) Most nouns ending in o form their plural by adding es
Examples:
| Singular | Plural |
| hero | heroes |
| echo | echoes |
| potato | potatoes |
| tomato | tomatoes |
| volcano | volcanoes |
6) Other nouns ending in o form their plural by adding s
Examples:
| Singular | Plural |
| radio | radios |
| piano | pianos |
| zero | zeros |
| bamboo | bamboos |
| peso | pesos |
7) Most nouns ending in f or fe usually form their plural by changing f or fe to v and adding es
Examples:
| Singular | Plural |
| leaf | leaves |
| life | lives |
| thief | thieves |
| loaf | loaves |
| wife | wives |
8) Some nouns ending in f or fe form their plural by adding s
Examples:
| Singular | Plural |
| roof | roofs |
| dwarf | dwarfs |
| hoof | hoofs |
| chief | chiefs |
| safe | safes |
9) Some nouns form their plural by changing the vowel or vowels within them
Examples:
| Singular | Plural |
| man | men |
| woman | women |
| tooth | teeth |
| foot | feet |
| mouse | mice |
10) A few nouns take an en ending to form their plural
Examples:
| Singular | Plural |
| child | children |
| ox | oxen |
11) Some nouns have the same form in both the singular and the plural
Examples:
| Singular | Plural |
| cattle | cattle |
| deer | deer |
| series | series |
| sheep | sheep |
12) Letters, figures and signs form the plural by adding an apostrophe and an s
Examples:
| Singular | Plural |
| 1 | 1’s |
| A | A’s |
| Ω | Ω’s |
13) Nouns ending in um or on form their plural by changing um or on to a
Examples:
| Singular | Plural |
| agendum | agenda |
| datum | data |
| bacterium | bacteria |
| criterion | criteria |
| phenomenon | phenomena |
