Plural of Nouns in English

Plural of Nouns in English

Hello, dear English learners! Welcome to a new grammar lesson from My Lingua Academy. Plural of Nouns in English

Today, we will look at how to form plurals in English — one of the first grammar topics every learner meets, yet still full of little exceptions and surprises. By the end of this lesson, you’ll know how to form regular and irregular plurals, when not to add -s, and how to handle tricky cases like children, sheep, and data.

Regular Plural Nouns

Most English nouns form the plural by simply adding -s.

Examples:

• I have two cats and a dog.
• The students are studying for their exams.

Plurals Ending in -es

Add -es to nouns ending in -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, or -z.

Examples:

• The buses are always crowded in the morning.
• She bought three new brushes.

Nouns Ending in -y

If a noun ends in a consonant + y, change y → i and add -es.

If a noun ends in a vowel + y, just add -s.

Examples:

• The babies are sleeping.
• There are many beautiful cities in Italy.

Nouns Ending in -f or -fe

Some nouns ending in -f or -fe change the ending to -ves.

…but not all! Some just take -s:

Examples:

• The knives are in the drawer.
• The roofs were damaged by the storm.

Irregular Plurals

Some nouns don’t follow the normal pattern. You simply have to memorise them.

Examples:

• The children are playing in the park.
• I saw several geese near the lake.

Same Singular and Plural Form

Some nouns stay the same in singular and plural.

Examples:

• The sheep are grazing in the field.
• There are many fish in this pond.

Plurals of Compound Nouns

Usually, the main word becomes plural.

Examples:

• All my mothers-in-law get along surprisingly well!
• The editors-in-chief met for a conference.

Foreign Plurals in English

English has borrowed many words from Latin, Greek, and French, and sometimes we keep their original plurals.

Examples:

• The scientist observed several fascinating phenomena.
• There are many criteria for choosing the right school.

Uncountable Nouns (No Plural Form)

Some nouns do not have a plural form because they refer to things we cannot count individually.

Uncountable Nouns

advice, information, furniture, homework, money, news, knowledge, traffic, luggage, equipment

Examples:

• I have some good advice for you. (Not: advices)
• The news is interesting today. (Not: are interesting)

Special Cases and Tricky Examples

Examples:

• This series is really popular.
• Modern media influence our lives in many ways.

Summary

Most nouns add -s or -es.

Nouns ending in -y → -ies (after consonants).

Nouns ending in -f/-fe → -ves (in many cases).

Learn the irregular plurals and uncountable nouns by heart.

Watch out for foreign plurals and compound nouns.

Do the quiz to perfect your knowledge:

Read similar posts:

Countable and uncountable nouns in English

Nouns that are only singular

Nouns that are only plural

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