PLURAL NOUN FORMS Regular Plurals The plural form

Regular Plurals • The plural form of most nouns is created simply by adding

• Nouns that end in -ch, -x, -sh, z or slike sounds, the

Nouns that end in a single -z, the plural is formed by adding 'zes'

Most nouns ending in -o preceded by a consonant also form their plurals by

Nouns ending in a consonant + y, drop the y and add 'ies'. party

Most nouns ending in -f or -fe, drop the f and add 'ves'. calf

Most words ending in -is, drop the -is and add -es. For example: crisis

Irregular Plurals • There are many common nouns that have irregular plurals. • child

Some nouns have identical plural and singular forms, although they are still considered to

Some nouns (especially those associated with two things) exist only in the plural form

Nouns that stem from older forms of English or are of foreign origin often

In compound nouns the plural ending is usually added to the main noun. court

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PLURAL NOUN FORMS

Regular Plurals • The plural form of most nouns is created simply by adding the letter 's' to the end of the word. • For example: • minute - minutes

• Nouns that end in -ch, -x, -sh, z or slike sounds, the plural is formed by adding 'es' to the end of the word. • church - churches • box - boxes • gas - gases • bush - bushes • ass - assess

Nouns that end in a single -z, the plural is formed by adding 'zes' to the end of the word. For example: quiz - quizzes

Most nouns ending in -o preceded by a consonant also form their plurals by adding 'es'. potato - potatoes tomato - tomatoes volcano - volcanoes However many newly created words and words with a Spanish or Italian origin that end in -o just add an 's'. photo - photos piano - pianos

Nouns ending in a consonant + y, drop the y and add 'ies'. party - parties | lady - ladies

Most nouns ending in -f or -fe, drop the f and add 'ves'. calf - calves half - halves wolf - wolves

Most words ending in -is, drop the -is and add -es. For example: crisis - crises | hypothesis - hypotheses | oasis - oases

Irregular Plurals • There are many common nouns that have irregular plurals. • child - children • |person - people • |foot - feet • mouse - mice • |tooth - teeth

Some nouns have identical plural and singular forms, although they are still considered to have a plural form. aircraft - aircraft fish - fish headquarters - headquarters sheep - sheep species - species

Some nouns (especially those associated with two things) exist only in the plural form and take a plural verb (are / were. . . ). cattle scissors trousers tweezers congratulations pyjamas

Nouns that stem from older forms of English or are of foreign origin often have odd plurals. ox - oxen index - indices or indexes

In compound nouns the plural ending is usually added to the main noun. court martial - courts martial son-in-law - sons-in-law passer-by - passers-by