The majority of singular nouns are made plural simply by adding an S on to the end of the word. However, there are many different rules depending on what letter the word ends in.
A plural noun is a word that is used to indicate that there is more than one person, animal, place, thing, or idea etc. The majority of singular nouns are made plural simply by adding an S on to the end of the word. However, there are many different rules depending on what letter the word ends in. There are also many irregular nouns that don’t follow the rules and these need to be learned and memorized. The rules every EFL teacher needs to know so they can teach their students effectively are:
1 To make regular nouns plural, add ‑s to the end.
- cat – cats
- house – houses
- girl– girls
- computer– computers
2 If the singular noun ends in ‑s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, or -z, add ‑es to the end to make it plural.
- bus – buses
- wish– wishes
- lunch – lunches
- tax – taxes
3 In some cases, singular nouns ending in -s or -z, require that you double the -s or -z prior to adding the -es for pluralization.
- fez – fezzes
- gas –gasses
- quiz– quizzes
4 If the noun ends with ‑f or ‑fe, the f is often changed to ‑ve before adding the -s to form the plural version.
- wife – wives
- wolf – wolves
- shelf– shelves
Exceptions:
roof – roofs
belief – beliefs
chef – chefs
chief – chiefs
5 If a singular noun ends in ‑y and the letter before the -y is a consonant, change the ending to ‑ies to make the noun plural.
- city – cities
- puppy – puppies
- activity – activities
6 If the singular noun ends in -y and the letter before the -y is a vowel, simply add an -s to make it plural.
- ray – rays
- boy – boys
- essay – essays
7 If the singular noun ends in ‑o, add ‑es to make it plural.
- potato – potatoes
- tomato – tomatoes
Exceptions:
photo – photos
piano – pianos
halo – halos
8 If the singular noun ends in ‑us, the plural ending is frequently ‑i.
- cactus – cacti
- focus – foci
9 If the singular noun ends in ‑is, the plural ending is ‑es.
- analysis – analyses
- ellipsis – ellipses
10 If the singular noun ends in ‑on, the plural ending is ‑a.
- phenomenon – phenomena
- criterion – criteria
11 Some nouns don’t change at all when they’re pluralized.
- sheep – sheep
- series – series
- species – species
- deer –deer
12 Irregular Nouns
Irregular nouns follow no specific rules.
- child – children
- goose – geese
- man – men
- woman – women
- tooth – teeth
- foot – feet
- mouse – mice
- person – people
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