Making words plural
In a nutshell
Plural means that there is more than one person or thing, and you can create and identify them in different ways.
Add 's' to form the plural
Add 's' at the end of a word to make it plural. This is by far the most common way to form the plural.
Examples
singular (one)
| plural
|
| hat | hats |
| bag
| bags
|
Add 'es' to form the plural
Add 'es' at the end of a word that originally ends with these letters 'ch', 'sh', 's', 'x' and 'z' in order to make it plural.
Examples
singular (one)
| plural
|
| glass | glasses
|
| box
| boxes
|
| beach
| beaches
|
| dish | dishes |
Plurals for words ending in 'y'
There are two different rules for words ending in 'y'.
Rule 1
Add an 's' if the letter before the 'y' is a vowel (a, e, i, o, u).
Examples
singular (one)
| Plural
|
| boy | boys |
| key | keys |
Rule 2
If the letter before the y is a consonant, then remove the 'y' and add 'ies'.
Examples
singular (one)
| plural
|
| lily | lilies |
| baby | babies |
Additional rules for plural words
Add 's' or 'es' to Words ending in 'o'
Examples
singular (one)
| plural
|
| zoo
| zoos |
| potato | potatoes
|
Add 'ves' to words ending in 'f' or 'fe'
Examples
singular (one)
| plural
|
| wolf | wolves |
| elf | elves |
| chef | chefs |
Irregular plurals
Some words simply have irregular plurals that you have to learn.
Examples
singular (one)
| plural
|
| man | men
|
| foot | feet
|
| mouse | mice
|
| goose | geese
|
| tooth | teeth
|
| child | children |
Some plurals don't change
Most of the words that don't change in the plural are animal names.
Examples
