English Grammar > Nouns

REGULAR NOUNS

Most singular nouns form the plural by adding -s.

EXAMPLES

Singular, Plural

• boat, boats
• house, houses
• cat, cats
• river, rivers

A singular noun ending in s, x ,z, ch, sh makes the plural by adding -es.

EXAMPLES

Singular, Plural

• bus, buses
• wish, wishes
• pitch, pitches
• box, boxes

A singular noun ending in a consonant and then y makes the plural by dropping the y and adding -ies.

EXAMPLES

Singular, Plural

• penny, pennies
• spy, spies
• baby, babies
• city, cities
• daisy, daisies

IRREGULAR NOUNS

There are some irregular noun plurals. The most common ones are listed below.

EXAMPLES

Singular, Plural

• woman, women
• man, men
• child, children
• tooth, teeth
• foot, feet
• person, people
• leaf, leaves
• mouse, mice
• goose, geese
• half, halves
• knife, knives
• wife, wives
• life, lives
• elf, elves
• loaf, loaves
• potato, potatoes
• tomato, tomatoes
• cactus, cacti
• focus, foci
• fungus, fungi
• nucleus, nuclei
• syllabus, syllabi/syllabuses
• analysis, analyses
• diagnosis, diagnoses
• oasis, oases
• thesis, theses
• crisis, crises
• phenomenon, phenomena
• criterion, criteria
• datum, data

Some nouns have the same form in the singular and the plural

EXAMPLES

Singular, Plural

•  sheep, sheep
• fish, fish
• deer, deer
• species, species
• aircraft, aircraft

IRREGULAR VERB/NOUN AGREEMENT

Some nouns have a plural form but take a singular verb.

Plural nouns used with a singular verb, Sentence

• news, The news is at 6:30 p.m.
• athletics, Athletics is good for young people.
• linguistics, Linguistics is the study of language.
• darts, Darts is a popular game in England.
• billiards, Billiards is played all over the world.

Some nouns have a fixed and take a plural verb. They are not used in the singular, or they have different meaning in the singular. Nouns like this include: trousers, jeans, glasses, savings, thanks, step, stairs, customs, congratulations, tropics, wages, spectacles, outskirts, goods, wits.

Plural noun with plural verb, Sentence

• trousers, My trousers are too tight.
• jeans, Her jeans are black
• glasses, Those glasses are his.