March 7, 2010

14 Tips on Making Plural Nouns (Nouns, Part 3 of 3)

We have discussed tips about capitalizing nouns and about possessive nouns. Now we discuss some tips on how to make plural nouns.

1. Usually add s:

  • pad - pads
  • wave - waves


2. If the word ends in O, usually ad es:

  • mango - mangoes
  • tomato - tomatoes


3. If the word ends in S, X, Z, CH, or SH, add es:

  • mass - masses
  • tax - taxes
  • clash - clashes
  • buzz - buzzes
  • touch - touches


4. If the word ends in Y and there's a vowel (a,e,i,o,u) before the Y, add s:

  • key - keys
  • way - ways


5. If the word ends in Y and there's a consonant before the Y, change the y to i and add es:

  • butterfly - butterflies
  • injury - injuries


6. If a proper noun (someone's name) ends in Y, just add s:

  • the McKinley family - the McKinleys
  • the Henley family - the Henleys


7. If a compound noun (a noun containing more than one word) has a main noun in it, add the s to the main noun:

  • one mother-in-law, two mothers-in-law
  • one certificate of employment, two certificates of employment


8. If a compound noun has no main noun in it, add the s at the end:

  • one follow-up, two follow-ups
  • one trade-in, two trade-ins


Looks easy so far, right?
Not so fast...

9. There are some nouns that stay the same whether you refer to the singular or plural form:

  • moose - moose
  • deer - deer
  • species - species
  • sheep - sheep
  • series - series
  • swine - swine


12. Other nouns are based on rules from foreign languages :

  • basis - bases
  • crisis - crises
  • criterion - criteria
  • nucleus - nuclei
  • stimulus - stimuli
  • datum - data


13. There are other nouns which do not follow the above rules :

  • mouse - mice
  • banjo - banjos
  • passerby - passersby
  • ox - oxen
  • knife - knives
  • foot - feet
  • child - children


14. Just to be sure, consult your dictionary to determine the correct plural form for each word.

Attribution to Rebecca Elliot and her book Painless Grammar (c) 2006, 1997

Other noun tips:
16 Tips on How to Capitalize Nouns (Nouns, Part 1 of 3)
9 Tips about Possessive Nouns (Nouns, Part 2 of 3)
14 Tips on Making Plural Nouns (Nouns, Part 3 of 3)