Singular & Plural Nouns: Definitions, Rules & Examples

Most nouns are made plural by adding -s to the end of the singular form.

For Examples:

• car – cars
• bag – bags
• table – tables
• house – houses
• dog – dogs

Singular nouns that end in 's', 'x', 'z', 'ch', 'sh',or 'ss', form the plural by adding –es.

For Examples:

• bus - buses
• bench - benches
• box - boxes
• dish - dishes
• truss - trusses
• marsh - marshes
• lunch - lunches
• tax - taxes
• blitz - blitzes
• watch – watches

Excepting: 

• fez – fezzes
• gas –  gasses
• quiz - quizzes
• bus - busses 

The plural form of some nouns that end in 'f' or 'fe' is made by changing the ending to -ves.

For Examples:

• half - halves
• hoof - hooves
• calf - calves
• elf - elves
• shelf - shelves
• leaf - leaves
• loaf - loaves
• thief - thieves
• wolf - wolves
• life - lives
• knife - knives
• scarf - scarves
• wife –  wives 

Excepting:

• cuff - cuffs
• knockoff - knockoffs
• chef - chefs
• belief - beliefs
• roof - roofs
• chief – chiefs

Nouns ending in -o:

Nouns that end in 'o' preceded by a vowel are made plural by adding -s.

For Examples:

• radio - radios
• stereo - stereos
• video  – videos

Nouns that end in "o" preceded by a consonant are made plural by adding -es.

For Examples:

• potato - potatoes
• tomato - tomatoes
• hero - heroes
• echo - echoes
• veto - vetoes
• domino – dominoes

Excepting: 

• piano - pianos
• photo - photos
• halo - halos
• soprano – sopranos

Nouns ending in 'y':

When the 'y' follows a consonant, changing 'y' to 'i' and adding –es:

For Examples:

• city - cities
• candy - candies
• country - countries
• family - families
• cherry - cherries
• lady - ladies
• puppy - puppies
• party - parties

When the 'y' follows a vowel, the plural is formed by retaining the 'y' and adding –s:

For Examples:

• day - days
• holiday - holidays
• ray - rays
• boy - boys
• toy - toys
• key - keys
• donkey - donkeys

Changing the spelling of singular noun:

For Examples:

• person - people
• ox - oxen
• man - men
• woman - women
• caveman - cavemen
• policeman - policemen
• child - children
• tooth - teeth
• foot - feet
• goose - geese
• mouse - mice
• mouse – lice

Some nouns use the same singular and plural form:

For Examples:

• aircraft - aircraft
• barracks - barracks
• deer - deer
• gallows - gallows
• moose - moose
• salmon - salmon
• hovercraft - hovercraft
• spacecraft - spacecraft
• series - series
• species - species
• means - means
• offspring - offspring
• deer - deer
• fish - fish
• sheep -  sheep

Some nouns are of Latin/Greek/French Origin:

For Examples:

Nouns of Latin Origin:

• alumnus - alumni/alumnuses
• apex - apices/apeces
• appendix - appendices/ appendixes

Nouns of French Origin:

For Examples:

• chateau - chateaux/chateaus
• bureau - bureaux/ bureaus
• tableau - tableaux/tableaus

Nouns of Greek Origin:

For Examples:

• diagnosis - diagnoses
• ellipsis - ellipses
• hypothesis - hypotheses
• oasis - oases