Singluar Plural Notes

Also for nouns ending in -child in the sense of a particular type of

child children
child, such as schoolchild

in the sense of a numbered cube used in games; dice is often also

die dice
used as the singular

The plural foot is used colloquially in the sense of the unit of

foot feet
distance

goose geese The plural of mongoose is mongooses

Also for the names of animals ending in -louse, such as

louse lice
woodlouse, which becomes woodlice

Also for nouns ending in -man in the sense of a particular type of

man, such as postman or Frenchman; words ending in -man that
man men
have another origin are regular (eg, ataman becomes atamans;
shaman becomes shamans)

Also applies to the names of other animals that end in -mouse,

such as dormouse and titmouse, which become dormice and
mouse mice
titmice respectively; the plural mouses is sometimes used for the
computer peripheral

Also applies to the names of other animals that end in ox, such as
ox oxen
musk-ox

Also for multiples of a penny, such as sixpence. Pence is used only

penny pence the sense of an amount of money; in the sense of a number of coins
worth a penny each, the plural is pennies

Also for nouns ending in -person, such as chairperson, which

becomes chairpeople. In formal contexts, the plural is persons
person people
(and similarly for nouns ending in -person); people is also a
singular noun in the sense of a community of people

Also for nouns ending in -tooth, such as eyetooth, which becomes

tooth teeth
eyeteeth

Also for nouns ending in -woman in the sense of a particular type

woman women
of woman, such as policewoman or Englishwoman
The chart below is designed to provide basic rules of thumb for forming plurals. But
remember that there are exceptions to most of these rules.
If the
Singular Example: The Plural Rule Is: Plural Form:
Singular Ending Is:
is diagnosis Drop the is and add es diagnoses
um ileum Drop the um and add a ilea
us alveolus Drop the us and add i alveoli
a vertebra Drop the a and add ae vertebrae
ix appendix Drop the ix and add ices appendices
ex cortex Drop the ex and add ices cortices
ax thorax Drop the x and add ces thoraces
ma sarcoma Drop the ma and add ta sarcomata
on spermatozoon Drop the on and add a spermatozoa
nx larynx Drop the x and add ges larynges
y deformity Drop the y and add ies deformities
yx calyx Drop the yx and add yces calyces
en foramen Drop the en and add ina foramina

10 Common Exceptions to Basic Plural Rules: (note the “sometimes”)

1. Sometimes the proper plural of a word ending in is will be formed by dropping
the “is” and adding “ides.” For example, “epididymis” becomes “epididymides.”
2. Sometimes the proper plural of a word ending in “us” will be formed by
dropping the “us” and adding “era” or “ora.” For example: “viscus” becomes
“viscera”; “corpus” becomes “corpora.”
3. Some words ending in “ix “or “ax” have more than one acceptable plural form.
For example, the plural of “appendix” can be either “appendices” or
“appendixes,” although the most common plural form would utilize the “ices”
ending.
4. The proper plural for certain words ending in “ion” can be formed simply by
adding an “s.” For example, “chorion” becomes “chorions.“
5. The plural form of the term “vas” is “vasa.”
6. The plural form of “pons” is “pontes.”
7. The plural form of the dual meaning word “os” is “ora” when referring to
"mouths" and “ossa” when referring to "bones."
8. The plural form of the term “femur” is “femora.”
9. The plural form of “cornu” is “cornua.”
10. The plural form of “paries” is “parietes.”
English plural
In the English language, nouns are inflected for grammatical number—that is, singular
or plural. This article discusses the variety of ways in which English plurals are
formed. Phonetic transcriptions, given inside slashes, are in SAMPA notation.

Contents
1 Regular plurals
2 Almost-regular plurals
3 Irregular plurals

3.1 Irregular Germanic plurals

3.2 Irregular plurals of foreign origin

4 Plurals of numbers
5 Defective nouns
6 Nouns with multiple plurals
7 Plurals of "headless" nouns
8 Plural to singular by back formation
9 Plurals of names of peoples

Regular plurals
The plural morpheme in English is suffixed to the end of most nouns. The plural form is
usually represented orthographically by adding -s to the singular form (see exceptions
below). The phonetic form of the plural morpheme is /z/ by default. When the preceding
sound is a voiceless consonant (see phonation), it is pronounced /s/. Examples:

boy boys
girl girls
cat cats
chair chairs

Where a noun ends in a sibilant sound—such as s, sh, x, soft ch—the plural is formed
by adding es (also pronounced as z with a neutral vowel sound or short i):

glass glasses
dish dishes
witch witches

Morphophonetically, these rules are sufficient to describe most English plurals.

However, there are several complications introduced in spelling.

The -oes rule: most nouns ending in o preceded by a consonant also form their plurals
by adding -es (pronounced /z/):

hero heroes
potato potatoes
volcano volcanoes
The -ies rule: nouns ending in a y preceded by a consonant drop the y and add -ies
(pronounced /:iz/):

cherry cherries
lady ladies

Note, however, that proper nouns (particularly those for people or places) ending in a y
preceded by a consonant form their plurals regularly:

Harry Harrys (as in There are three Harrys in our office)

Germany Germanys (as in The two Germanys were unified in 1990)

This does not apply to words that are merely capitalised common nouns:

P&O Ferries (from ferry)

A few common nouns ending in a y preceded by a consonant form their plurals

regularly:

henry henrys
zloty zlotys

Almost-regular plurals
Many nouns of Italian or Spanish origin are exceptions to this rule:

canto cantos
grotto grottos
piano pianos
portico porticos
quarto quartos
solo solos

Most nouns ending in f or fe form their plurals by changing the f into a v and adding es:

calf calves
half halves
wolf wolves
wharf wharves
life lives

Some just add an s:

proof proofs
muff muffs

Some can do either:

dwarf dwarfs / dwarves

hoof hoofs / hooves
staff staffs / staves
turf turfs / turves (latter rare)
roof roofs / rooves / roovis (latter two archaic)
  Dwarf is an interesting case: the common form of the plural was dwarfs—as, for
example, in Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs—until J. R. R.
Tolkien popularised dwarves, perhaps for its old-fashioned sound. Multiple
dwarf stars, or non-mythological short human beings, however, are dwarfs.
 Staff in the sense of "a body of employees" the plural is always staffs; otherwise
both staffs and staves are acceptable, except in compounds; such as flagstaffs.
The stave of a barrel or cask is a back-formation from staves, which is its plural.
(See below for another kind of back-formed plural.)

Irregular plurals
There are many other less regular ways of forming plurals. While they may seem
quirky, they usually stem from older forms of English or from foreign borrowings.

Irregular Germanic plurals

The plural of a few Germanic nouns can also be formed from the singular by adding n
or en, stemming from the obsolete dual:

ox oxen (also oxes, properly oxen only refers to a pair)

cow cyne (rare/regional, properly cyne only refers to a
pair)
eye eyen (Rare, found in some regional dialects)
shoe shoon (Also rare/obsolete)

The word box, referring to a computer, is semi-humorously pluralized boxen in the Leet
dialect. Multiple Vax computers, likewise, are sometimes called Vaxen.

The plural is sometimes formed by simply changing the vowel sound of the singular, in
a process called ablaut (these are sometimes called mutated plurals):

foot feet
goose geese
louse lice
man men
mouse mice
tooth teeth
woman women

Some nouns have singular and plural alike, although they are sometimes seen as regular
plurals:

sheep
deer
cod
series
trout

Irregular plurals of foreign origin

Because English includes words from so many ancestral languages, as well as many
loanwords from Classical Greek and Latin and other modern languages, there are many
other forms of plurals. Such nouns often retain their original plurals, at least for some
time after they are introduced. In some cases both forms are still vying for attention: for
example, for a librarian, the plural of appendix is appendices (following the original
language); for physicians, however, the plural of appendix is appendixes. Likewise, a
radio engineer works with antennas and an entomologist deals with antennae. The
"correct" form is the one that sounds better in context, or that people in the field use.

Correctly formed Latin plurals are the most acceptable, and indeed are often required, in
academic and scientific contexts. In common usage, back-formed plurals are sometimes
preferred. (See below for another kind of back-formed plural.)

 Final a becomes ae (strictly æ)—or just adds s:

formula formulae / formulas

alumna alumnae
 Final ex becomes ices— or just adds es:

vertex vertices
index indices / indexes
 Final is becomes es:

axis axes
testis testes
crisis crises
 Final on becomes a:

phenomenon phenomena (more below)

criterion criteria
automaton automata
polyhedron polyhedra
 Final um becomes a – or just adds s

addendum addenda
memorandum memoranda / memorandums
medium media
 Final us becomes i (second declension) or era or ora (third declension)—or just
adds es (especially in fourth declension, where it would otherwise be the same as
the singular):

radius radii
alumnus alumni
viscus viscera
corpus corpora

Note: See article on the Plural of virus.

 Final as in one case of a noun of Greek origin changes to antes:

Atlas Atlantes (statues of the hero); but

atlas atlases (map collections)
 Final ma in nouns of Greek origin add ta:

stigma stigmata
stoma stomata
zeugma zeugmata

Though some take s more commonly:

schema schemata / schemas

dogma dogmata / dogmas
 Final us in nouns of Greek origin "properly" add es. These words are also heard
with the Latin -i instead, which is sometimes considered "over-correct", but this
is so common as to be acceptable in most circumstances, even technical ones.

cactus cactuses / cacti

hippopotamus hippopotamuses / hippopotami
octopus octopuses
platypus platypuses
rhinoceros rhinoceroses / rhinoceri

The Greek plural for words ending in -pus meaning "foot", is podes, but this plural is
not used in English.

 Some nouns of French origin add x

beau beaux
chateau chateaux
 Nouns of Hebrew language origin add im or ot (generally m/f)—or just s
Note that ot is pronounced os in the Ashkenazi dialect.

cherub cherubim / cherubs

seraph seraphim / seraphs
matzoh matzot / matzos
 Nouns of Japanese origin have no plural and do not change:

kimono kimono
samurai samurai
otaku otaku

Note: kimonos, following the French model, is now generally accepted in English.

Nouns from languages that have donated few words to English, and that are spoken by
relatively few English-speakers, generally form plurals as if they were native English
words:

canoe canoes
kayak kayaks
igloo igloos
cwm cwms (Welsh valley)

Some words of foreign origin are much better known in the plural; usage of the proper
singular may be considered pedantic or actually incorrect by some speakers. In common
usage, the proper plural is considered the singular form. Back-formation has usually
resulted in a regularized plural.

Proper singular Proper plural/ Common plural

common singular
candelabrum candelabra candelabras
datum data data (mass noun)
agendum agenda agendas / (less common) agendae
graffito graffiti graffiti (mass noun)
insigne insignia insignias
alga algae algae / algaes
opus opera operas
viscus viscera (singular not in common usage)
phalanx phalanges

Note: A single piece of data is often referred to as a data point. A military phalanx is
pluralized phalanxes. The phalanges as body parts (fingers and toes) are rarely referred
to in the singular.

A related phenomenon is the confusion of a foreign plural for its singular form:

phenomenon phenomena
criterion criteria
symposium symposia

Plurals of numbers
Plurals for the names of numbers differ according to how they are used. Such words
include dozen, hundred, thousand, million, and so forth. The following examples apply
to all of these.

 When modified by a number, the plural is not inflected, that is, has no s added.
Hence one hundred, two hundred , etc. For vaguer large numbers, one could say
several hundred, but many hundreds.

 When used alone, or followed by a prepositional phrase, the plural is inflected:

dozens of complaints. However, either complaints by the dozen or complaints by
the dozens is acceptable.
 The preposition of is used when speaking of non-specific items identified by
pronouns: two hundred of these, three dozen of those. The of is not used for a
number of specific items: three hundred oriental rugs. However, if the pronoun
is included with the specific item, the of is used: five million of those dollar bills.

Defective nouns
Some nouns have no singular form:

annals billiards cattle

measles nuptials
thanks tidings victuals / vittles

Note, however, that billiard as a singular is used as a number in some versions of

British English for 1015 (others will call this a thousand billion or quadrillion), but when
speaking of the table game, only exists as plural. These words do have non-noun forms
that do not end in s. For example, thank you or billiard ball.

Neither do some names of things having two parts:

scissors
trousers
tweezers
pants

Note, however, that these words are interchangeable with a pair of scissors, a pair of
trousers, and so forth. Nor are scissor, trouser, tweezer, or pant the names of the
individual parts. However, the fashion industry frequently calls a single pair of pants a
pant; this is a back-formation. (See below for another kind of back-formed plural.)

Some words in which the modifier follows the noun form the plural inside the word or
phrase, particularly legal terms from French:

attorney general attorneys general

son-in-law sons-in-law
court martial courts martial
armful armsful / armfuls (the latter is preferred
today)
governor-general governors-general
Knight Hospitaller Knights Hospitallers
agent provocateur agents provocateurs

It is common in informal speech to pluralise the last word in the usual way, but in edited
prose, the forms given are preferred.

Non-countable, or "mass" nouns do not represent distinct objects, so the singular and
plural semantics do not apply in the same way. Some examples:

 Abstract nouns

goodness idleness wisdom

deceit honesty freshness
 Arts and sciences (even those ending in ics are treated as singular)

chemistry geometry surgery

biometrics mechanics optics
blues (music)
 Other non-countable nouns, such as chemical elements and substances:

antimony gold oxygen

equipment furniture specie distress
sand water air
informations

Some mass nouns can be pluralized, but the meaning thereof may change slightly. For
example, when I have two pieces of sand, I do not have two sands; I have sand. There is
more sand in your pile, not more sands. But there could be many "sands of Africa" -
either many distinct stretches of sand, or distinct types of sand of interest to geologists
or builders, or simply the allusive sands of Africa.

It is rare to pluralize furniture in this way. Nor would information be so treated, except
in the case of criminal informations, which are prosecutor's briefs similar to
indictments.
There is only one class of atoms called oxygen, but there are several isotopes of oxygen,
which might be referred to as different oxygens. In casual speech, oxygen might be used
as shorthand for "oxygen atoms", but in this case it is not a mass noun, so it is entirely
sensible to refer to multiple oxygens in the same molecule.

One would interpret "Bob's wisdoms" as various pieces of Bob's wisdom (that is, pieces
of advice), deceits as a series of instances of deceitful behavior, and the different
idlenesses of the worker as plural distinct manifestations of the mass concept of idleness
(or as different types of idleness, "bone lazy" versus "no work to do").

 Specie and species make a fascinating case. Both words come from a Latin word
meaning "kind", but they do not form a singular-plural pair; they are separate
non-countable nouns. Coins, such as nickels, euros, and cents are specie, but
there is no plural. The idea is "payment in kind". And species, the "kinds of
living things", is the same in singular and plural.
 Some names of elements, such as nickel, have plurals in non-chemical uses, as
"five nickels to the quarter".

Nouns with multiple plurals

Some nouns have two plurals, one used to refer to a number of things considered
individually, the other to refer to a number of things collectively. In some cases, one of
the two is nowadays archaic or dialectal.

brother brothers brethren

cannon cannons cannon
child children childer*
cow cows kine*
die dice dies
fish fish fishes*
penny pennies pence*
sow sows swine
pig pigs swine
iris iris irises*
cloth cloths clothes*
 Childer has all but disappeared, but can still be seen in Childermas (Innocents'
Day)
 Kine is still used in rural English dialects
 Dies is used as the plural for die in the sense of a mould; dice as the plural (and
increasingly as the singular) in the sense of a small random number generator
 Fish: the plural for one species of fish, or caught fish, is fish, but for live fish of
many species, or in poetic usage, fishes is used.
 If you have several (British) one-penny pieces you have several pennies. Pence
is used for an amount of money, which can be made up of a number of coins of
different denominations: one penny and one five-penny piece are together worth
six pence. Penny and pennies also refer to one or more U.S. one-cent pieces. But
in American usage, a nickel is worth five cents, not five pence, though a penny
is worth one cent (not plural).
 For multiple plants, say iris, but for multiple blossoms say irises.
 Clothes refers collectively to all of the cloth covering a person's body.
A final odd case is person. The word people is usually treated as the suppletive plural of
person (one person, many people). However, in legal and other formal contexts, the
plural of person is persons; furthermore, people can also be a singular noun with its
own plural (for example, "We are many persons, from many peoples").

Symbols and abbreviations whose plural would be ambiguous if only an s were added
are pluralized by adding 's.

mind your p's and q's

Regular words and non-ambiguous abbreviations (like PCs or ICBMs) should be

pluralized in the normal way, not with an apostrophe, lest they be confused with the
possessive.

Plurals of "headless" nouns

Linguist Steven Pinker, in his book, The Language Instinct discusses what he calls
"headless words", that is, words like low-life and Red Sox where the life and sox are not
being used in their ordinary senses. Thus, more than one low-life is low-lifes and a
single member of the Boston baseball team is a Red Sox. Other examples include the
ice-hockey Maple Leafs, not Maple Leaves, sabertooth and sabertooths, flatfoot and
flatfoots, tenderfoot and tenderfoots, still life and still lifes. Thus, the plural of
mongoose is mongooses.

The computer mouse is often pluralized mouses, although, in this case, mice is just as
common because of the physical similarity between the input device and the rodent.

Plural to singular by back formation

Some words have started out with unusually formed singulars and plurals, but more
"normal" singular-plural pairs have resulted. For an example from the vegetable world,
pease was the singular and peasen the plural, but over the centuries, first pease became
the plural and pea the singular, and finally the plural was altered to peas. Similarly,
termites and primates were the three-syllable plurals of termes and primas, respectively,
but these singulars were lost, the plurals given two syllables, and now we have termite
and termites and primate and primates. Syringe is a back formation from syringes, itself
the plural of syrinx, a musical instrument. Cherry is from Norman French cherise.
Finally, phases was once the plural of phasis, but the singular is now phase.

Kudos is a singular Greek word meaning praise, but the same process may be happening
to it. At present, kudo is an error, however.

Plurals of names of peoples

There are several different rules for this.

In discussing peoples whose demonym takes -man or -woman, there are two options:
pluralize to -men or -women if referring to individuals, and use the root alone if
referring to the whole nation.
Englishman Englishmen the English
Frenchwoman Frenchwomen the French
Dutchman or Dutch people the Dutch
Dutchwoman

This also applies to the Irish and the Welsh. One can say "a Scots(wo)man" or "a Scot",
"Scots(wo)men", "Scottish people", or "Scots," and "the Scottish" or "the Scots".
(Scotch is a drink.)

Several peoples have names that are simple nouns and can be pluralized:

Dane Danes the Danes (or) the Danish

Finn Finns the Finns (or) the Finnish
Swede Swedes the Swedes (or) the Swedish
Spaniard Spaniards the Spaniards (or) the Spanish
(much more common)

Names of peoples that end in -ese take no plural:

Chinese Chinese the Chinese

(or Chinese people)

Neither do Swiss or Qu�b�cois.

Most names for American Aboriginal groups are not pluralized:

Ojibwa Ojibwa
Iroquois Iroquois
Blood Blood
Mi'kmaq Mi'kmaq

Some exceptions include Crees, Mohawks, Hurons, Algonquins, Chippewas, Oneidas,

Aztecs. Note also:

Inuk Inuit

Names of most other peoples of the world are pluralized using the normal English rules.