A plural noun is a noun that refers to more than one person, place, thing, or idea. Most singular nouns are made plural by adding a suffix, usually –s or –es. For example, the singular noun dog takes the plural form dogs, as in three dogs. However, there are irregular plural nouns that take unique forms.
Most singular nouns are made plural by simply putting an –s at the end. There are many different rules regarding pluralization depending on what letter a noun ends in. Irregular nouns do not follow plural noun rules, so they must be memorized or looked up in the dictionary.
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What are plural nouns?
A noun is plural when it represents two or more people, places, things, or ideas. You can identify most plural nouns because they end in –s or –es, although there are plenty of exceptions. In particular, irregular plural nouns each have their own special plural forms, such as child and its plural form, children.
Plural nouns vs. singular nouns
English distinguishes grammatical nouns as either singular or plural. Singular nouns represent one of something.
one car
a friend
this daisy
Plural nouns, on the other hand, represent two or more of something.
five cars
a few friends
these daisies
You can tell the difference between most singular and plural nouns by how the word ends, except for irregular nouns.
Plural nouns vs. possessive nouns
Possessive nouns are nouns that show ownership, usually with an –’s at the end. So if you had a friend named Marja and Marja owned a bike, you would write:
Marja’s bike
Plural nouns are often confused with possessive nouns because both usually end in –s. However, the major difference between plural and possessive nouns is the apostrophe;
possessive nouns have it, but plural nouns don’t (unless they’re plural possessive nouns).
[singular] boss
[singular possessive] boss’s
[plural] bosses
[plural possessive] bosses’
How do plural nouns work?
To make a regular noun plural, you add –s or –es to the end, depending on the word’s ending. Sometimes, letters of the original word get changed to make the plural form, such as half and its plural form, halves. We explain which words get which suffixes in the next section.
Irregular plural nouns are an exception. Each irregular plural noun has its own unique plural form, such as mouse and its plural, mice, or goose and its plural, geese.
Most nouns can be turned into plural nouns, including collective nouns that represent groups.
one team
two teams
However, mass nouns, also known as uncountable nouns or non-count nouns, like art, usually aren’t expressed as plurals, even when they represent multiple things.
Plural noun rules
There are many plural noun rules, and because we use nouns so frequently when writing, it’s important to know all of them! The correct spelling of plurals usually depends on what letter the singular noun ends in.
1 To make regular nouns plural, add –s to the end.
cat – cats
house – houses
2 If the singular noun ends in –s, –ss, –sh, –ch, –x, or –z, you usually add -es to the end to make it plural.
iris – irises
truss – trusses
marsh – marshes
lunch – lunches
tax – taxes
blitz – blitzes
3 In some cases, singular nouns ending in –s or –z require that you double the –s or –z prior to adding the –es for pluralization.
bus – busses
fez – fezzes
4 For most nouns that end with –f or –ef, you add an –s to form the plural version. Be aware of exceptions, however. For some nouns ending this way, you must change the –f or –efto –ve before adding the –s.
roof – roofs
belief – beliefs
chef – chefs
chief – chiefs
Exceptions:
wife – wives
wolf – wolves
5 If a singular noun ends in –y and the letter before the –y is a consonant, you usually change the ending to –ies to make the noun plural.
city – cities
puppy – puppies
6 If the singular noun ends in –y and the letter before the –y is a vowel, simply add an –s to make it plural.
ray – rays
boy – boys
7 If the singular noun ends in –o, you usually add –es to make it plural.
potato – potatoes
tomato – tomatoes
Exceptions:
photo – photos
piano – pianos
halo – halos
With the unique word volcano, you can apply the standard pluralization for words that end in –o or not. It’s your choice! Both of the following are correct:
volcanoes
volcanos
8 If the singular noun ends in –us, the plural ending is frequently –i.
cactus – cacti
focus – foci
9 If the singular noun ends in –is, the plural ending is –es.
analysis – analyses
ellipsis – ellipses
10 If the singular noun ends in –on, the plural ending is usually –a.
phenomenon – phenomena
criterion – criteria
11 Some nouns don’t change at all when they’re pluralized.
sheep – sheep
series – series
species – species
deer – deer
You need to see these nouns in context to identify them as singular or plural. Consider the following sentence:
Mark caught one fish, but I caught three fish.
However, when it comes to fish, things can get a little complicated.
Plural noun rules for irregular nouns
Irregular nouns follow no specific rules, so it’s best to memorize these or look up the proper pluralization in the dictionary.
child – children
goose – geese
man – men
woman – women
tooth – teeth
foot – feet
mouse – mice
person – people
Plural noun FAQs
What is a plural noun?
A plural noun is the form of a noun used to show there is more than one person, place, thing, or idea. Most nouns simply add –s or –es to the end to become plural.
What is an example of a plural noun?
Kids is the plural noun form of kid. Some nouns have an irregular plural form; for instance, the plural noun of child is children, not childs.
What is the difference between singular and plural nouns?
Singular nouns represent only one thing, but plural nouns represent more than one. If someone stands alone, we call them a person (singular), but if there’s more than one person, we call them people (plural).
