PLURAL NOUNS

PLURAL NOUNS

Most nouns make their plurals by simply adding –s to the end (e.g. cat/cats, book/books, journey/journeys). Some do change their endings, though. The main types of noun that do this are:

Nouns ending in -y

If the noun ends with a consonant plus -y, make the plural by changing -y to -ies:

singular	plural
berry	berries
activity	activities
daisy	daisies

If the noun ends with -ch, -s, -sh, -x, or -z, add -es to form the plural:

singular	plural
church	churches
bus	buses
fox	foxes

There’s one exception to this rule. If the -ch ending is pronounced with a ‘k’ sound, you add -s rather than -es:

singular	plural
stomach	stomachs
epoch	epochs

Nouns ending in -f or -fe

With nouns that end in a consonant or a single vowel plus -f or -fe, change the -f or -fe to -ves:

singular	plural
knife	knives
half	halves
scarf	scarves

Nouns which end in two vowels plus -f usually form plurals in the normal way, with just an -s

singular	plural
chief	chiefs
spoof	spoofs

Nouns ending in -o

Nouns ending in -o can add either -s or -es in the plural, and some can be spelled either way.

• As a general rule, most nouns ending in -o add -s to make the plural:

singular	plural
solo	solos
zero	zeros
avocado	avocados

• Those which have a vowel before the final -o always just add -s:

singular	plural
studio	studios
zoo	zoos
embryo	embryos

• Here’s a list of the most common nouns ending in -o that are always spelled with -es in the plural:

singular	plural
buffalo	buffaloes
domino	dominoes
echo	echoes
embargo	embargoes
hero	heroes
mosquito	mosquitoes
potato	potatoes
tomato	tomatoes
torpedo	torpedoes
veto	vetoes

 Here are some of the common nouns ending in -o that can be spelled with either -s or -es in the plural:

singular	plural
banjo	banjos or banjoes
cargo	cargos or cargoes
flamingo	flamingos or flamingoes
fresco	frescos or frescoes
ghetto	ghettos or ghettoes
halo	halos or haloes
mango	mangos or mangoes
memento	mementos or mementoes
motto	mottos or mottoes
tornado	tornados or tornadoes
tuxedo	tuxedos or tuxedoes
volcano	volcanos or volcanoes

Plurals of foreign nouns

The plurals of words which have come into English from a foreign language such as Latin or Greek often have two possible spellings: the foreign plural spelling and an English one. For example, you can spell the plural of aquarium (from Latin) as either aquaria (the Latin plural) or aquariums (the English plural).

Words of Latin origin

Here’s a list of some words that came into English from Latin which can form their plurals in two ways:

Word	Latin plural	English plural
antenna	antennae	antennas
appendix	appendices	appendixes
cactus	cacti	cactuses
curriculum	curricula	curriculums
formula	formulae	formulas
index	indices	indexes
millennium	millennia	millenniums
referendum	referenda	referendums
stadium	stadia	stadiums
terminus	termini	terminuses
thesaurus	thesauri	thesauruses
vortex	vortices	vortexes

Note that there are a few nouns which have come into English from Latin which should always form their plural in the Latin way. Most of these are scientific or technical terms. The most common ones are:

singular	plural
alga	algae
alumnus	alumni
larva	larvae

Remember too, that the plural form of octopus should always be octopuses and never octopi. This is because the word came into English from Greek, not Latin, and so the usual rules for Latin plurals don't apply.

Words of Greek origin

Nouns which end in -is usually come from Greek. Their plurals are made by changing the -is to -es:

singular	plural
crisis	crises
analysis	analyses
neurosis	neuroses

Words of French origin

Certain words which have come into English from French have two possible plural forms: the original French plural and an English one. These words end in the letters -eau, for example:

Word	French plural	English plural
bureau	bureaux	bureaus
chateau	chateaux	chateaus
gateau	gateaux	gateaus
trousseau	trousseaux	trousseaus

Words of Italian origin

Most words which have come into English from Italian form their plurals with an -s, as if they were English words. For example, the Italian plural of cappuccino is cappuccini, but when the word is used in English, its plural form is cappuccinos. Here are some more examples:

Word	Italian plural	English plural
espresso	espressi	espressos
pizza	pizze	pizzas
risotto	risotti	risottos
fresco	freschi	frescos or frescoes

A notable exception to this is the word paparazzo, which keeps the Italian plural form paparazzi in English.

There's also a group of Italian words which have entered English in their plural forms – these are typically the names for various kinds of pasta. For example:

spaghetti; tagliatelle; tortellini; cannelloni; lasagne.

Although these words are already in their Italian plural forms, they can take an -s to form English plurals in certain contexts. For example:

They ordered three spaghettis and two cannellonis.

Here, the meaning is ‘a dish or serving of spaghetti’ rather than ‘a kind of pasta’.

Note that in British English, you should spell lasagne with an e at the end. In American English it's spelled with an -a at the end, i.e. lasagna (which is the Italian singular form, though this is rarely if ever used in Italian itself).

Words that have come into English from foreign languages are known as loanwords. Some of these loanwords have developed plural (or singular) forms in English that are regarded as grammatically incorrect because they go against the grammar of the original language.