Pluralize the Principal Word
The vast majority of compound nouns form their plurals by adding s to the principal word
(shown in bold) in the compound.
Examples:
 He now has two mothers-in-law.
(plural of mother-in-law)
They were visited by the Knights
Templar.
(plural of Knight Templar)
It was a sight to see four lieutenant generals fight it out at the table.
(plural of lieutenant general)
Jerry had attended over a dozen courts-martial.
(plural of court-martial / also, see third example below)
No Principal Word?
When there is no obvious principal word, add s (or es) to the end of the compound.
Forget-me-nots make a wonderful present.
(plural of forget-me-not)
Pack two toothbrushes.
(plural of toothbrush)
Jerry had attended over a dozen court-martials.
(There is ambiguity about the principal word in court-martial. Therefore,
through common usage of both, courts-martial and court-martials are
acceptable.)
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COMPOUND NOUNS?
Compound nouns are nouns that comprise two or more words. For example:
Jack-in-the-box
Knight Templar
Lieutenant general
Court-martial
Forget-me-not
Toothbrush
Water bottle
Ink-well
Board of Education
Some compound nouns are hyphenated. For more information, see the lesson Hyphens
in Compound Nouns.
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BEWARE OF 'OF'
When a compound noun is in the form [word] of [word] (e.g., cup of tea), the first word is always the principal word.
I sold them 4 cup of teas, but they only drank one.
(should be cups of tea)
SPOONFULS OR SPOONSFUL?
When a compound noun is in the form [container]ful (e.g., bucketful, cupful and handful), an s is added to the end to form the plural.
There were 3 spoonsful of honey left in the jar.
(should be spoonfuls)
Please sprinkle two handfuls of corn on the porch for the chickens.
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