Forming Plurals in English (with Table of Endings)

Forming Plurals

Most nouns are made plural by adding s to the end. However, there are many other ways to form plurals, depending on the ending of the word. Here is a table showing the rules for forming the plurals in English:

Type	Example of Type	Forming the Plural	Plural
Most Nouns	lamp scythe	add s	lamps scythes
Noun Ending s, sh, ch, x or z	dress	add es	dresses
Nouns ending [consonant] o	hero zero tomato	add either s or es (There are no rules for this - you have to know.)	heroes zeros tomatoes
Nouns ending [vowel] o	patio ratio	add s	patios ratios
Nouns ending [consonant] y	story penny	change the y to an i and add es	stories pennies
Nouns ending [vowel] y	storey () donkey	add s	storeys donkeys
Nouns ending f or fe	dwarf hoof	ves and/or s (There are no rules - you have to know.)	dwarfs hooves or hoofs
Exceptions	man louse	some nouns undergo a vowel or letters change	men lice
More exceptions	salmon sheep	some nouns do not change at all	salmon sheep

Are You Good at Plurals?

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Words Taken from Foreign Languages

Words "stolen" from other languages form their plurals in a variety of ways.

Examples:

stadium > stadia or stadiums
(Through common usage, the plural stadiums is acceptable too.)

datum > data

radius > radii or radiuses
(Through common usage, the plural radiuses is acceptable too.)

agendum > agenda

Interactive Exercise

Here are three randomly selected questions from a larger exercise, which can be edited, printed to create an exercise worksheet, or sent via email to friends or students.

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