What’s a Plural Noun? (Definition, Examples, Grammar Rules)

What is a plural noun? In English, there are two forms of nouns: singular and plural (with many types of nouns that follow it). The singular form of a noun is used to refer to one item. For example: a book. The plural form is used to refer to two or more objects. For example: two books. As we refer to the noun “book,” we add a -S to it to make sure that it signifies we are speaking about multiple objects (or multiple nouns).

Let’s jump in to learn more about plural nouns…

What is a Plural Noun?

A plural noun is a noun if it refers to two or more individuals, entities, things, or concepts. There are many exceptions, but most plural nouns end in -s or -es, making them easy to identify.

Particularly, irregular plural nouns have unique plural forms for each word form, such as the words child and children for the plural form

What is a Singular Noun?

Singular nouns refer to one place, person, or thing. For example, when we refer to a “book,” this is a singular noun.

Since we are referring to one single book, which is an object, it makes it both a singular and a noun.

What’s the Difference Between Singular and Plural Nouns?

Luckily, it’s easy to comprehend the difference. The confusion often subsides in the way the word forms are put together and how the word ends are altered to create the plural noun form.

The key difference is that we are referring to more than one person, object, thing, or place.

What is a Plural Possessive Noun?

A plural possessive noun is still a plural noun, although it contains an apostrophe. The apostrophe is used to show possession.

For example, “boss” and “bosses’.” Take the following sentence, “We went to my bosses’ house.”

In this example, we add the apostrophe to the plural possessive noun “boss” in order to show possession to the home (or house). Plural possessive nouns are typically paired with a verb or adverb. Modifying the possession of the sentence subject.

From our example, the sentence subject would be “the house.”

What is an Irregular Plural Noun?

Regular and irregular plural nouns both serve the same function—indicating more than one name, place, animal, or thing, depending on the referred noun.

E.g. One tree, many trees. One fox, many foxes. One cake, many cakes.

Regular and irregular nouns can coexist in the same sentence in both singular and plural forms and still make sense. It’s important, though, to use the correct endings for each of these nouns.

For example, Ron had two pencils and one pen in his school bag. He had five books on each of his bookshelves.

Here, pen and school bag are singular nouns, pencils and books are regular plural nouns, and bookshelves is an irregular plural noun.

• Pencils have a -s at the end, indicating that there is more than one of them (in our case, two pencils).
• Bookshelves have a-ves at the end instead of a -f, indicating that there is more than one bookshelf.

Rules for the Formation of Plural Nouns:

In order not to get confused in the intricacies of the formation of plural nouns, it is enough to remember the basic rule. Well, then, there is nothing more important in learning a language than practicing speaking it.

The basic rule for plural formation is adding the ending -s to the word.

For example:

• A monkey – monkeys (monkey – monkeys)
• A lion – lions (lion – lions)
• A cucumber – cucumbers (cucumber – cucumbers)

But it happens that just adding -S does not work for all plural nouns. This is because there is difficulty of the pronunciation the word and overall clarity of the sentence subject. Take the word glass – try adding -ES: glasses.

If you pronounce it, you can’t hear the difference between the word glass in the singular and glasses in the plural form. This is an example of how pronunciation and writing can sometimes differ.

In these cases, you need to add the ending “ES”

• A glass – glasses
• A potato – potatoes
• A brush – brushes
• A bus – buses
• A watch – watches
• A box – boxes

Plural Noun Examples of Words Ending In “O”

Some words ending in -O have plural noun grammar exceptions. And we only add the letter -s:

• A radio – radios
• A video – videos
• A hippo – hippos
• A photo – photos
• A rhino – rhinos
• A piano – pianos

Plural Noun Examples of Words Ending In “F” or “EF”

The letter “F” is distinguished from other plural noun rules. When the word ends in -f / -ef, then in the plural, you need to change the ending to -ves (pronounce [vz]):

• A scarf – scarves
• A leaf – leaves
• A thief – thieves
• A shelf – shelves

Plural Noun Examples of Words Ending In “Y”

If nouns end in a consonant sound, then the plural word will look like this: we remove -y, and instead write -ies (while pronouncing the sound [z]):

1. A lorry – lorries
2. A baby – babies

Examples of Exceptions to the Pluralization of English Nouns:

There are many exception words in American English. And it can get confusing. If you just started learning the English language, you don’t need to memorize all of them. For first time English speakers, learning the basics of plural nouns can be sufficient in comprehending basic sentences and writing formally.

Let’s start with a few of the plural noun exceptions that change the word entirely:

• A man – men
• A woman – women
• A foot – feet
• A mouse – mice
• A tooth – teeth
• A goose – geese
• A child – children
• An ox – oxen

Words that Stay the Same in Singular and Plural Form:

Words like deer, sheep, hair, apparatus, series, species, heathen, and cannon

These are those words in English that remain the same in both singular and plural. The adjectives or articles used before them indicate whether they are singular or plural.

• A swine – swine
• A deer – deer
• A sheep – sheep
• A trout – trout
• A species – species

For Example:

• Two deer were caught.
• His hair is black.

Always Plural Word Forms:

Most commonly, plural verbs will get used alongside these words. Although, these words will always stay in their plural form and never change.

• Antipodes
• Alms
• Assets
• Arms
• Ashes
• Auspicious
• Billiards
• Bellows
• Bowels
• Measles
• Tidings
• Riches
• Scissors
• Scales
• Cards
• Credentials

Examples of Visible Singular Plural Nouns:

Some collective nouns like folk, cattle, mankind, police, peasantry, public, people, cavalry, vermin, gentry, infantry, majority, tenantry, and bulk look singular but they are plural.

A plural verb will be used alongside these noun forms.

For example:

• Cattle are grazing in the field.
• The police are coming.

Grammar Rules of Plural Nouns (And Irregular, Regular, or Singular)

Rule #1: For nouns ending with -f, replace -f with -ves

To form plurals of nouns ending with the letter -f, replace -f with -ves at the end of the word.

Similarly, to form plurals of nouns ending with the letters -fe, replace -fe with -ves at the end of the word.

Below are some irregular nouns that follow this rule.

Singular form (ending with -f)	Plural form (ending with -ves)
Wolf	Wolves
Leaf	Leaves
Calf	Calves
Loaf	Loaves
Shelf	Shelves
Half	Halves
Self	Selves
Thief	Thieves
Elf	Elves
Bookshelf	Bookshelves
Interleaf	Interleaves
Underleaf	Underleaves
Werewolf	Werewolves

Example 1:

A: He had treasured his grandmother’s clothes on the blue shelf.

B: He had treasured his grandmother’s clothes on the blue shelves.

In example A, the singular form, shelf, is mentioned. In example B, the plural form of shelf—shelves—is mentioned.

Example 2:

A: The thief escaped from the room.

B: The thieves escaped from the room.

In example A, the singular form, thief, is mentioned. In example B, the plural form of thief—thieves—is mentioned.

Rule #2: For nouns ending in -o, add -es at the end of the noun.

Singular form (ending with -o)	Plural form (ending with -es)
Mango	Mangoes
Tornado	Tornadoes
Domino	Dominoes
Potato	Potatoes
Tomato	Tomatoes
Hero	Heroes
Zero	Zeroes
Mosquito	Mosquitoes
Echo	Echoes
Buffalo	Buffaloes

Example 1:

A: A mosquito troubled an elephant in the jungle.

B: The mosquitoes troubled an elephant in the jungle.

In example A, the singular form, mosquito, is mentioned. In example B, the plural form of mosquito—mosquitoes—is mentioned.

Example 2:

A: Patrick heard the echo of an old woman in the church.

B: Patrick heard echoes of an old woman in the church.

In example A, the singular form, echo, is mentioned. In example B, the plural form of echo—echoes—is mentioned.

Rule #3 For nouns ending in -y form plural by replacing -y with -ies

Singular form (ending with -y)	Plural form (ending with -ies)
Lady	Ladies
Candy	Candies
Enemy	Enemies
Body	Bodies
Strawberry	Strawberries
Pony	Ponies
Puppy	Puppies
Story	Stories
Baby	Babies
Army	Armies
Firefly	Fireflies
Lorry	Lorries
Bunny	Bunnies
Fairy	Fairies

Example 1:

A: At night, Rachel dreamt of a fairy who would take her to a fairyland.

B: At night, Rachel dreamt of fairies who would take her to a fairyland.

In example A, the singular form, fairy, is mentioned. In example B, the plural form of fairy—fairies—is mentioned.

Example 2:

A: By evening, the army proceeded toward the base camp.

B: By evening, the armies proceeded toward the base camp.

In example A, the singular form, army, is mentioned. In example B, the plural form of army—armies—is mentioned.

Rule #4: For nouns with changing vowels

Singular form	Plural form
Man	Men
Woman	Women
Goose	Geese
Foot	Feet
Tooth	Teeth

Example 1:

A: Mike’s tooth ached terribly after eating jelly candies.

B: Mike’s teeth ached terribly after eating jelly candies.

In example A, tooth is an irregular noun in the singular form. To form the plural of tooth, the vowels of the noun are changed. So, -oo becomes -ee. In example B, teeth is an irregular plural noun.

Example 2:

A: There is a woman waiting in the office, asking for Mr. Ben.

B: There are women waiting in the office, asking for Mr. Ben.

In example A, woman is an irregular noun in singular form. To form the plural of woman, the vowel of the noun is changed.* So, -a becomes -e. In example B, women is an irregular plural noun.

*woman has two vowels—o and a—but only a is changed in the plural form.

Rule # 5: For Nouns that change dramatically

The plural form of such nouns is difficult to predict because it does not follow a specific pattern. When in doubt, look up the word in the dictionary.

Singular form	Plural form
Person	People
Mouse	Mice
Child	Children
Ox	Oxen
Die	Dice
Louse	Lice

Example 1:

A: She is the child of God.

B: They are the children of God.

In example A, child is an irregular noun in singular form. The plural form of child is stated in example B, i.e., children.

Example 2:

A: Matt had an ox and a hen in his farm.

B: Matt had oxen and hens in his farm.

In example A, ox is an irregular noun in the singular form. The plural form of ox is stated in example B, i.e., oxen.

Rule #6 For nouns that remain unchanged

Singular form	Plural form
Shrimp	Shrimp
Wheat	Wheat
Sheep	Sheep
Bison	Bison
Fish	Fish
Aircraft	Aircraft
Hair	Hair
Trout	Trout
Swine	Swine
Spacecraft	Spacecraft
Elk	Elk
Moose	Moose

Example 1:

A: Uncle Vernon ate a tasty shrimp for dinner.

B: Uncle Vernon ate a plate full of tasty shrimp for dinner.

In example A, shrimp is an irregular noun. In example B, the plural form of shrimp is also shrimp. Here, the singular and plural forms of the irregular noun are the same.

Example 2:

A: The engineer designed the prototype for a spacecraft and submitted it to NASA.

B: The engineer designed the prototype for the spacecraft and submitted them to NASA.

In example A, spacecraft is an irregular noun. In example B, the plural form of spacecraft is also spacecraft. Here, the singular and plural forms of the irregular noun are the same.

Singular form (ending with -y)	Plural form (ending with -s)
Trolley	Trolleys
Journey	Journeys
Kidney	Kidneys
Key	Keys
Toy	Toys