Forming Plurals of Nouns
The word singular means one, and the word plural means more than one. It’s
pretty simple to form the plural of most nouns; you simply add s or es. However, our
language is filled with exceptions, and many nouns don’t follow this simple rule. The
following are rules to help you form the plural of those odd nouns:
1. The plural of a noun ending in y preceded by a consonant is formed by changing
the y to i and adding –es. Ex. baby—babies buggy—buggies
2. The plural of a noun ending in y preceded by a vowel is formed by adding -s. Ex.
guy—guys ray—rays
3. The plurals of some nouns ending in –f or –fe are formed by changing the f to v
and adding –s or –es. Ex. leaf—leaves calf--calves wife--wives knife—
knives roof—roofs (Even though it sounds like the f changes to a v, it really
doesn’t on this word—goofy isn’t it?)
4. The plural of a noun ending in o preceded by a vowel is formed by adding –s.
Ex. radio—radios rodeo—rodeos.
5. The plural of a noun ending in o preceded by a consonant is formed by adding
–es.
Ex. hero—heroes torpedo—torpedoes tomato—tomatoes
Exception to this rule ~ When the word refers to music, simply add –s.
solo—solos alto—altos piano—pianos piccolo—piccolos soprano--sopranos
6. Some nouns are the same in the singular and plural. Ex. deer fish trout Japanese
7. Form the plural of a compound noun that is written as a hyphenated word by
making plural the most important word, which is usually a noun. Ex. brothersin-law sergeants-at-arms runners-up {If it’s hard to tell which word is the
most important, add –s to the last word. Merry-go-rounds drive-ins.
8. If a compound noun is written as one word, add –s or –es to form the plural. Ex.
footballs spoonfuls grandmothers classrooms {exception: passersby}
9. Some words don’t fit any one rule. Ex. mouse—mice ox—oxen louce—lice
10. Add –‘s to form the plural of capital letters, numbers, and symbols. It’s also
acceptable in these cases to just add –s (without the apostrophe) if doing so
presents no confusion. Ex. ZZuzzuzzanna’s last name has seven Z’s (or Zs) in it.
11. Always add –‘s to form the plural of lower case letters, and of words and
expressions used to represent themselves. Ex. When some people, like, talk and
stuff, they, like, use too many like’s and stuff’s.
12. Usually, people don’t use apostrophes to form the plural of centuries and decades.
Ex. In the 1950s, many girls wore poodle skirts.
Name__________________________
Period___________
Forming Plurals of Nouns ~ Practice
Use the Forming Plurals of Nouns information sheet and/or a dictionary to help you form
plurals of the following nouns:
1. shelf ____________
11. freshman___________________
2. elf______________
12. potato______________________
3. trio_____________
13. spoonful____________________
4. deer____________
14. library______________________
5. 1980___________
15. piano_______________________
6. calf____________
16. tooth________________________
7. country__________
17. 13_________________________
8. patio____________
18. father-in-law__________________
9. half_____________
19. salmon______________________
10. A_______________
20. American______________________
Underline or highlight the misspelled nouns in the following sentences, and spell each
correctly. There are 15 errors.
1. Do sheeps count people to fall asleep?
2. Many of the looker-ons were surprised to see thirty mooses dancing in the street.
3. Otis found two lices in his strawberrys and pancakes, so he used one of his knifes
to pick off the pests.
4. In green vallies in Vermont, many mouses wear scarfs and dance playfully to the
music blaring from radioes.
5. Figaro made all A’s on his art projects, which included his two papier-mâché
monkies.
6. The Joneses are raising three foxes, two oxes, and a toad.
7. The Americans, the Chineses, and the Japaneses won gold medals in the
underwater hula-hoop competition.
8. Little Winfred enjoys eating fried green tomatoes while he listens to sopranos
singing songs about trouts.