Plural Nouns: Definition, Rules, Examples, Usage, Worksheet

Plural Nouns:  Most singular nouns are made plural Nouns by just putting an – s toward the end. There are various principles of pluralization based on the fact of what letter a noun closes in. Irregular nouns don’t observe plural thing guidelines, so they should be retained or looked into in the word reference.

Plural Nouns Definition

The word plural is characterized as ‘connecting with or comprising a class of syntactic structures typically used to signify multiple or in certain dialects more than two’ and ‘connecting with, comprising of, or containing multiple or more than one kind or class’, as per the Merriam-Webster dictionary. So a noun that comprises or connects with beyond what one individual, spot or thing can be characterized as a plural noun.

Plural Nouns Rules

There are numerous plural noun rules, and because we use nouns so regularly while composing, knowing every one of them is significant! The right spelling of plurals as a rule relies upon what letter the singular noun closes in.

1) To make regular nouns plural, add ‑s to the end.

• cat – cats
• house – houses

2) If the singular noun ends in ‑s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, or -z, add ‑es to the end to make it plural.

• truss – trusses
• bus – buses
• marsh – marshes
• lunch – lunches
• tax – taxes
• blitz – blitzes

3) In some cases, singular nouns ending in -s or -z, require that you double the -s or -z prior to adding the -es for pluralization.

• fez – fezzes
• gas –gasses (note that gases is also an acceptable, and more commonly used, spelling of this plural noun)

4) If the noun ends with ‑f or ‑fe, the f is often changed to ‑ve before adding the -s to form the plural version.

• wife – wives
• wolf – wolves

Exceptions:

• roof – roofs
• belief – beliefs
• chef – chefs
• chief – chiefs

5) If a singular noun ends in ‑y and the letter before the -y is a consonant, change the ending to ‑ies to make the noun plural.

• city – cities
• puppy – puppies

6) If the singular noun ends in -y and the letter before the -y is a vowel, simply add an -s to make it plural.

• ray – rays
• boy – boys

7) If the singular noun ends in ‑o, add ‑es to make it plural.

• potato – potatoes
• tomato – tomatoes

Exceptions:

• photo – photos
• piano – pianos
• halo – halos

With the unique word volcano, you can apply the standard pluralization for words that end in -o or not. It’s your choice! Both of the following are correct:

• volcanoes
• Volcanos

8) If the singular noun ends in ‑us, the plural ending is frequently ‑i.

• cactus – cacti
• focus – foci

9) If the singular noun ends in ‑is, the plural ending is ‑es.

• analysis – analyses
• ellipsis – ellipses

10) If the singular noun ends in ‑on, the plural ending is ‑a.

• phenomenon – phenomena
• criterion – criteria

11) Some nouns don’t change at all when they’re pluralized.

• sheep – sheep
• series – series
• species – species
• deer –deer

You need to see these nouns in context to identify them as singular or plural. Consider the following sentence:

Example: Mark caught one fish, but I caught three fish.

However, when it comes to fish, things can get a little complicated.

Plural Noun And Tense Forms

Plural Nouns Examples

Plural Noun Examples in Subject-Verb Agreement

While utilizing plural nouns, take care to change the action word appropriately so the sentences don’t look grammatically mistaken. The action words structures utilized alongside a plural noun incorporate, are (straightforward current state), were (basic past tense), are+verb+ing, were+verb+ing, have+past participle, have+been+past participle, will+have+verb+ing and will+have+past participle.

Examples:

• None of the students has completed their homework. (Group of people)
• All the rescued animals have been returned to their natural habitats safely. (Group of different animals)
• The textbooks and notebooks are kept on the shelves. (Objects)
• All schools in the city are shut down due to the political protests carried out in and around the city.

Plural Nouns List

More singular nouns with their plural forms are listed below.

Plural Nouns Worksheet

If you already read the article to this part, now it is time to test your knowledge. Try to answer the plural forms of the following words and at last match your answer with the sheet.

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