Study materials
The main rule of the plural fits into two words: add an s.
one cat → two cats
one table → three tables
It covers almost every word in the language. The difficulty lies elsewhere: the exceptions are few, but they are exactly the ones that come up daily. Children, people, women, feet.
When s becomes es
If a word already ends in a hissing sound, a lone s would merge into it. So an e is slipped in.
| Ending | Example |
|---|---|
| s, ss | bus → buses, class → classes |
| sh, ch | dish → dishes, watch → watches |
| x, z | box → boxes, quiz → quizzes |
The check is easy by ear. Try to pronounce boxs and your tongue will tell you another vowel is needed.
The letter y at the end
Everything here depends on what stands before the y. A consonant turns y into ies. A vowel changes nothing.
city → cities, baby → babies
boy → boys, key → keys
A similar habit shows up in some words in f and fe: leaf becomes leaves, wife becomes wives. But the rule does not always hold, so these forms are learned with the word.
Seven words to know by heart
Here are the commonest exceptions. They obey no rule at all, yet they turn up in every other conversation.
| One | Several |
|---|---|
| man, woman | men, women |
| child | children |
| person | people |
| foot, tooth | feet, teeth |
| mouse | mice |
These forms are already plural, so an s must never be added to them.
Words that do not change
A few nouns keep one form for one and for many. The number is shown not by the word but by what stands next to it.
one sheep, ten sheep
one fish, three fish
The reverse also happens: a word ends in s but means one thing. Such nouns take a singular verb.
The news is good.
The verb changes along with the noun
A plural never stands alone. The form of be adjusts to it, and that is the first thing your listener hears.
The cat is small.
The cats are small.
The mistakes everyone makes
The first is adding an s to an irregular form.
three childrens → three children
The second is leaving the singular after a number.
two book → two books
The third is forgetting about the verb.
The cats is small. → The cats are small.
All three are caught by one habit. Once you put a word into the plural, check the verb beside it straight away.
Try it right now
Look around and name five things near you in the plural in English.
Try to include at least one word in y and one of those seven exceptions. Then say one sentence about them with are.