Study materials
To make a plural, you add an s to the word.
one cat → two cats
one table → three tables
That is how almost every word forms its plural. The exceptions are few, but they come up daily, like children, people, women or feet.
A noun is a word that names a person, an animal or a thing and answers the question “who?” or “what?”. The form for one is called the singular, and the form for two or more the plural.
After two, three and any number from two up, a noun is always plural. After one, and after a, which also means one, it is singular.
a lemon, one egg, six eggs
A plural needs no apostrophe. The apostrophe shows that something belongs to someone, as in Anna's cat, and the s alone makes the plural.
three banana's → three bananas
When to add 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.
A few common words ending in o also take es. There are not many of them, so they are simply remembered. Most other words ending in o take a plain s.
potato → potatoes, tomato → tomatoes, hero → heroes
photo → photos, piano → pianos, radio → radios
Nouns ending in y, f and fe
Everything here depends on what stands before the y. A consonant turns y into ies. A vowel changes nothing.
The vowels here are the letters a, e, i, o and u, and all the other letters are consonants. In family a consonant, l, stands before the y, and in key a vowel, e.
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.
Knife, wolf and half behave the same way. Roof, on the other hand, simply adds an s.
knife → knives, wolf → wolves, half → halves
roof → roofs
Irregular plurals
The commonest exceptions obey no rule at all, yet they come up all the time.
| 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.
A plural made not with s but by changing the word itself is called irregular. In everyday speech the plural of person is people.
one person, two people
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
When there is no number nearby, the verb shows how many.
The sheep is hungry.
The sheep are hungry.
The reverse also happens. A word ends in s but means one thing. Such nouns take a singular verb.
The news is good.
Singular, plural and the verb
The form of be adjusts to the plural.
The cat is small.
The cats are small.
The verb be has the form is for one and are for more than one. An irregular plural takes are too, even with no s at the end.
The men are tired.
Your children are so polite!
Common mistakes
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.
The first is caught by knowing the exceptions. Children, men or feet are already plural, so no s is added to them. The second shows in the number before the word, because after two or any larger number a noun is always plural. The third shows in the verb. A plural noun takes are.