plurals of nouns

plurals of nouns: plurals of nouns

English nouns normally form their plurals by adding -s, or -es if the singular form ends in -s, -x, -z, -sh, or soft -ch (as in church but not loch). Words in -y form plurals in -ies (policies) unless the ending is -ey in which case the plural form is normally -eys (monkeys); but see moneys. Difficulties occur mainly when the singular form is unusual and does not allow ready application of the normal rules or when the word is of foreign origin (or both). Nouns in -f and -fe are given in the entry -fs, -ves, nouns of the type cupful at the entry -FUL, and nouns in -o in the entry -o; plurals of some Latin nouns in English are given in the entry Latin plurals. For plurals of abbreviated forms (such as MP) see abbreviations 3. The following table lists other plural forms that cause difficulties of various kinds.

irregular plurals

child / children

foot / feet

goose / geese

louse / lice

man / men

mouse / mice

tooth / teeth

woman / women

animal names the same in the plural

bison / bison

cod / cod

deer / deer

grouse / grouse

salmon / salmon

sheep / sheep

squid / squid

swine / swine

nouns in plural form only: tools

bellows

binoculars

clippers

forceps

gallows

glasses

goggles

pincers

pliers

scissors

shears

spectacles (= glasses)

tongs

tweezers

nouns in plural form only: articles of clothing

braces

breeches

briefs

flannels

jeans

knickers

leggings

pants

pyjamas (US pajamas)

shorts

slacks

suspenders

tights

trousers

compound nouns

Attorney-General / Attorneys-General*

brother-in-law / brothers-in-law

commander-in-chief / commanders-in-chief

court martial / courts martial

daughter-in-law / daughters-in-law

father-in-law / fathers-in-law

Governor-General / Governors-General*

lay-by / lay-bys

man-of war / men-of-war

mother-in-law / mothers-in-law

passer-by / passers-by

Poet Laureate / Poets Laureate*

sister-in-law / sisters-in-law

son-in-law / sons-in-law

stand-by / stand-bys

*The forms Attorney-Generals, Governor-Generals, and Poet Laureates are also used

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Sesotho nouns — Notes: *The orthography used in this and related articles is that of South Africa, not Lesotho. For a discussion of the differences between the two see the notes on Sesotho orthography. *Hovering the mouse cursor over most H:title| [ɪ talɪk] |… … Wikipedia
Romance plurals — The La Spezia Rimini Line (or more precisely Massa Senigallia Line) demarcates some important distinctions between Romance languages north and west of it (Portuguese, Spanish, Catalan, Occitan, French, Romansh, Cisalpine) and those east and south … Wikipedia
Spanish nouns — The Spanish language has nouns that express concrete objects, groups and classes of objects, qualities, feelings and other abstractions. All nouns have a conventional grammatical gender. Countable nouns inflect for number (singular and plural).… … Wikipedia
countable nouns — also called count nouns, are nouns that form plurals, e.g. ship, crisis, fellow traveller, kindness (= a kind act). They differ from uncountable (or non count or uncount) nouns, which do not form plurals, e.g. adolescence, heating, richness,… … Modern English usage
German nouns — A German noun has one of three specific grammatical genders (masculine, feminine, neuter) and belongs to one of three declension classes, only partly dependent of gender. A fourth declension is used for plural declension. These features remain… … Wikipedia
Latin plurals — Plurals of Latin words used in English are formed according to the rules either of the source language (apex/apices, stratum/strata) or of the borrowing language (gymnasium/gymnasiums, arena/arenas). In some cases more than one form is in use,… … Modern English usage
proper nouns — Many writers stumble when confronted with finding a plural form for a proper noun, as in the two following examples, both from The Times of London and both wrong: The Cox’s were said by neighbors to be . . . happily married ; This is the first… … Bryson’s dictionary for writers and editors
proper nouns — Many writers stumble when confronted with finding a plural form for a proper noun, as in the two following examples, both from The Times of London and both wrong: The Cox s were said by neighbors to be . . . happily married ; This is the first … Dictionary of troublesome word
English plural — English grammar series English grammar Contraction Disputes in English grammar English compound English honorifics English personal pronouns English plural English relative clauses English verbs English irregular verbs En … Wikipedia
-es — 1. suffix forming plurals of nouns ending in sibilant sounds (such words in e dropping the e) (kisses; cases; boxes; churches). Etymology: var. of S(1) 2. suffix forming the 3rd person sing. present of verbs ending in sibilant sounds (such words… … Useful english dictionary

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