Singular and Plural Nouns Writing Lab Singular and Plural Nouns

Plural and “’s” To form the plural of most nouns, add -s: Singular Plural Ski skis Guru gurus miser misers Banana bananas Menu menus Encyclopedia encyclopedias Breakfast breakfasts

Plural and “-y” Endings To form the plural of a noun ending in –y preceded by vowel, add only an –s. Singular Plural Key keys Ploy ploys Birthday birthdays Jersey jerseys

Plurals, “-y” endings, and “-ies” To form the plural of a noun ending in –y preceded by a consonant, change the “–y” to “–I” and add “– es.” Singular Plural Country countries Spy spies Dictionary dictionaries

EXCEPTION: To form the plural of proper nouns ending in –y preceded by a consonant, just add an –s. the Kennedys the Bradys the Cosbys two hot Julys

For –s, -sh, -ch, -z, or x, add –es: To form the plural of a noun ending in –s, -sh, -ch, - z, or x, add –es: Singular Plural Fax faxes Bonus bonuses Atlas atlases Leash leashes Watch watches Tax taxes

Double the final consonant Double the final consonant of one-syllable words ending in a single –s or –z preceded by vowel: Singular Plural Bus buses or busses Quiz quizzes

Proper nouns ending in –s, -sh, ch, -z, and –x Proper nouns ending in –s, -sh, ch, -z, and –x also form their plurals with an –es: the Joneses the Harrises the Willises two Gladyses in my class the Hirsches the Martinezes

False Pronunciation Don’t add –es to a proper noun ending in –s if the additional inflection creates a false pronunciation: two Mercedes, not two Mercedeses.

Dictionaries’ Spelling Dictionaries may differ in their spelling of words ending in –o: Singular Plural Tornado tornadoes or tornados Memento mementos or mementoes Halo halos or haloes Mosquito mosquitoes

Ending in –o and Preceded by a Vowel To form the plural of a noun ending in–o preceded by a vowel, add an –s: Singular Plural Stereo stereos Rodeo rodeos Shampoo shampoos Radio radios

Nouns Ending in –o and Preceded by a Consonant To form the plural of some nouns ending in –o preceded by a consonant, add –s: Singular Plural Taco tacos Photo photos Ghetto ghettos Embryo embryos Piano pianos

Nouns Ending in –o and Preceded by a Consonant cont. To form the plural of some nouns ending in –o preceded by a consonant, add –es: Singular Plural Potato potatoes Veto vetoes

Plurals cont. 1 To form the plural of some words ending in –f or –fe, add –s only; to others, change the –f to –v and add –es: Singular Plural Belief beliefs Roof roofs Sheriff sheriffs Tiff tiffs Half halves Leaf leaves Life lives Shelf shelves Dwarf dwarfs or dwarves Scarf scarfs or scarves

Irregular Ways Some nouns form their plurals in irregular ways: Singular Plural ox oxen Child children Man men Woman women Die dice Mouse mice

Change the Last Element To form the plural of some compound nouns, change the last element of the compound: Singular Plural a three-year-old three-year-olds handful handfuls cease-fire cease-fires madman madmen

Most Important With other compound nouns, change the form of the word that’s clearly the most important: Singular Plural statute of limitations statutes of limitations mother-in-law mothers-in-law rule of thumb rules of thumb passer-by passers-by runner-up runners-up bill of sale bills of sale poet laureate poets laureates court martial court martials attorney general attorneys general or attorney generals

Foreign Words Change Nouns derived from foreign words change their spelling altogether: Singular Plural Alumnus alumni Alumna alumnae Crisis crises Analysis analyses Nucleus nuclei Parenthesis parentheses Medium media Criterion criteria Basis bases Memorandum memorandums or memoranda Syllabus syllabuses or syllabi Bacterium bacteria Opus opera

Some nouns don’t change their form. species corps salmon series status hiatus deer sheep means Chinese

Plurals cont. 2 To form the plural of symbols, letters, and words, add an apostrophe and –s: four “S’s” in the word Mississippi no “if’s,” “and’s,” or “but’s”

That’s all, folks! This lesson is part of the UWF Writing Lab Grammar Mini-Lesson Series Lessons adapted from Real Good Grammar, Too by Mamie Webb Hixon To find out more, visit the Writing Lab’s website where you can take a self-scoring quiz corresponding to this lesson