Singular and Plural Forms of the Nouns

Singular Form

When a noun is singular, it means there is one of them.

For Example: Dog, balloon, toy, friend, house, family, elephant etc.

Plural Form

When a noun is plural it means there is more than one. To make most nouns plural we simply add -s. There are many irregular nouns that add es.

For Example: Dogs, balloons,  toys, friends, houses, families, elephants etc.

The rules for forming plural noun

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

For example

Singular form	Plural form
cat	cats
truck	trucks
bird	birds
car	cars
bottle	bottles
lamp	lamps
mobile	mobiles
fruit	fruits
chair	chairs

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

For example

Singular form	Plural form
branch	branches
box	boxes
bus	buses
church	churches
dish	dishes
bench	benches
tax	taxes
watch	watches

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

For example

Singular form	Plural form
calf	calves
knife	knives
leaf	leaves
wolf	wolves
wife	wives
shelf	shelves
loaf	loaves
life	lives

(4) If the noun ends with y and the letter before the -y is a consonant, change the ending to ‑ies to make the noun plural.

For example

Singular form	Plural form
family	families
city	cities
puppy	puppies
trophy	trophies
jelly	jellies
baby	babies
country	countries
duty	duties

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

For example

Singular form	Plural form
toy	toys
ray	rays
boy	boys
day	days

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

For example

Singular form	Plural form
potato	potatoes
tomato	tomatoes
scorpio	scorpioes
hero	heroes
echo	echoes

There are few exceptions such as piano – pianos, photo – photos, kangroo- kangroos, studio- studios, radio – radios etc.

(7) If singular noun end in ‑us, the plural ending is frequently ‑i.

For example

Singular form	Plural form
cactus	cacti
fungus	fungi
focus	foci
nucleus	nuclei
radius	radii

(8) Some nouns don’t change at all when they’re pluralized. They have same form in singular and plural form.

For example

Singular form	Plural form
hair	hair
sheep	sheep
deer	deer
species	species
dozen	dozen
hundred	hundred
fish	fish
trout	trout
bison	bison

(9) Some nouns have unique plural form.

For example

Singular form	Plural form
man	men
tooth	teeth
woman	women
child	children
goose	geese
mouse	mice
foot	feet
person	people

Some other examples of Singular and Plural forms of the noun

Singular form	Plural form
ox	oxen
piano	pianos
quiz	quizzes
donkey	donkeys
leaf	leaves
fox	foxes
sticker	stickers
hair	hair
knife	knives
kidney	kidneys
street	streets
goose	geese
bus	buses
moss	mosses
life	lives
book	books
potato	potatoes
soldier	soldiers
thief	thieves
cactus	cacti
horse	horses
deer	deer
ostrich	ostriches
family	families
city	cities
fan	fans
penny	pennies
sticker	stickers
key	keys
bottle	bottles
hero	heros
shelf	shelves
tree	trees
box	boxes
eye	eyes
face	faces
woman	women
army	armies
gas	gasses
baby	babies
sheep	sheep
tooth	teeth
table	tables
photo	photos
fly	flies
country	countries
church	churches
fairy	fairies
mango	mangoes
foot	feet
cross	crosses
map	maps
anniversary	anniversaries
life	lives
flower	flowers
egg	eggs
dress	dresses
rose	roses
ox	oxen
diagnosis	diagnoses
news	news
glass	glasses
hoof	hooves
bowl	bowls
fish	fish
story	stories
octopus	octopi
wish	wishes
ribbon	ribbons
gang	gangs
analysis	analysis
jean	jeans
butterfly	butterflies
day	days
pouch	pouches
zoo	zoos
carrot	carrots
chimney	chimneys
tomato	tomatoes