Creating the plural forms of nouns can be a little tricky. The good news is once you learn the rules, changing singular nouns to plural nouns gets much easier. Here are the guidelines you need and a few examples to set you on your way.
What Are Plural Nouns?
The word plural is defined as “referring to or concerning more than one.” So plural nouns are words that mean more than one person, place, thing, or idea.
- Most nouns can be changed to the plural form by adding “s” or “es” to the end of the word.
- Another example is words that end in “y” – change the “y” to “i” and add “es.”
Examples of Plural Nouns
Since the rules can be confusing when changing singular nouns to plurals, here are a few more examples of the different forms plural nouns can take.
Forming plurals by simply adding an “s” to the end of the word.
- More than one dog = dogs
- More than one rake=rakes
- More than one book=books
- More than one mitten = mittens
- More than one wall = walls
- More than one house = houses
- More than one truth = truths
Nouns that end in s, ch, or x are made plural by adding an “es” to the end of the word.
- More than one switch = switches
- More than one ax = axes
- More than one mass = masses
- More than one church = churches
- More than one tax = taxes
- More than one bus = buses
Words that end in “y” become plural by changing the “y” to “i” and adding “es.”
- More than one baby = babies
- More than one kitty = kitties
- More than one city = cities
- More than one lady = ladies
Irregular Plural Nouns
Irregular plural nouns are a little tricky because they don’t follow the rules! In order to change irregular singular nouns to the plural form you have to change the spelling. Adding an “s” or “es” won’t do the trick.
One example is the singular foot and the plural form of the word, feet. Find out more about irregular plural nouns.
Plural Possessive Nouns
In order to make a plural noun possessive that doesn’t end in the letter “s” all you have to do is add an apostrophe and an “s.”
- Women = women’s
- Mice = mice’s
If the plural noun ends in an “s” it becomes possessive by adding an apostrophe at the end.
- Cars = cars’
- Rivers = rivers’
Now that you know how to master the tricky parts, forming plural nouns should be a walk in park!