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Irregular Plurals

There are several types of irregular plurals in English that do not follow the standard rules of adding 's' or 'es' to make a word plural. These include non-count nouns like 'hair' and 'grass' that do not have a plural form. Some nouns stay the same in both singular and plural, like 'deer' and 'fish'. Other irregular plurals change the spelling or form of the word entirely when making it plural, such as 'knife' becoming 'knives' or 'man' becoming 'men'. It is important to memorize the common irregular plural forms in English.

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342 views2 pages

Irregular Plurals

There are several types of irregular plurals in English that do not follow the standard rules of adding 's' or 'es' to make a word plural. These include non-count nouns like 'hair' and 'grass' that do not have a plural form. Some nouns stay the same in both singular and plural, like 'deer' and 'fish'. Other irregular plurals change the spelling or form of the word entirely when making it plural, such as 'knife' becoming 'knives' or 'man' becoming 'men'. It is important to memorize the common irregular plural forms in English.

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Monika
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Irregular Plurals

The vast majority of nouns in the English language are made plural by
adding an "s" or "es" to the end of the word. For example, book, apple,
house, table, door, cat, bush, boss are just some of the millions of words
that become plural with the simple addition of an "s" (books, apples,
houses, tables, doors, cats, bushes, bosses). However, certain nouns have
"irregular" plurals which do not behave in this standard way.

Regular Plurals
For most nouns, the general rule for making the word plural is:
 If the word ends in s, x, ch or sh, add an "es" Bless + es = blesses
Box + es = boxes
Dish + es = dishes
 If the word ends in a consonant (all letters except a, e, i, o, u) + y,
then change the "y" to an "i" and ad the letters "es" Baby = Babies
Candy = candies
 For all other non-irregular nouns, simply add an "s" to the end of the
word Cat = cats
Dog = dogs
Kid = kids

Irregular Plurals
Certain words do not follow the above rules for regular plurals. There are
some common types of irregular plurals that occur, and some words
simply have no plural form at all.
While it is useful to memorize the common irregular plurals, for many
words you simply have to know and understand that it is an irregular
plural as a result of speaking and hearing English.

Non-Count Nouns
Non-count nouns, also called collective nouns, have no plural form
because they are assumed to be plural. Most abstract nouns are non-
count nouns. Some examples are:
 Hair
 Grass
 Dress (when referring to a style of dress, not when referring to a
clothing item that hangs in your closet)
If you are talking about multiple varieties or types of these irregular
plurals, you cannot make them plural by adding an "s" or "es" to the end.
Instead, you need to make them plural by adding a descriptive phrase.
For example:
 There are many different styles of hair
 There are several varieties of grass
 The ancient people had a few types of styles of dress
Unchanging Nouns
Certain other nouns have the same plural form as singular form. A large
number of animals happen to follow this rule. For example, among others:
 Deer is "deer" whether singular or plural
 Fish is "fish" whether singular or plural
Other Irregular Plurals
In addition to non-count nouns and unchanging nouns, there are several
different types of irregular plurals which follow a pattern in
the English language.
 For words that end in "fe," you change the letter "f" to the letter "v"
and then add "s"
Knife = knives
Wife = wives
 For words that end in "f" you change the "f" to a "v" and add "es"
Half = halves
Loaf = loaves
 For words that end in "us," change the "us" to an "i"
Syllabus = syallabi
 For words that end in "o" add "es"
Tomato = tomatoes
Words that Change Form
Certain words do not add a letter to the end, but instead change the word
itself. These words simply need to be memorized. Some examples include:
 Man to men
 People to persons
 Tooth to teeth
 Goose to geese

Read more at http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/grammar-rules-


and-tips/irregular-plurals.html#WI5tTsuwwZCPj2Tb.99

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