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Rules in Forming Singular and Plural Noun: Rule 1

There are many rules for forming singular and plural nouns in English. Some general rules include adding -s or -es, but there are exceptions. Irregular nouns do not follow set rules and must be memorized. Nouns can change vowels or suffixes to pluralize. Some nouns have only singular or plural forms. In all, English spelling rules for pluralization can be complex, so care must be taken with formation of singular and plural nouns.

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174 views8 pages

Rules in Forming Singular and Plural Noun: Rule 1

There are many rules for forming singular and plural nouns in English. Some general rules include adding -s or -es, but there are exceptions. Irregular nouns do not follow set rules and must be memorized. Nouns can change vowels or suffixes to pluralize. Some nouns have only singular or plural forms. In all, English spelling rules for pluralization can be complex, so care must be taken with formation of singular and plural nouns.

Uploaded by

disha
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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RULES IN FORMING SINGULAR AND PLURAL NOUN

Introduction

There are many rules in forming singular and plural nouns.

The general rule in English in forming singular and plurals is to add an -s.

Examples:

toy - toys

rat - rats

Rule 1

To make the plurals of nouns ending in -s, -x, -sh, -ch, -ss or -z, add an -es.

Examples:

Bus - buses

Box - boxes

Bush - bush

Church - churches

glass - glasses
buzz - buzzes

Rules 2

Some nouns ending in -s or -z are made plural by the -s or -z being doubled prior to adding the -es.

Example:

quiz – quizzes

Fez – Fezzes

Gas – Gasses {Note that gases is also an acceptable and more commonly used}

Rules 3

To make plurals from nouns ending in a -y where the letter before the -y is a consonant, change the y to
an i and add an -es.

Examples:

city - cities

country – countries

If the noun ending in a -y is preceded by a vowel, its plural is formed by adding an -s.

Examples:
boy - boys

tray - trays

Rules 4

To make plurals of nouns ending in the letter -f or -fe, change -f and -fe to -v and add an -es.

Example:

wife - wives

There are a few exceptions to this rule. The nouns ending in an -ff take an -s in the plural form.

Example:

cliff - cliffs

Rules 5

The nouns ending in –ief, -oof, eef, ff, or –rf generally take –s to form plurals.

Examples:

belief – beliefs

dwarf – dwarfs

gulf – gulfs
Rules 6

To make plurals of nouns ending in the letter -o, add -es. If -o is preceded by a vowel, just add -s.

Examples:

hero - heroes

foe - foes

If -o is preceded by a vowel, then just add -s.

Examples:

radio - radios

photo – photos

Rules 7

Some nouns remain the same when pluralized.

Examples:

fish – fish

deer – deer

Rules 8
Irregular nouns follow no specific rules, so it’s best to memorize these or look them up in a good
dictionary.

Examples:

man – men

mouse – mice

Rules 9

Some irregular plurals are formed by changing the vowels.

Examples:

foot – feet

goose – geese

Rules 10

Some nouns ending in -us can be made plural in two ways: by changing the -us to -i and by adding an -
es.

Examples:

cactus - cacti or cactuses

radius - radii or radiuses


stimulus - stimuli or stimuluses

terminus - termini or terminuses

Rules 11

Certain words that end in –us and have come to the English language from Latin become plural by
replacing –us with –i.

Examples:

alumnus – alumni

stimulus – stimuli

Rules 12

Words that end in –us and do not have a Latin origin don’t come under this rule.

Examples:

status – statuses

octopus – octopuses

Rules 13

If the singular noun ends in –is, the plural ends in –es.

Example:

axis – axes
Rules 14

If the singular noun ends in –on, the plural ends in –a.

Example:

phenomenon – phenomena

Rules 15

Some nouns have no plural form.

Examples:

alphabet

furniture

money

Fruit

Rules 16

Some nouns have no singular form.

Examples:

alms
spectacles

trousers

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