Plural Nouns
In general, a noun is a person, place, or thing. A proper noun is a specialized name for a specific person, place, or thing. Proper nouns are always capitalized (e.g., “Crayola”). Nouns can be singular (i.e., only one) or plural (i.e., more than one).
To make a noun plural, add “s” (e.g., “dogs” is the plural form of “dog”), “es” (e.g., “boxes” is the plural form of “box”; add “es” to most nouns that end in “ch,” “s,” “sh,” “x,” and “z” to make them plural), and sometimes “ies” (e.g., “babies” is the plural form of “baby”; see the Notes section for exceptions to this grammar guideline ) to the end of the noun.
Irregular plural nouns , which include terms like “women,” “men,” “children,” “alumni,” “feet,” “mice,” “data,” and so forth, usually are not made plural by adding “s,” “es,” or “ies” to their endings. However, some irregular plural nouns have the same endings as regular plural nouns, such as “leaves,” “knives,” “analyses,” and “theses.”
Plural nouns are covered in the seventh edition APA Style manuals in the Publication Manual Sections 4.18 and 6.11 and the Concise Guide Sections 2.18 and 5.1
Plural surnames
Usually, a surname is made plural by adding an “s” to the end of it (e.g., “Ayubis” is the plural form of the surname “Ayubi”), but there are exceptions. Add “es” to most surnames that end in “ch,” “s,” “sh,” “x,” and “z” to make them plural: for example, “Burch” becomes “Burches,” “Jones” becomes “Joneses,” “Nash” becomes “Nashes,” “Knox” becomes “Knoxes,” and “Hernández” becomes “Hernándezes.”
However, if the “ch” at the end of a surname is pronounced with a hard “k,” like “Bach,” add “s” to the end of the surname to make it plural: “Bachs” (the same is true for common nouns ending in a hard “ch”: “stomachs”). Likewise, if the “x” at the end of a surname is silent, like “Rioux,” make the surname plural by adding an “s” to the end of the name: “Riouxs.”
Plural versus possessive
Although there are many unique ways to form plural nouns, please note that placing an apostrophe “s” or just an apostrophe after an “s” at the end of a noun is not one of them. “Tuesday’s” and “cat’s” are never the plurals of “Tuesday” and “cat”; the plurals are “Tuesdays” and “cats.” In general, an apostrophe “s” is used to form the possessive case of a noun .
Some nouns are spelled the same way in their singular form as they are in their plural form (e.g., “fish,” “moose,” “sheep”). Other nouns do not have a singular form and are always spelled in the plural form (e.g., “clothes,” “eyeglasses,” “scissors”). Conversely, some nouns do not have a plural form (e.g., “homework,” “milk,” “advice”).
Also, to make an abbreviation plural, add an “s” to the end of the abbreviation. For example, “HCP” is the abbreviation of “health care provider” and “HCPs” is its plural form.
The spelling guidelines on this page serve as general pluralization recommendations and are not comprehensive. They are not specific to APA Style and can be found in many dictionaries and other style guides. The APA Style Experts frequently consult the Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary for their spelling guidance .
Some common examples of nouns in their singular and plural forms are presented next.
| Alex | Alexes |
| attorney | attorneys |
| branch | branches |
| bus | buses |
| case | cases |
| Choi | Chois |
| class | classes |
| deer | deer |
| Dietrich | Dietrichs |
| digital object identifier (DOI) | DOIs |
| family | families |
| fox | foxes |
| Goodrich | Goodriches |
| half | halves |
| hypothesis | hypotheses |
| influencer | influencers |
| Lacroix | Lacroixs |
| life | lives |
| Lopez | Lopezes |
| monarch | monarchs |
| patient | patients |
| person | people |
| phenomenon | phenomena |
| screenshot | screenshots |
| Smith | Smiths |
| theory | theories |
| tomato | tomatoes |
| tooth | teeth |
| Walsh | Walshes |
| waltz | waltzes |
| Williams | Williamses |
| wish | wishes |
a “Attornies” is not the plural form of “attorney” because the letter that precedes the “y” is a vowel (i.e., an “e”) and not a consonant . In general, do not change nouns that end in “y” to “ies” to make them plural if the letter that precedes the “y” is a vowel; add an “s” to the end of the noun to make it plural.
b “Families” ends in “ies” because the letter that precedes the “y” in “family” is a consonant (i.e., an “l”). However, there are exceptions to this guidance. For example, “moneys” and “monies” are acceptable plural forms of “money.” When a term has more than one plural form, use your best judgment to determine which spelling is more appropriate to use in your work.
c The term “persons” is sometimes used in research settings to refer to groups of a specific number and in a legal context such as “missing persons” or “persons of interest.” Nevertheless, “people” is the preferred plural form of “person.”
d “Peoples” may be used to describe specific ethnic communities such as “Indigenous Peoples” or “First Peoples.”
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- Writing Tips
Grammar Tips: Plural Nouns
7-minute read
- 10th March 2023
If someone asked you what a noun is , you’d probably say it’s a person, place, or thing. Pretty simple, right? But what about plural nouns? For example, what is the plural form for cat ? If you said cats , you’re right! What about the plural for foot ? If you said foots , you’re incorrect. The correct form is feet. Simply adding an s at the end works for some nouns – but not all.
Plural nouns can be confusing for many English learners. Most students struggle with regular versus irregular plurals as well as apostrophe usage with some plurals. Nevertheless, understanding plural nouns is important for effective communication. After all, you’ll encounter them in many contexts!
If you find plural nouns confusing, read on! This blog will provide essential grammar tips for using plural nouns correctly in written and spoken English. We’ll discuss pluralization rules as well as irregular and tricky plural noun forms. By the time you finish reading, you’ll feel confident using plural nouns effectively in any context. And understanding plural nouns can go a long way to improving your English grammar .
What Are Plural Nouns?
Plural nouns refer to more than one person, place, or thing. You can easily recognize most of them by their s or es ending:
There’s not much to pluralizing such nouns. However, things get tricky with irregular plurals, as they have their own unique forms. For example:
English language learners often struggle to distinguish regular plurals from irregular ones . Fortunately, to form irregular plurals, you just need to know which letters to change.
How to Make Nouns Plural
As we stated above, you can make most singular nouns plural by adding s or es to the end of the word, depending on the word’s ending. Likewise, collective nouns (nouns that represent groups) can be made plural by adding s or es . For example:
Regular Plural Nouns
Nouns such as bottle, toy, bike , and chair are the easiest to pluralize, as you simply add s to the end. However, some nouns require the es ending:
Irregular Plurals
The rules for forming these plurals are different from the rules for forming regular plurals, and interestingly enough, there are multiple ways to form irregular plurals. Examples of nouns that have irregular plurals include mouse , man , goose , wolf , and wife . Their pluralization looks like this:
Pluralizing these is usually a matter of knowing the rules regarding certain noun endings. If a noun ends in f or fe , you change the ending to ve before adding an s to form the plural:
The only exceptions to this rule are roof, belief, chef, chief , and café , which take the s ending. For nouns such as goose, foot, and tooth , you change the double o into a double e to make the plural. So the plural forms are geese, feet, and teeth , respectively.
Booth and book are exceptions: their plurals use the s ending. Therefore, changing the double o to a double e is incorrect. And for nouns such as man and woman , you only need to change the a to e to make the plural.
How to Pluralize the Word Mouse
The word mouse has a unique plural form. You simply change mouse to mice :
However, you wouldn’t apply this rule to other words ending in ouse , such as house . You would simply add the s ending for those.
More Rules for Plural Nouns
The final letter of a noun often dictates the correct spelling of the pluralized form. But just as we saw with irregular plurals, you must be aware of special rules.
Singular Nouns Ending in Y
If a singular noun ends in y and the letter before the y is a consonant, you change the ending to ies to make the plural:
If a singular noun ends in y and the letter before the y is a vowel, just add an s to make the plural:
Singular Nouns Ending in O
If a singular noun ends in o , add es to make the plural:
However, you would not apply this rule to nouns such as piano , halo , and photo , which take the s ending for the plural.
Which Nouns Take the es Ending?
We know you’ve probably been asking this question from the beginning. The simple answer is that the es ending applies to nouns that end in s , ss , sh , ch , x , and z . For example:
Plural Noun Exceptions
While we’ve already mentioned a few exceptions, more exist. If a singular noun ends in us , the plural ending is i . For example:
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If a singular noun ends in is , the plural ending is es :
If a singular noun ends in on , the plural ending is a :
Believe it or not, some nouns don’t change at all when you pluralize them. Such nouns include sheep, fish, deer, series , aircraft , and species . They can be singular or plural:
Plural Nouns Versus Possessive Nouns
Possessive nouns demonstrate ownership, generally with the ’ s ending. Let’s say your cousin Bill owns a boat (lucky Bill!). You would indicate it like this:
Most students confuse plural nouns with possessive nouns because of the s endings. Understanding how to use apostrophes with plurals and possessives can be tricky. Plural nouns don’t have apostrophes unless they’re also possessive. Let’s consider the following examples:
Common Mistakes When Using Plural Nouns
1. Adding s or es endings to irregular nouns (e.g., goose , man , child , foot )
2. Adding an apostrophe to a plural noun when it’s not possessive
3. Adding s endings with nouns that actually need the es ending
4. Adding pluralizing endings to nouns that don’t change at all (e.g., deer , fish , series )
5. Adding the wrong ending to nouns that end in us , is , and on
Tips for Avoiding Errors in Writing and Speaking
1. Remember that plural nouns don’t use apostrophes unless they’re also possessive.
2. You cannot pluralize all nouns simply by using s or es endings.
3. Remember which letters need to be changed to form irregular plurals (which all have unique forms).
4. Know which nouns use the s and es endings.
5. Know which nouns are singular and plural in sentences.
Tips for Identifying Singular and Plural Nouns in Sentences
Looking at how much of something a noun is referring to can tell you whether that noun is singular or plural. It’s singular if it refers to one person or thing. It’s plural if it refers to more than one person or thing.
When reading a sentence, look for any nouns with s or es endings. If so, they’re likely plural. Furthermore, by understanding how much of something the noun refers to, you can recognize the tricky irregular plural nouns we’ve covered.
Incorrect Plural Nouns Lead to Different Meanings
It’s important to use the correct forms of plural and possessive nouns, as incorrect plurals can change the meaning of a sentence. Take these examples:
We encourage you to practice using plural nouns correctly. One way to do this is by trying a worksheet on singular and plural nouns . The more practice you have, the more comfortable you’ll be. For our visual learners, we recommend this video on how to form plural nouns . Finally, we encourage you to proofread your written work for correct plural noun usage.
If you’re currently working on an essay or a paper, you might be interested in letting our proofreading experts review your writing. They can check for grammar and punctuation errors and make sure the spelling is perfect. They’ll also ensure the correct use of plural nouns! Consider submitting a 500-word document for free today.
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- 1.1.1 Pronunciation
- 1.1.2.1 Derived terms
- 1.1.2.2 Related terms
- 1.1.2.3 Translations
- 1.2.1 Pronunciation
- 1.2.2.1 Translations
- 1.3 Anagrams
- 2.1 Etymology
- 2.2 Pronunciation
- 2.3.1 Hypernyms
- 2.3.2 Derived terms
- 2.3.3 Descendants
- 3.1 Etymology
- 3.2.1 Derived terms
- 3.3 References
- 4.1 Etymology
- 4.2.1 Derived terms
- 4.3 References
Etymology 1
Since late 16th century, borrowed from Middle French essay , essai ( “ essay ” ) , meaning coined by Montaigne in the same time, from the same words in earlier meanings 'experiment; assay; attempt', from Old French essay , essai , assay , assai , from Latin exagium ( “ weight; weighing, testing on the balance ” ) , from exigere + -ium .
Pronunciation
- ( Received Pronunciation , General American ) IPA ( key ) : /ˈɛs.eɪ/ (1), IPA ( key ) : /ɛˈseɪ/ (2-4)
| Audio ( ): | ( ) |
- Rhymes: -ɛseɪ
- Homophone : ese
essay ( plural essays )
- 2013 January, Katie L. Burke, “Ecological Dependency”, in American Scientist [1] , volume 101 , number 1, archived from the original on 9 February 2017 , page 64 : In his first book since the 2008 essay collection Natural Acts: A Sidelong View of Science and Nature , David Quammen looks at the natural world from yet another angle: the search for the next human pandemic, what epidemiologists call “the next big one.”
- ( obsolete ) A test , experiment ; an assay .
- 1861 , E. J. Guerin, Mountain Charley , page 16 : My first essay at getting employment was fruitless; but after no small number of mortifying rebuffs from various parties to whom I applied for assistance, I was at last rewarded by a comparative success.
- 1988 , James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom , Oxford, published 2003 , page 455 : This was Lee's first essay in the kind of offensive-defensive strategy that was to become his hallmark.
- ( philately , finance ) A proposed design for a postage stamp or a banknote .
Derived terms
- argumentative essay
- automated essay scoring
- eight-legged essay
- essay question
- photo-essay
- photo essay
Related terms
Translations.
| (maqāla), (baḥṯ) (šaradrutʻyun), (ēsse) (rosona) , , , (inşa) (in high school) (tvor), (esé), (nárys) (probondho) (esé), (sǎčinénie), (óčerk) (cacicakum:), (catam:ngai) (zok man ) ／ (záwén), ／ (lùnwén), (zuòwén) , , , , ; , (in school) , , (ese), (txzuleba) , (dokímio), (pragmateía), (ékthesi), (sýngrama) (meletḗmata) (masá) (nibandh), (mazmūn) , , (essei), (ずいひつ, zuihitsu) (ésse), (şyğarma), (oçerk), (maqala) (ʼatthaʼbɑt) (supil), (esei) (esse), (dilbayan), (ocerk) , (esej) , , (upanyāsaṁ) (nibandha) (maqāla) (maqâle), (jostâr) , , , (sočinénije), (essɛ́), (óčerk) , class , (maqola), (navištor), (inšo) (inşa) (vyāsamu) (kwaam-riiang) , (esé), (eséj), (tvir), (nárys) (maqālā), (inśāiyā), (mazmūn) (maqale) , , , , (esey) |
Etymology 2
From Middle French essayer , essaier , from Old French essaiier , essayer , essaier , assaiier , assayer , assaier , from essay , essai , assay , assai ( “ attempt; assay; experiment ” ) as above.
- ( UK , US ) IPA ( key ) : /ɛˈseɪ/
essay ( third-person singular simple present essays , present participle essaying , simple past and past participle essayed )
- 1900 , Charles W. Chesnutt , chapter II, in The House Behind the Cedars : He retraced his steps to the front gate, which he essayed to open.
- 1950 April, R. A. H. Weight, “They Passed by My Window”, in Railway Magazine , page 260 : The train took the slow to branch spur at the north end at a not much slower speed, then essayed the short sharply curved climb with a terrific roar, smoke rising straight from the chimney to a height of some 60 ft., the long train twisting and curling behind.
- 2023 October 12, HarryBlank, “Fire in the Hole”, in SCP Foundation [2] , archived from the original on 22 May 2024 : There was the counter, there was the bulletin board, above her the dull sound of music being played over headphones. Something jaunty. She liked the beat. Then the sound of a chair being pushed back, and someone humming as they walked away from her, and she darted up to plunge the bayonet into their kidneys from behind. A followup stroke through the back of the neck, and the second soldier was down. She didn't even stop to see if it was a man or a woman, young or old. There were further hurdles to essay before she reached her destination.
- ( intransitive ) To move forth, as into battle.
- Sayes , Seays , Sesay , eyass
Borrowed from English essay ( “ essay ” ) , from Middle French essai ( “ essay; attempt, assay ” ) , from Old French essai , from Latin exagium (whence the neuter gender).
- IPA ( key ) : /ɛˈseː/ , /ˈɛ.seː/
- Hyphenation: es‧say
- Rhymes: -eː
essay n ( plural essays , diminutive essaytje n )
Descendants
Norwegian bokmål.
Borrowed from English essay , from Middle French essai .
essay n ( definite singular essayet , indefinite plural essay or essayer , definite plural essaya or essayene )
- an essay , a written composition of moderate length exploring a particular subject
- essaysamling
- “essay” in The Bokmål Dictionary .
Norwegian Nynorsk
essay n ( definite singular essayet , indefinite plural essay , definite plural essaya )
- “essay” in The Nynorsk Dictionary .
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₂eǵ-
- English terms borrowed from Middle French
- English terms derived from Middle French
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- English terms derived from Latin
- English 2-syllable words
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- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɛseɪ
- Rhymes:English/ɛseɪ/2 syllables
- English terms with homophones
- English lemmas
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- English heteronyms
- en:Literature
- Dutch terms borrowed from English
- Dutch terms derived from English
- Dutch terms derived from Middle French
- Dutch terms derived from Old French
- Dutch terms derived from Latin
- Dutch terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Dutch/eː
- Dutch lemmas
- Dutch nouns
- Dutch nouns with plural in -s
- Dutch neuter nouns
- Norwegian Bokmål terms borrowed from English
- Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from English
- Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from Middle French
- Norwegian Bokmål lemmas
- Norwegian Bokmål nouns
- Norwegian Bokmål neuter nouns
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms borrowed from English
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- What Is a Plural Noun? | Examples, Rules & Exceptions
What Is a Plural Noun? | Examples, Rules & Exceptions
Published on April 14, 2023 by Jack Caulfield .
A plural noun is a noun that refers to more than one of something (as opposed to a singular noun, which refers to just one). Like singular nouns, they may refer to people, animals, things, concepts, or places.
Plural nouns are normally formed by adding -s to the singular noun (e.g., the singular “cat” becomes the plural “cats”). With certain nouns, you need to add or change some of the other letters. The rules are explained in the table below.
There are also some irregular plurals that don’t end in -s at all. The following section explains them.
| Word ending | How to form the plural | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| — | Add to form most plurals that don’t fall into the categories below and to form the plurals of names. | dog: dog ; house: house ; editor: editor ; concept: concept ; Monday: Monday ; Kennedy: Kennedy |
| ch, sh, ss, x | Add . | church: church ; wish: wish ; grass: grass ; tax: tax |
| f, fe | Often pluralized normally, but sometimes, the or is replaced with . | belief: belief ; staff: staff ; safe: safe ; wolf: wol ; life: li |
| i | Usually, pluralize normally. But is occasionally used instead. | bikini: bikini ; chili: chili |
| o | When preceded by another vowel, pluralize normally. When preceded by a consonant, usually add . But some words are still pluralized normally. | cuckoo: cuckoo ; tomato: tomato ; hero: hero ; piano: piano ; photo: photo |
| s, z | Add . Sometimes, the consonant is doubled (more often with ). | gas: gas ; waltz: waltz ; canvas: canvas ; quiz: quiz |
| uy, y | Replace with , but only if it’s preceded by a consonant or by . If preceded by a different vowel, pluralize normally. | city: cit ; baby: bab ; spy: sp ; soliloquy: soliloqu ; day: day ; ploy: ploy |
Table of contents
Irregular plurals, plurals of compound nouns, common mistake: adding an apostrophe, plural nouns with singular functions, nouns that are always plural, uncountable nouns, worksheet: plural nouns, other interesting language articles, frequently asked questions about plural nouns.
Some plural nouns don’t end in -s at all. These are generally called irregular plurals . They are typically either leftovers from older ways of forming plurals in English or foreign words that were imported into English.
Only a small proportion of nouns have irregular plurals, but some of them are very commonly used words, so it’s important to be aware of them. There are a few main groups of irregular plurals, which are explained in the table below.
If you’re unsure about how to pluralize a word that isn’t mentioned in the table, consult a dictionary.
| A small number of nouns have retained their Old English plural form, using and sometimes altering other parts of the word. | brother: [only used in certain religious or organizational contexts; otherwise “brothers”]; child: ; ox: |
| Some nouns become plural by simply in the middle of the word. | foot: ; goose: ; man: ; mouse: ; tooth: ; woman: |
| often (but not always) retain their original plural forms. | analysis: ; appendix: ; formula: ; fungus: ; millennium: ; phenomenon: |
| such as French, Italian, and Hebrew occasionally retain their original plural forms, although it’s usually acceptable to use a normal English plural instead. | bureau: or ; cherub: or ; timpano: |
| Some nouns—often the names of animals—have . | ; ; ; ; |
| There are a few that don’t fit any of the categories above. | die: ; penny: ; person: |
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Compound nouns are nouns that are made up of multiple words. They may be open compounds (written with spaces; e.g., “head of state”); hyphenated compounds (written with hyphens ; e.g., “brother-in-law”); or closed compounds (no spaces or hyphens; e.g., “household”).
To create the plural of a compound noun, you often pluralize only the final word (e.g., “high schools “), but there are also cases where you pluralize an earlier word (e.g., “ heads of state”) or occasionally multiple words (e.g., “ men-children “).
To determine how to pluralize a compound noun, consider which word is the “head” of the noun—the thing being represented, which the other words modify. For example, “high schools” refers to multiple schools, not multiple “highs.”
When it’s still not obvious, consult a dictionary to find the correct plural.
A common mistake when forming plural nouns is to add an apostrophe before the “s.” In English, apostrophes are used to form possessive nouns and contractions , not plurals. You also don’t need an apostrophe to pluralize a number, acronym , or proper noun .
- Maya loves pop music from the 1980’s .
- Maya loves pop music from the 1980s .
- SUV’s are bad for the environment and for road safety.
- SUVs are bad for the environment and for road safety.
- The Jones’s have gone on vacation.
- The Joneses have gone on vacation.
There’s one context in which it’s standard to use an apostrophe to form the plural. This is when you’re pluralizing a single letter. The apostrophe is generally added in such cases to avoid confusion with other words (e.g., “a’s” vs. “as”).
Some nouns are said to be plural in form but singular in construction . These words originate as plural forms but are now primarily used in a singular sense.
This is most common in the names of fields of study: for example, “physics,” “mathematics,” “ethics,” and “aesthetics.” Other examples include “news,” “measles,” and “billiards.”
“Singular in construction” means that these words have singular subject-verb agreement . For example, you’d write “the news is …” rather than “the news are …”
Similarly, some nouns are always plural and have no singular form—typically because they refer to something that consists of a pair of something. For example, “scissors” consist of two blades, “pants” of two legs, and “glasses” of two lenses.
Even a single pair of scissors, for example, is referred to in the plural (e.g., “the scissors are over there”). These nouns are sometimes referred to by the Latin term plurale tantum (“plural only”).
Because it’s wrong to use an indefinite article with a plural noun (e.g., “a scissors”) and no singular form exists (e.g., there’s no such thing as “a scissor”), the phrase “a pair of” is used before the noun when an indefinite article is needed. “Pairs of” is also used to specify quantities of these nouns (e.g., “three pairs of pants,” not “three pants”).
Your new spectacles suit you very nicely.
How many pairs of shorts do you own?
Uncountable nouns (also called mass nouns or noncount nouns ) are nouns that don’t have a plural form and can’t be preceded by an indefinite article (“a” or “an”). They often refer to abstract ideas or processes (e.g., “research”), physical substances (e.g., “water”), or areas of study (e.g., “geography”).
Uncountable nouns are singular, not plural, in terms of subject-verb agreement, and the words themselves cannot be pluralized. An alternative phrasing or word choice must be used instead:
- Several researches have been performed on this subject.
- A substantial amount of research has been performed on this subject.
- Several studies have been performed on this subject.
- Several pieces of research have been performed on this subject.
If you need to refer to a specific quantity of an uncountable noun, you use a unit of measurement to do so, since the noun itself doesn’t represent a specific quantity:
- There are 70 waters in the glass.
- There are 70 ml of water in the glass.
Test your understanding of how plural nouns are formed with the worksheet below. In each sentence, add the correct plural form of the noun in brackets. Some of the plurals are regular, some irregular.
- Practice questions
- Answers and explanations
- I love visiting [church] _______ on my [travel] _______.
- The atmosphere is made up of several [gas] _______.
- I bought two [loaf] _______ of bread and some [tomato] _______ at the market.
- Many [species] _______ of [fish] _______ live in [river] _______.
- A lot of [game of chance] __________________ involve rolling [die] _______.
- The singular noun “church” ends in “-ch,” so “-es” is added to form the plural noun. “Travels” is pluralized in the normal way, by adding “-s.”
- “Gas” ends in “-s,” so “-es” is added to pluralize it.
- As with some other nouns ending in “-f,” the plural form of “loaf” ends in “-ves.” “Tomato” follows the rule for most nouns ending in “-o” by adding “-es.”
- Both “species” and “fish” have the same form in the singular and the plural, so nothing is added to them. “River” is pluralized normally.
- The open compound noun “game of chance” is pluralized by adding “-s” to the head of the phrase, “game.” “Chance” is not pluralized. The word “die” has the irregular plural “dice.”
If you want to know more about nouns , pronouns , verbs , and other parts of speech , make sure to check out some of our other language articles with explanations and examples.
Nouns & pronouns
- Common nouns
- Proper nouns
- Collective nouns
- Personal pronouns
- Uncountable and countable nouns
- Verb tenses
- Phrasal verbs
- Sentence structure
- Active vs passive voice
- Subject-verb agreement
- Interjections
- Determiners
- Prepositions
The plural of “moose” is the same as the singular: “moose.” It’s one of a group of plural nouns in English that are identical to the corresponding singular nouns. So it’s wrong to write “mooses.”
For example, you might write “There are several moose in the forest.”
The correct plural of “octopus” is “octopuses.”
People often write “octopi” instead because they assume that the plural noun is formed in the same way as Latin loanwords such as “fungus/fungi.” But “octopus” actually comes from Greek, where its original plural is “octopodes.” In English, it instead has the regular plural form “octopuses.”
For example, you might write “There are four octopuses in the aquarium.”
Normally, the plural of “fish” is the same as the singular: “fish.” It’s one of a group of irregular plural nouns in English that are identical to the corresponding singular nouns (e.g., “moose,” “sheep”). For example, you might write “The fish scatter as the shark approaches.”
If you’re referring to several species of fish, though, the regular plural “fishes” is often used instead. For example, “The aquarium contains many different fishes , including trout and carp.”
The plural of “crisis” is “crises.” It’s a loanword from Latin and retains its original Latin plural noun form (similar to “analyses” and “bases”). It’s wrong to write “crisises.”
For example, you might write “Several crises destabilized the regime.”
Sources in this article
We strongly encourage students to use sources in their work. You can cite our article (APA Style) or take a deep dive into the articles below.
Caulfield, J. (2023, April 14). What Is a Plural Noun? | Examples, Rules & Exceptions. Scribbr. Retrieved June 9, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/nouns-and-pronouns/plural-noun/
Aarts, B. (2011). Oxford modern English grammar . Oxford University Press.
Butterfield, J. (Ed.). (2015). Fowler’s dictionary of modern English usage (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.
Garner, B. A. (2022). Garner’s modern English usage (5th ed.). Oxford University Press.
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A noun is a word that represents a person, place, thing, or idea. This is true for both singular and plural nouns. A singular noun is a noun representing a single (just one) person, place, thing, or idea. For example, the nouns drink, berry, and child are singular nouns. Often, the determiners a or an are used with singular nouns:
a "Attornies" is not the plural form of "attorney" because the letter that precedes the "y" is a vowel (i.e., an "e") and not a consonant.In general, do not change nouns that end in "y" to "ies" to make them plural if the letter that precedes the "y" is a vowel; add an "s" to the end of the noun to make it plural.
essay in British English. noun (ˈɛseɪ , for senses 2, 3 also ɛˈseɪ ) 1. a short literary composition dealing with a subject analytically or speculatively. 2. an attempt or endeavour; effort. 3. a test or trial.
1. Adding s or es endings to irregular nouns (e.g., goose, man, child, foot) 2. Adding an apostrophe to a plural noun when it's not possessive. 3. Adding s endings with nouns that actually need the es ending. 4. Adding pluralizing endings to nouns that don't change at all (e.g., deer, fish, series) 5.
essay (plural essays) (authorship) A written composition of moderate length, exploring a particular issue or subject. 2013 January, Katie L. Burke, "Ecological Dependency", in American Scientist [1], volume 101, number 1, archived from the original on 9 February 2017, page 64: In his first book since the 2008 essay collection Natural ...
A plural noun is a noun that refers to more than one of something (as opposed to a singular noun, which refers to just one). Like singular nouns, they may refer to people, animals, things, concepts, or places. Plural nouns are normally formed by adding -s to the singular noun (e.g., the singular "cat" becomes the plural "cats").
The plural form of essay is essays. Find more words! Another word for Opposite of Meaning of Rhymes with Sentences with Find word forms Translate from English Translate to English Words With Friends Scrabble Crossword / Codeword Words starting with Words ending with Words containing exactly Words containing letters Pronounce Find conjugations ...
essay (by somebody) a collection of essays by prominent African American writers; essay on somebody/something The book contains a number of interesting essays on women in society. essay about somebody/something Pierce contributes a long essay about John F. Kennedy. in an essay I discuss this in a forthcoming essay.
You might also know that essay can be a verb, with its most common meaning being "to try, attempt, or undertake":. A very close approach to the evil of Idi Amin is essayed in Giles Foden's 1998 novel The Last King of Scotland, whose narrator is the Scottish personal physician to the dictator. — Norman Rush, The New York Review of Books, 7 Oct. 2004 The principal accidents she remembers ...
ESSAY definition: 1. a short piece of writing on a particular subject, especially one done by students as part of the…. Learn more.
1 essay / ˈ ɛˌseɪ/ noun. plural essays. Britannica Dictionary definition of ESSAY. [count] : a short piece of writing that tells a person's thoughts or opinions about a subject. Your assignment is to write a 500-word essay on one of Shakespeare's sonnets. The book is a collection of his previously unpublished essays on/about a variety of ...
The meaning of ESSAY is an analytic or interpretative literary composition usually dealing with its subject from a limited or personal point of view. How to use essay in a sentence. Synonym Discussion of Essay.
Regular. The plural form of most nouns is formed by adding s to the end of the word.. There are twelve boys and thirteen girls in that class.. When a word ends in sh, ch, s, z, or x, the plural is usually formed by adding es to the end.. We need three batches of cookies for three different classes at school.. When a word ends in [consonant] + y, the plural is formed by changing the y to ie and ...
Regular Plurals. You probably don't need our help with these. For most words, simply add an "s" to the end of the singular form to make a plural. For instance: Singular: paper / Plural: papers. Singular: cat / Plural: cats. Singular: tree / Plural: trees. Easy enough.
Plural essays. Writing that looks at an issue or subject. Each student had to write an essay on his favorite author. Related words [change] essayist; Verb [change] Plain form essay. Third-person singular essays. Past tense essayed. Past participle essayed. Present participle essaying (transitive) To try. (intransitive) To move forth, as into ...
Now, let's learn the reasons why "Essays" is the right spelling. Firstly, "Essays" is the plural form of the singular noun "Essay." When we want to refer to more than one essay, we simply add an "s" to the end of the word. This is the conventional English rule for forming plurals of nouns, and it applies to "Essay" as well.
The Chicago Manual of Style, one of the more widely used style guides in the United States, says:. Capital letters used as words, numerals used as nouns, and abbreviations usually form the plural by adding s.To aid comprehension, lowercase letters form the plural with an apostrophe and an s.. So: Dikkens with two Ks, but mind your p's and q's. (And always CDs, unless you're talking about ...
Pronunciation: ·The plural form of essay; more than one (kind of) essay.··The third-person singular form of essay.
essay in American English. (noun for 1, 2 ˈesei, for 3-5 ˈesei, eˈsei, verb eˈsei) noun. 1. a short literary composition on a particular theme or subject, usually in prose and generally analytic, speculative, or interpretative. 2. anything resembling such a composition. a picture essay.
Essay definition: a short literary composition on a particular theme or subject, usually in prose and generally analytic, speculative, or interpretative.. See examples of ESSAY used in a sentence.
Quirk et al. observe that sometimes the singular is needed if the plural would be ambiguous (768): We asked the children to name their favorite animal. If they were asked to name their favorite animals, the children might not be sure if they should name more than one. To make clear that each child, rather than the group as a whole, should give ...
Definitions John Locke's 1690 An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. The word essay derives from the French infinitive essayer, "to try" or "to attempt".In English essay first meant "a trial" or "an attempt", and this is still an alternative meaning. The Frenchman Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) was the first author to describe his work as essays; he used the term to characterize these as ...
1. Be considerate with humor. Showing off your sense of humor lets your personality show through your words and can make reading the essay more entertaining. Try including a few sentences that you think will bring a smile to the reader's face, or use adjectives to insert some colorful comedy. 2.
Tips for writing a successful MBA statement of purpose. As you write your SOP, here are a few things to keep in mind that can help your writing stand out: Clearly state your goals: Openly communicate your short-term and long-term goals in earning your MBA. Clear statements around this crucial element of your SOP can help you avoid any potential ...