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Singular and Plural Nouns #76 To form the plural of most nouns, add -s: ski guru miser banana menu encyclopedia breakfast skis gurus misers bananas menus encyclopedias breakfasts To form the plural of a noun ending in –y preceded by vowel, add only an –s. key ploy birthday jersey keys ploys birthdays jerseys To form the plural of a noun ending in –y preceded by a consonant, change the –y to –i and add –es. country spy dictionary countries spies dictionaries EXCEPTION: To form the plural of proper nouns ending in –y preceded by a consonant, just add an –s. the Kennedys the Bradys the Cosbys two hot Julys To form the plural of a noun ending in –s, -sh, -ch, -z, or x, add –es: fax faxes bonus bonuses atlas atlases leash leashes watch watches tax taxes Double the final consonant of one-syllable words ending in a single –s or –z preceded by vowel: bus buses or busses quiz quizzes Proper nouns ending in –s, -sh, ch, -z, and –x also form their Plurals with an –es: the Joneses the Harrises the Willises two Gladyses in my class the Hirsches the Martinezes Don’t add –es to a proper noun ending in –s if the additional inflection creates a false pronunciation: two Mercedes, not two Mercedeses. Dictionaries may differ in their spelling of words ending in –o: tornado tornadoes, tornados memento mementos, mementoes halo halos, haloes mosquito mosquitoes To form the plural of some Nouns ending in –o preceded by a consonant, add –s: taco tacos photo photos ghetto ghettos embryo embryos piano pianos To form the plural of a noun ending in–o preceded by a vowel, add an –s: stereo stereos rodeo rodeos shampoo shampoos radio radios To form the plural of some nouns ending in –o preceded by a consonant, add –es: potato potatoes veto vetoes To form the plural of some words ending in –f or –fe, add –s only; to others, change the –f to –v and add –es: belief beliefs roof roofs sheriff sheriffs tiff tiffs half halves leaf leaves life lives shelf shelves dwarf dwarfs or dwarves scarf scarfs or scarves Some nouns form their plurals in irregular ways: ox oxen child children man men woman women die dice mouse mice To form the plural of some compound nouns, change the last element of the compound: a three-year-old three-year-olds handful handfuls cease-fire cease-fires madman madmen With other compound nouns, change the form of the word that’s clearly the most important: statute of limitations statutes of limitations mother-in-law mothers-in-law rule of thumb rules of thumb passer-by passers-by runner-up runners-up bill of sale bills of sale poet laureate poets laureates court martial court martials attorney general attorneys general or attorney generals Nouns derived from foreign words change their spelling altogether: alumnus alumna crisis analysis nucleus parenthesis medium criterion basis memorandum syllabus bacterium opus alumni alumnae crises analyses nuclei parentheses media criteria bases memorandums or memoranda syllabuses or syllabi bacteria opera Some nouns don’t change their form: species corps salmon series status hiatus salmon deer sheep means Chinese To form the plural of symbols, letters, and words, add an apostrophe and –s: four S’s in the word Mississippi no if’s, and’s, or but’s
