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English Irregular Plural Nouns
Contents:
• Why is English so hard?
• Regular Plural Forms
• Irregular Plurals Lists:
o Nouns that end in -f or -fe
o Nouns thatchange vowel sounds, and Old English forms
o Nouns that end in -o
o Nouns that do not change
o Foreign plural forms
• References
Other Grammar Links
Lists adaptedand compiled by:
Joanna Crump-- gs08jlc@panther.gsu.edu
Graduate student, Department of Applied Linguistics/ESL
Georgia State University
January 27, 1997

Regular Plural Forms
The majority ofEnglish count nouns are regular and predictable in the spelling of the plural form. Add -s to the end of the singular form or -es to those singulars that end in a sibilant sound (/s/, /z/, /ts/,/dz/).
 
|-s |-es |
|boy |boys |horse |horses |
|bed |beds |edge |edges |
|book |books |patch |patches |
|pencil|pencils |prize |prizes |
|day |days |box |boxes |

However, if the singular ends with -y and the -y is not preceded by a vowel (or is not a proper name) the -y changes to-i and the plural is then -es.
 
|-y becomes -ies |-y becomes -ys |
|spy |spies |osprey |ospreys |
|poppy |poppies |bay |bays|
|penny |pennies |Germany |Germanys |

Outside of this pattern, however, are several nouns which are irregular in their spelling. Below is a semi-comprehensive list compiledfrom various sources.

Irregular Plural Nouns - List One
Some nouns that end in -f or -fe are changed to -ves in the plural:
 
|-f or -fe becomes -ves |
|calf |calves ||elf |elves |
|half |halves |
|hoof |hooves |
|knife |knives |
|leaf |leaves |
|life |lives...