From Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium
The normal way to form a plural noun in
English is to add -
s or, after
s,
z,
ch and
sh, -
es. Words ending in -
ŷ replace it with -
íes. But there are also many
irregular nouns, some with English roots, others with plural forms from Latin, Greek, French, Italian and Hebrew. (The accents, which are not part of the language, are included to show stress and pronunciation: see
English spellings for a table and
English phonemes for the
IPA. Words in
italics suggest meaning, and an equals sign is placed between
homophones.)
Nouns in -o which always have -ôes in the plural are included in the table below; others are regular, having -ôs, while búffalo, càrgo, hâlo, mosquìto (-skì-), mótto, nô, tornâdo, volcâno and zêro can be seen with both -ôs and -ôes.
Nouns in -us which always have -î in the plural are listed below, while cáctus, fôcus, fúngus, hippopótamus, óctopus and sýllabus can have both -î and -uses.
Nouns in -sís (-ssíss), análysis, áxis, bâsis, crîsis, diagnôsis, émphasis, hypóthesis, neurôsis, oâsis, parénthesis, synópsis, sýnthesis and thêsis have their plurals in -sês (-ssêez): análysês (*ənáləssêez) etc.
Nouns in -ndum, addéndum, referéndum and memorándum, change to -nda: addénda, referénda, memoránda.
Apart from vŏrtex, plural vŏrtices (-tíssêez), nouns in -ex and -íx (âpex, appéndix, cërvix, índex and mâtrix) have plurals in both -icês and -xes (-xíz).
The following have the same form in the singular and plural: bárracks, cód, cróssroads, dêer animal (= dêar loved, expensive), dîce, físh (dîe as the singular of dîce and físhes as the plural of físh are archaic), gállows, hálibut, héadquarters, mêans, óffspring, përch fish (përch position has përches), pîke, sálmon (*sámmon), sêries, shêep, spêcies (-shíz), tròut and tûna.
In the table, prefixed nouns are not included if their plural endings are the same as that of the root noun: for example the plural of snôwmán is snôwmén.
Table of irregular nouns
| Singular
| Plural
|
| bactêrium
| bactêria
|
| chîld
| chíldren
|
| goôse
| gêese
|
| lôaf
| lôaves
|
| nûclêus
| nûclêî
|
| phenómenon
| phenómena
|
| vŏrtex
| vŏrticês (-íssêez)
|
| Comprehensive list
|
| Singular
| Plural
|
| alùmnus
| alùmnî
|
| BrE amoêba, AmE amêba
| BrE amoêbaê, amoêbas, AmE amêbê, amêbas
|
| anténna
| BrE anténnaê, AmE anténnê, both anténnas
|
| autómaton
| autómata, autómatons
|
| bacíllus
| bacíllî
|
| bactêrium
| bactêria
|
| bâsis
| bâsês (*bâyssêez, cf. bâses base *bâyssíz = bâsses music)
|
| bròther church
| bréthren (-dh-; bròther family is regular: bròthers)
|
| cālf (*cāf)
| cālves (*cāvz)
|
| chérub
| chérubìm
|
| chîld
| chíldren
|
| cŏrpus
| cŏrpora
|
| critêrion
| critêria (both -î-)
|
| currículum
| currícula, currículums
|
| dâtum, dàtum
| BrE dâta, AmE dáta
|
| díctum
| dícta, díctums
|
| écho
| échôes (both ék-)
|
| élf
| élves
|
| embàrgo
| embàrgôes
|
| errātum
| errāta
|
| fôcus
| fôcuses, fôcî (*fôassî)
|
| foòt
| fêet
|
| fŏrmula
| fŏrmulaê, fŏrmulas
|
| gêniê (= Jêanniê)
| gênìî (both j-; cf. gêniuses, plural of gênius)
|
| génus
| génera (both j-)
|
| gladiôlus
| gladiôlî
|
| goôse
| gêese
|
| hālf (*hāf)
| hālves (*hāvz, cf. háves, plural of háve)
|
| hêro
| hêrôes
|
| hoôf
| hoôves[1]
|
| kibbùtz
| kibbùtzìm
|
| knîfe
| knîves (both n-)
|
| làrva
| BrE làrvaê, AmE làrvê
|
| lêaf
| lêaves (= homograph leaving)
|
| librétto
| libréttì
|
| liêd song (*lêet)
| liêder (= lêader lead)
|
| lîfe
| lîves (cf. líves dwells)
|
| lòuse
| lîce
|
| lôcus
| lôcî (*lôassî)
|
| lôaf
| lôaves
|
| mán
| mén
|
| mêdium
| mêdia, mêdiums
|
| mòuse
| mîce
|
| nébula
| nébulaê, nébulas
|
| nûclêus
| nûclêî
|
| ôvum
| ôva eggs (= BrE ôver above, finished)
|
| óx
| óxen
|
| pénny
| pénce, pénnies[2]
|
| përson
| pêople (pêp-), përsons (the latter is more formal)
|
| phenómenon
| phenómena
|
| pláteau (*plátô)
| pláteaux (*plátôz; in both, the second syllable is stressed in AmE)
|
| potâto
| potâtoes
|
| qùantum
| qùanta
|
| râdius
| râdìî
|
| scàrf
| scàrves
|
| schêma
| schemàta (both sk-)
|
| sélf
| sélves
|
| séraph
| séraphìm
|
| shêaf
| shêaves
|
| stímulus
| stímulî
|
| BrE stràtum, AmE strâtum
| BrE stràta, AmE strâta (= BrE strâighter)
|
| sympôsium
| sympôsia
|
| tábleau (*táblô)
| tábleaux (*táblôz)
|
| témpo
| témpì
|
| tërminus
| tërminî
|
| thìêf
| thìêves
|
| thêsis
| thêsês (-sêez)
|
| BrE tomàto, AmE tomâto
| BrE tomàtoes, AmE tomâtoes
|
| toôth
| têeth
|
| torpêdo
| torpêdoes
|
| vërtebra
| vërtebraê
|
| vêto
| vêtôes
|
| vïrtuôso
| vïrtuôsì (both -ûôss-)
|
| vŏrtex
| vŏrticês (-íssêez)
|
| wîfe
| wîves
|
| wolf (= Woòlf person)
| wolves (*wùlvz)
|
| woman (wù-)
| women (wí-)
|
Notes
- ↑ roôfs can have a similar pronunciation, but not spelling; yoûth also is unvoiced in the singular but voiced in the plural.
- ↑ pénnies is restricted to coins.
|
