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Irregular Plurals

The document discusses rules for forming plurals of nouns in English. It explains that most nouns form their plural by adding -s, but there are exceptions for nouns ending in certain letters like s, x, z, ch, sh which add -es instead. Nouns ending in y or f sometimes undergo other changes like replacing the y with ie or changing f to v before adding -s or -es. There are also irregular plurals not following these rules like mouse/mice and foot/feet. The document provides numerous examples to illustrate the different plural formation rules.

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Dj-mauro Mulchen Chile
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118 views

Irregular Plurals

The document discusses rules for forming plurals of nouns in English. It explains that most nouns form their plural by adding -s, but there are exceptions for nouns ending in certain letters like s, x, z, ch, sh which add -es instead. Nouns ending in y or f sometimes undergo other changes like replacing the y with ie or changing f to v before adding -s or -es. There are also irregular plurals not following these rules like mouse/mice and foot/feet. The document provides numerous examples to illustrate the different plural formation rules.

Uploaded by

Dj-mauro Mulchen Chile
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Irregular Plurals

Form most nouns add s


book - books
idea - ideas
student - students
camera - cameras
shoe - shoes

For nouns ending in s, x, z, ch, or sh,
add es.
tax taxes
class - classes
wish wishes
branch - branches
boss bosses
fox foxes

For nouns ending in y preceded by a
consonant, change the y to ie and add s.
country countries
baby - babies
pony ponies
family - families
For nouns ending in y preceded by a
vowel by adding s.
tray trays
monkey - monkeys
Some nouns ending in f or fe add s. For
others change the f or fe to v and add es.
thief thieves
belief believes
half - halves


For nouns ending in o preceded by a
vowel add s.
decoy decoys
alley - alleys

The plural of many nouns ending in o preceded
by a consonant is formed by adding es.
hero heroes
tomato tomatoes
The plural of a few nouns is formed in
irregular ways.
mouse mice
foot feet
goose geese
mother-in-law mothers-in-law
drive-in drive-ins
deer deer
fish - fish

For plurals of numerals, dates, signs, and
words referred to as words by adding s.
1900 1900s
A As



US -> I

SINGULAR PLURAL
alumnus alumni
cactus cacti
focus foci/focuses
fungus fungi/funguses
nucleus nuclei
radius radii
stimulus stimuli

IS ->ES
SINGULAR PLURAL
axis axes
analysis analyses
basis bases
crisis crises
diagnosis diagnoses
ellipsis ellipses
hypothesis hypotheses
oasis oases
paralysis paralyses
parenthesis parentheses
synthesis syntheses
synopsis synopses
thesis theses

IX ->ICES
SINGULAR PLURAL
appendix appendices
index indeces/indexes
matrix matrices/matrixes

child children
man men
ox oxen
woman women
SINGULAR PLURAL
bacterium bacteria
corpus corpora
criterion criteria
curriculum curricula
datum data
genus genera
medium media
memorandum memoranda
phenomenon phenomena
stratum strata
deer deer
fish fish
means means
series series
sheep sheep
species species
A->AE
SINGULAR PLURAL
antenna antennae/antennas
formula formulae/formulas
nebula nebulae
vertebra vertebrae
vita vitae
Directions: Spell the plural form of
each of the following nouns.
1. monkey
2. trophy
3. diary
4. hoof
5. basketball
6. Japanese
7. son-in-law
8. sit-up
Directions: Spell the plural form of
each of the following nouns.
1. monkeys
2. trophies
3. diaries
4. hooves
5. basketballs
6. Japanese
7. sons-in-law
8. sit-ups

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