“I have one cat, and Calyn has two cats.” This sentence contains an example of one of the most basic lessons in English grammar: To make a noun plural, add an “s.” But wait — not all English nouns are so straightforward. In fact, there’s a long list of nouns that don’t follow that convention. Often we have to memorize the exceptions because there’s no rhyme or reason to them, but for others there are good stories behind the root languages and why certain plurals get special spellings. Let’s learn more about plural nouns and their tricky spellings.
Certain word endings consistently require more than a simple “s” to form a plural. When a singular noun ends in a “y,” the plural ends in “-ies.” For example, “city” becomes “cities,” and “baby” turns into “babies.”
If a singular noun already ends in an “s,” the plural version adds an “-es.” The same goes for many words ending in “ch,” “sh,” “z,” and “x.” The plurals of “lunch,” “wish,” “quiz,” and “mix” are “lunches,” “wishes,” “quizzes,” and “mixes,” respectively. Note the extra “z” added onto “quiz” — this sometimes happens with words ending in “s” as well (“chorus”/”chorusses” and “plus”/”plusses,” for example). Words ending in “x” are also more likely to have irregular endings.
If a noun ends in a single “f,” the plural version drops the “f” and adds “-ves.” “Wolf” becomes “wolves.” “Calf” becomes “calves.” “Loaf” becomes “loaves.” The exception to this is if the word ends in a double “f” — in that case, you just add an “s.” “Cliffs,” “cuffs,” and “mastiffs” are all regular plural nouns.
It’s nearly impossible to create an exhaustive list that includes all irregular plural nouns, but here are some examples that show just how irregular they can get.
Mouse → Mice
Goose → Geese
Fungus → Fungi
Appendix → Appendices
Ox → Oxen
Deer → Deer (Zero plurals are nouns that are spelled the same in both plural and singular forms.)
Octopus → Octopodes
Note the last example. The accepted plural of “octopus” is actually “octopuses,” but many people mistakenly give it the Latin plural ending and use “octopi.” This is incorrect because “octopus” comes from Greek. To use the classical language format, it would be “octopodes.”
This method of using a root language suffix is where many irregular plurals come from. English borrows so much from other languages that when it was all mashed together, irregularities became the norm. “Fungus” and “appendix” come from Latin, while “goose” and “ox” have Germanic origins, so these nouns retained the plural rules from their original languages.
Sometimes, though, the plural form of a word is outdated. Take “roof” — under the “f” rule explained earlier, the plural should be “rooves.” That was a commonly accepted spelling at one time, and it’s not inaccurate; it’s just not standard in modern English. Instead, we use “roofs.” This word — with its simple “s” ending — becomes an outlier by following the regular plural convention.
Animals are especially common in the world of irregular plural choices. Take your pick between “fish” and “fishes,” “shrimp” and “shrimps.” Spell-check might pick one version over the other, but both are technically correct.
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