Regular and Irregular Plural Nouns
Learn regular and irregular plural nouns: add -s or -es, change -y to -ies, and use forms such as children, people and sheep when counting things.
Use one book or two books to say how many. Here you will learn how to make regular plurals, recognise common irregular plurals and use nouns that stay the same.
One or more than one
A singular noun names one person, animal or thing. A plural noun names more than one.
| Singular: one | Plural: more than one |
|---|---|
| one book | two books |
| one dog | three dogs |
| one child | four children |
Use the plural after numbers such as two, three and ten.
I have one sister. Ben has two sisters.
There is one chair in the kitchen. There are four chairs in the bedroom.
Add -s or -es
For most nouns, add -s.
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
| book | books |
| car | cars |
| apple | apples |
| shoe | shoes |
For nouns ending in -s, -ss, -sh, -ch or -x, usually add -es.
| Ending | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| -s | bus | buses |
| -ss | class | classes |
| -sh | dish | dishes |
| -ch | watch | watches |
| -x | box | boxes |
A few nouns have other spelling changes: quiz → quizzes.
We need two boxes.
She has three watches.
The buses are red.
Nouns ending in -y
Look at the letter before -y. The letters a, e, i, o, u are vowels. Most other letters are consonants.
- Consonant + y: change -y to -ies.
- Vowel + y: keep -y and add -s.
| Singular | Letter before -y | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| baby | b: consonant | babies |
| city | t: consonant | cities |
| family | l: consonant | families |
| boy | o: vowel | boys |
| key | e: vowel | keys |
| toy | o: vowel | toys |
Do not change every -y to -ies.
✓ two babies, two boys
✗ two babys, two boies
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Other spelling changes
Some nouns ending in -f or -fe change to -ves. Others simply add -s. Learn each noun with its plural.
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
| leaf | leaves |
| wife | wives |
| knife | knives |
| roof | roofs |
Nouns ending in -o can also be different:
| Add -es | Add -s |
|---|---|
| potato → potatoes | photo → photos |
| tomato → tomatoes | radio → radios |
Write new words in pairs: one potato — two potatoes. Check a dictionary when you are not sure of the plural.
Irregular plurals and unchanged nouns
Some common nouns have a different plural form. Do not just add -s.
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
| person | people |
| child | children |
| man | men |
| woman | women |
| foot | feet |
| tooth | teeth |
| mouse | mice |
There are five people at the bus stop.
The two children are playing.
My feet are cold.
Some nouns have the same form for singular and plural.
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
| one sheep | two sheep |
| one fish | three fish |
Use fish for ordinary counting: one fish, two fish. You may see fishes when people talk about different types of fish.
Check your plural
- Use the singular for one and the plural for two or more.
- For most nouns, add -s. Check endings such as -sh, -ch, -x and -y.
- Remember special forms: children, people, feet.
- Keep unchanged forms the same: two sheep, not two sheeps.
Do not add an extra -s to an irregular plural.
✓ three children
✗ three childrens
Do not use an apostrophe to make these nouns plural: two books, not two book's.
Remember: one book → two books; one baby → two babies; one child → two children; one sheep → two sheep.
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Last updated October 14, 2026