In English language, there are two main ways to form the plural of a noun: by adding -s or -es to the end of the singular form, or by using an irregular plural form. Irregular plural nouns are nouns that do not follow the regular rules for forming plurals.
There are many different ways to form irregular plural nouns. Some of the most common methods include:
Changing the spelling of the singular form:
-
- mouse → mice
- louse → lice
- die → dice
- ox → oxen
- child → children
- person → people
Adding -ves to the end of the singular form:
-
- knife → knives
- life → lives
- wife → wives
- calf → calves
- leaf → leaves
Changing the vowel sound of the singular form:
-
- foot → feet
- tooth → teeth
- goose → geese
- man → men
- woman → women
Keeping the singular form the same:
-
- sheep
- fish
- deer
- moose
- buffalo
- shrimp
- trout
Nouns ending in -us
Nouns ending in -us can be pluralized in two ways:
- Change -us to -i:
- focus → foci
- radius → radii
- fungus → fungi
- nucleus → nuclei
- cactus → cacti
- alumnus → alumni
- Add -es:
- octopus → octopuses
- hippopotamus → hippopotamuses
Nouns ending in -is
Nouns ending in -is can be pluralized by changing -is to -es:
- analysis → analyses
- crisis → crises
- thesis → theses
Nouns ending in -on
These Greek words change their -on ending to -a:
- phenomenon → phenomena
- criterion → criteria
Nouns ending in -um
Words ending in -um shed their -um and replace it with -a to form a plural:
- datum → data
- memorandum → memoranda
- bacterium → bacteria
- stratum → strata
- curriculum → curricula
Nouns ending in -ix
Nouns ending in -ix are changed to -ices in formal settings, but sometimes -xes is perfectly acceptable:
- index → indices (or indexes)
- appendix → appendices (or appendixes, in a medical context)
- vortex → vortices (or vortexes)
Conclusion:
Irregular plural nouns can be tricky to learn, but by understanding the basic rules and memorizing some of the most common irregular plurals, you can master this important grammar concept.
Irregular Plural Nouns in Sentences:
- There are many children in this classroom.
- The men are working on the construction site.
- The women are shopping at the mall.
- The mice are playing in the field.
- The feet are dirty.
- The teeth are white.
- The geese are flying overhead.
- The oxen are pulling the plow.
- The fish are swimming in the ocean.
- The deer are grazing in the meadow.
I hope you like this article, You can also read about Adverbs of places. Please let me know if you have any other questions.
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