Mostcommonnounsformtheirpluralsbyaddings(e.g.student– students).

However,thereareafewadditionalrules…

s,sh,ch,x,z: Nounsthatendins,sh,ch,x,zformtheirpluralsbyaddinges(e.g.box– boxes).

y: Forwordsendinginy,lookattheletterthatprecedesy,ifitisavowel,justadds(e.g.attorney–attorneys);ifyisprecededbyaconsonant,changeytoi andaddes(family– families).

o: Whenawordendinginoisrelatedtomusicorart,justadds (e.g.piano– pianos).Whenthefinaloisprecededbyavowel,justadds(e.g.radio– radios).Whentheshortformofawordisused,justadds(e.g.photo– photos).Whenthefinaloisprecededbyaconsonant,addes(e.g.cargo– cargoes).

forfe: Therearenoclearcutrulesforwordsendinginforfe.Youmighthavetousethedictionary(e.g.thief– thieves;knife– knives;roof– roofs;chief– chiefs).

SingularNouns: Somenounsarealwayssingularandtakesingularverbs(e.g.civics,aerobics).

PluralNouns: Somenounsarealwayspluralandtakepluralverbs(e.g.credentials;premises).

CompoundNouns: Incompoundnouns,makethemostimportantwordplural(eg.Editorsinchief;roommates).

NounsthatchangeBasicForm: Somewordschangetheirbasicformwhentheybecomeplural(e.g.man– men;mouse- mice).

ForeignNouns: Pluralsofforeignnounsdonotfollowaruleandthusneedtobelearned(e.g.analysis– analyses;alumnus– alumni;datum– data).

OneForm: Somenounshaveonlyoneformthatisusedforsingularandplural(e.g.deer;politics;odds;corps).

NumbersinCombination: Whenusingnumbersasmodifiers,donotusetheirpluralform(twodozendonuts;fivehundredparticipants).

SpecialPlurals: Apostrophesareusedtoformpluralsoflowercaseindividuallettersandlowercaseabbreviations(e.g.p’sandq’s;c.o.d.’s),butnotcapitalabbreviations(e.g.CPAs).Also,Courtesytitles(Mr.–Messrs;Miss– Misses;Dr.- Drs;Ms.– MsesorMss;Mrs.- Mmes)

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