Plural Nouns: Rules and Examples

Most singular nouns are made plural by simply putting an -s at the end. There are many different rules regarding pluralization depending on what letter a noun ends in. Irregular nouns do not follow plural noun rules, so they must be memorized or looked up in the dictionary.

Plural Noun Rules

There are many plural noun rules, and because we use nouns so frequently when writing, it’s important to know all of them! The correct spelling of plurals usually depends on what letter the singular noun ends in.

1 To make regular nouns plural, add ‑s to the end.

cat – cats

house – houses

2 If the singular noun ends in ‑s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, or -z, add ‑es to the end to make it plural.

truss – trusses

bus – buses

marsh – marshes

lunch – lunches

tax – taxes

blitz – blitzes

3 In some cases, singular nouns ending in -s or -z, require that you double the -s or -z prior to adding the -es for pluralization.

fez – fezzes

gas –gasses

4 If the noun ends with ‑f or ‑fe, the f is often changed to ‑ve before adding the -s to form the plural version.

wife – wives

wolf – wolves

Exceptions:

roof – roofs

belief – beliefs

chef – chefs

chief – chiefs

5 If a singular noun ends in ‑y and the letter before the -y is a consonant, change the ending to ‑ies to make the noun plural.

city – cities

puppy – puppies

6 If the singular noun ends in -y and the letter before the -y is a vowel, simply add an -s to make it plural.

ray – rays

boy – boys

7 If the singular noun ends in ‑o, add ‑es to make it plural.

potato – potatoes

tomato – tomatoes

Exceptions:

photo – photos

piano – pianos

halo – halos

With the unique word volcano, you can apply the standard pluralization for words that end in -o or not. It’s your choice! Both of the following are correct:

volcanoes

volcanos

8 If the singular noun ends in ‑us, the plural ending is frequently ‑i.

cactus – cacti

focus – foci

9 If the singular noun ends in ‑is, the plural ending is ‑es.

analysis – analyses

ellipsis – ellipses

10 If the singular noun ends in ‑on, the plural ending is ‑a.

phenomenon – phenomena

criterion – criteria

11 Some nouns don’t change at all when they’re pluralized.

sheep – sheep

series – series

species – species

deer –deer

You need to see these nouns in context to identify them as singular or plural. Consider the following sentence:

Mark caught one fish, but I caught three fish.

Plural Noun Rules for Irregular Nouns

Irregular nouns follow no specific rules, so it’s best to memorize these or look up the proper pluralization in the dictionary.

child – children

goose – geese

man – men

woman – women

tooth – teeth

foot – feet

mouse – mice

person – people

Sentence Fragments

Sentence fragments are snippets of words that don’t quite add up to a complete thought. There are several common types of sentence fragments, including:

• Subordinate clause fragments
• Participial phrase fragments
• Infinitive phrase fragments

Let’s take a look at each of them.

To understand sentence fragments, we must first know what a complete sentence looks like. In its most basic form, a sentence consists of a subject (a noun) and a predicate (a verb). In rare cases, the subject is implied and you can leave off the noun, as in the imperative sentence Go! Let’s stick with the basics for now.

Example: I ran.

In the example above, “I” is the subject, the doer of the action. “Ran” is the predicate. We can add clauses and descriptors to this basic sentence, further developing our thoughts: “I ran far away,” “Because I was being chased by a flock of seagulls, I ran far away,” etc.

Grammatically sound sentences like “I ran” are also called independent clauses. Because they’re independent, they can stand by themselves as complete thoughts. Dependent clauses, on the other hand, lack either a subject or predicate. Writers run into trouble when their dependent clauses attempt to masquerade as complete thoughts.

Subordinate Clause Fragments

Incorrect: Because of Sarah’s bad hip.

“Because” is a subordinating conjunction that indicates the start of a subordinate—or dependent—clause. Notice that it does not contain a predicate (a verb phrase). This fragment withholds key information from the reader. For example, what happened to Sarah because of her hip?

Correct: Because of Sarah’s bad hip, she was no longer able to compete in ballroom dance tournaments. Correct: They had to walk slowly because of Sarah’s bad hip.

Participial Phrase Fragments

Incorrect: Worrying about money.

In this example, we have a participial phrase that seems to have broken off from a complete sentence. We don’t know who is doing the worrying or what impact it has. To correct this, we need to fully develop the thought.

Correct: Worrying about money ruined their marriage. Correct: Monica was tired of worrying about money.

Infinitive Phrase Fragments

Incorrect: To find El Dorado.

An infinitive is a verb plus the word “to.” In the example above, “to find” is the infinitive. On its own, an infinitive phrase doesn’t constitute a complete thought.

Correct: Many explorers risked their lives to find El Dorado. Correct: To find El Dorado, many explorers risked their lives.

Are Fragments Ever Okay?

As with most rules of English grammar, there is an exception. Sometimes sentence fragments can be used stylistically—but don’t abuse the privilege. Stylistic fragments belong in informal writing or creative work, and even then they should be used sparingly. They can be used to increase tension in a scene or to convey narrative tone, but too many fragments dilute the effect.

Example: Running through the trees. Gasping for breath. They were close. Too close. She wasn’t going to make it.

Example: If John didn’t find a job soon, he was going to be out on the street. He’d tried everywhere—temp agencies, bookstores, libraries. Even Dairy Queen. Nothing. Not even a nibble.

Most of the time, automated spell-checkers don’t discriminate between intentional sentence fragments and mistakes, so you’ll have to use your best judgment. For more tips on identifying and correcting sentence fragments, another great resource is Purdue’s Online Writing Lab.

How to Write Nowhere, Somewhere, and Anywhere?

There’s only one way to write nowhere, somewhere, and anywhere, and that is as one word. If you write them as no where, some where, and any where, you’re making a mistake.

He was no where to be found.

Tony tried to build his own business, but it went nowhere.

More Examples

Some where over the rainbow there’s candy waiting for you.

He lost his key somewhere on his route home.

Any where she went, she was looking for something that resembled her home.

He felt comfortable anywhere he went for the holidays.

3 Charles Dickens Characters You Don’t Want to Meet

The great English writer Charles Dickens is known for his well-crafted characters. While some of the characters we meet in Dickens’ novels are endearing heroes, others are sinister villains. Here are three Dickens characters you would never want to meet.

Bill Sikes in Oliver Twist A career criminal, violent abuser, and murderer, Bill Sikes is at the top of the list of characters to avoid. This is how Dickens describes him: “…a stoutly-built fellow of about five-and-thirty, in a black velveteen coat, very soiled drab breeches, lace-up half boots, and grey cotton stockings which enclosed a bulky pair of legs, with large swelling calves—the kind of legs, which in such costume, always look in an unfinished and incomplete state without a set of fetters to garnish them. He had a brown hat on his head, and a dirty belcher handkerchief round his neck: with the long frayed ends of which he smeared the beer from his face as he spoke. He disclosed, when he had done so, a broad heavy countenance with a beard of three weeks’ growth, and two scowling eyes; one of which displayed various parti-coloured symptoms of having been recently damaged by a blow.”

Daniel Quilp in The Old Curiosity Shop Daniel Quilp is a sneaky manipulator who uses secrets as currency. A condescending liar, Quilp can’t be trusted. If you met him on the street, it would be wise to keep your head down and walk the other way.

Miss Havisham in Great Expectations Although her cruelty stems from the deep pain of betrayal and rejection, Miss Havisham is cruel nonetheless. She meddles in both Pip and Estella’s lives, encouraging love in one and brutal indifference in the other. Miss Havisham succeeds in hurting everyone close to her and ruins the lives of others as a consequence. She’s destructive, manipulative, and cruel. Watch out!

Which Dickens character is your favorite villain? Let us know in the comments!

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