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The plural of nouns is usually formed by adding -s to a singular noun.[O plural dos

substantivos geralmente formado com o acrscimo do -s ao substantivo no

singular]

lamp - lamps

cat - catsfork - forks

flower - flowers

pen - pens

Rule #2

Nouns ending in s, z, x, sh, and ch form the plural by adding -es.[Substantivos

terminados em s, z, x, sh e ch formam o plural com o acrscimo de -es.]

moss - mossesbuzz - buzzes

box - boxesdish - dishes

church - churches

Rule #3

Nouns ending in - y preceded by a consonant is formed into a plural by changing -y

to -ies.[Substantivos acabados em - y precedidos por consoante, vo para o plural

trocando o -y por -ies.]

Examples: lady, ladies; city, cities; army, armies

Rule #4

Nouns ending in -y preceded by a vowel form their plurals by adding -s.

[Substantivos terminados em -y precedidos por vogal, fazem plural adicionando -s.]

Example: boy, boys; day, days

Rule #5

Most nouns ending in - o preceded by a consonant is formed into a plural by adding

-es.[Muitos substantivos que acabam em -o precedidos por uma consoante, formam

plural com a adio de -es.]

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Example: hero; heroes; grotto, grottoes

Rule #6

Some nouns ending in -f or -fe are made plural by changing -f or -fe to -ves.[Algunssubstantivos que acabam em -f ou -fe fazem plural trocando o -f ou -fe por -ves

Example: beef, beeves; wife, wives.

IRREGULAR PLURALS LIST

Study these groups of words to learn how they change to plural.

Each group of words has similar changes.

US -> I

SINGULAR PLURAL

alumnus alumni

cactus cacti

focus foci/focuses

fungus fungi/funguses

nucleus nuclei

radius radii

stimulus stimuli

IS -> ES

SINGULAR PLURAL

axis axes

analysis analyses

basis bases

crisis crises

diagnosis diagnoses

ellipsis ellipses

hypothesis hypotheses

oasis oases

paralysis paralyses

parenthesis parentheses

synthesis syntheses

synopsis synopses

thesis theses

IX -> ICES

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SINGULAR PLURAL

appendix appendices

index indeces/indexes

matrix matrices/matrixes

EAU -> EAUX

SINGULAR PLURAL

beau beaux

bureau bureaus/bureaux

tableau tableaux/tableaus

*** -> EN

SINGULAR PLURAL

child children

man men

ox oxen

woman women

*** -> A

SINGULAR PLURAL

bacterium bacteria

corpus corpora

criterion criteria

curriculum curricula

datum data

genus genera

medium mediamemorandum memoranda

phenomenon phenomena

stratum strata

NO CHANGE

SINGULAR PLURAL

deer deer

fish fish

means means

offspring offspring

series series

sheep sheep

species species

OO -> EE

SINGULAR PLURAL

foot feet

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goose geese

tooth teeth

A -> AE

SINGULAR PLURAL

antenna antennae/antennasformula formulae/formulas

nebula nebulae

vertebra vertebrae

vita vitae

OUSE -> ICE

SINGULAR PLURAL

louse lice

mouse mice

Singular - Plural

Nouns That Have Irregular Plural Forms

When finished, try the Nouns That have Irregular Plural Forms

Quiz

There are some nouns that form the plurals differently.

Some nouns change their vowels in the middle of the singularform when forming the plural

one goose two geese

o foot - feet

o louse - lice

o man - men

http://www.mcwdn.org/grammar/irregular/irregular.htmlhttp://www.mcwdn.org/grammar/irregular/irregular.htmlhttp://www.mcwdn.org/grammar/irregular/irregular.htmlhttp://www.mcwdn.org/grammar/irregular/irregular.html

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o mouse - mice

o tooth - teeth

&

o woman - women

Compounds of words man and woman form plurals the sameway:

o mailman - mailmen

Words that contain the syllable "man" such as in the wordhuman form the plural by adding the letter s as with most

plurals.

Several nouns form the plural by adding the letters en:

o child - children

o ox - oxen

Some words with descriptive adjectives and hyphens form theplural by adding the correct affix to the noun portion of theword.

o father-in-law - fathers-in law

o mother-in-law - mothers-in-law

o brother-in-law - brothers-in-law

o sister-in-law - sisters-in-law

o attorney-general - attorneys-general

o secretary-general - secretaries general

There are a number of animals that have the same singular andplural form:

o bison - bison

o deer - deer

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o moose - moose

o sheep - sheep

o swine - swine

There are also some animal names that form the plural the sameas the singular or use the s or es form:

o antelope - antelope or antelopes

o cod - cod or cods

o elk - elk or elks

o fish - fish or fishes

o flounder - flounder or flounders

o grouse - grouse or grouses

o herring - herring or herrings

o quail - quail or quails

o reindeer - reindeer or reindeers

o salmon - salmon or salmons

o shrimp - shrimp or shrimps

o trout - trout or trouts