Forming the Plural of Nouns in English

In English, nouns have two forms: singular and plural. The singular refers to one object or person (e.g., book), while the plural refers to more than one (e.g., books).

Basic Rule

Most nouns form the plural by simply adding -s:
cat - cats
table - tables
car - cars
pen - pens
dog - dogs

Exceptions

Some nouns change form depending on their ending:

1. Nouns ending in s, ss, sh, ch, x, or z (sibilants)
Add -es:
bus - buses
kiss - kisses
brush - brushes
watch - watches
box - boxes

2. Nouns ending in -o
Add -es (though some just take -s):
tomato - tomatoes
hero - heroes
potato - potatoes
echo - echoes
veto - vetoes

3. Nouns ending in -f or -fe
Usually change to -ves:
leaf - leaves
knife - knives
wolf - wolves
wife - wives
life - lives

4. Nouns ending in -y
If a consonant comes before -y, change it to -ies:
baby - babies
city - cities
story - stories
party - parties
lady - ladies

If a vowel comes before -y, just add -s:
boy - boys
toy - toys
key - keys

Irregular Nouns

Some nouns have completely irregular plural forms:
man - men
woman - women
child - children
tooth - teeth
mouse - mice

These must simply be memorized.

nouns - podstatné mená

singular - jednotné číslo

plural - množné číslo

refers - označuje

Basic Rule - Základné pravidlo

Most - Väčšina

adding - pridanie

Exceptions - Výnimky

ending - koncovka

sibilants - sykavky

change - meniť

consonant - spoluhláska

vowel - samohláska

Irregular - Nepravidelné

memorized - naučiť sa naspamäť