Unlike regular English nouns that form the plural by adding 's' or 'es' to the end of the word, irregular English nouns require vowel or consonant changes, or suffixation. For some common nouns of Old English origin, the vowel undergoes a change (ablaut). For example:

foot > feet
man > men
woman > women
mouse > mice
tooth > teeth

Some other common nouns of Old English origin require the addition of 'n' or 'en' to form the plural. For example:

child > children
ox > oxen

Yet other common nouns, which are often of Old English origin and refer to groups of animals, have identical plural and singular form. For example:

deer > deer
moose > moose
trout > trout
offspring > offspring
sheep > sheep

For nouns of Latin origin that end in an 'a', change the 'a' to 'ae' to form the plural. For example:

formula > formulae
alumna > alumnae

For nouns of Latin origin that end in 'ex' or 'ix', change the suffix to 'ices'. For example:

matrix > matrices
vertex > vertices
index > indices

For nouns of Latin origin that end in 'is', change the 'is' to 'es'. For example:

axis > axes
crisis > crises
analysis > analyses
thesis > theses

For nouns of Latin origin that end in 'on', change 'on' to 'a'. For example:

criterion > criteria
phenomenon > phenomena
automaton > automata

For nouns of Latin origin that end in 'um', change 'um' to 'a'. For example:

datum > data
medium > media
addendum > addenda
millennium > millennia

For nouns of Latin origin that end in 'us', change the 'us' to 'i', 'era', 'ora' or 'es'. For example:

syllabus > syllabi
genus > genera
corpus > corpora
census > censuses

For nouns of Greek origin that end in 'ma', add 'ta' to the end of the word to form the plural. For example:

dogma > dogmata
stigma > stigmata
schema > schemata

For nouns of French origin that end in 'eau', add 'x' to the end of the word to form the plural. For example:

chateau > chateaux
beau > beaux
bureau > bureaux

For nouns of Hebrew origin, add 'im' or 'ot' to the end of the word to form the plural. For example:

cherub > cherubim
matzah > matzot

Resources

Top Categories

Product

Company