How do you make singular nouns into plural nouns?

Answer 1

There are two types of plural noun forms, regular nouns and irregular nouns.

• A regular plural is a word that forms the plural by adding an -s or an -es to the end of the word.
• An irregular plural is a word that forms the plural in some other way.

Examples of regular plural nouns:

• apple: apples
• box: boxes
• church: churches
• dog: dogs
• egg: eggs
• glass: glasses

Examples or irregular plural nouns:

• baby: babies (nouns ending in -y preceded by a consonant, change the -y to -ies)
• lady: ladies
• calf: calves (nouns ending in -f or -fe, but not -ff or -ffe, change the -f or -fe to -ves)
• wife: wives
• hero: heroes (some nouns ending in -o add -es, some do not)
• tomato: tomatoes
• man: men (words from various origin languages that inherited differing plural forms)
• child: children
• foot: feet
• tooth: teeth
• mouse: mice
• crisis: crises
• parenthesis: parentheses
• fungus: fungi
• radius: radii
• antenna: antennae
• larva: larvae
• gymnasium: gymnasia
• datum: data

There are several more variations and most of the rules cited above have exceptions. Some of the plural forms inherited from other languages are now alternating with regular plural form, that both plural forms are accepted. If you are in doubt of a plural form, always consult a dictionary.

Answer 2

To make a singular noun plural, you generally add "-s" or "-es" to the end of the word. Sometimes you may need to change the spelling slightly to accommodate the new ending. It's important to be aware of irregular plural forms as well.