Plurals of nouns in English

              Most nouns make their plurals by simply adding –s to the end (e.g. cat/cats, book/books, journey/journeys). Some do change their endings, though. The main types of noun that do this are: 

Nouns ending in -y

If the noun ends with a consonant plus -y, make the plural by changing -y to -ies:

Singular                     plural

Berry                   berries

Activity                  activities

Daisy                     daisies

If the noun ends with -ch, -s, -sh, -x, or -z, add -es to form the plural:

Singular                plural

Church                churches

Bus                        buses

Fox                        foxes

There’s one exception to this rule. If the -ch ending is pronounced with a ‘k’ sound, you add -s rather than -es:

Singular                plural

Stomach              stomachs

Epoch    epochs

With nouns that end in a consonant or a single vowel plus -f or -fe, change the -f or -fe to -ves:

Nouns ending in -f or -fe  

singular              plural

knife                    knives

half                      halves

scarf                     scarves

Nouns which end in two vowels plus -f usually form plurals in the normal way, with just an -s

Singular                plural

Chief                      chiefs

Spoof                     spoofs

Nouns ending in -o

Nouns ending in -o can add either -s or -es in the plural, and some can be spelled either way.

As a general rule, most nouns ending in -o add -s to make the plural:

Singular                plural

Solo                    solos

Zero                     zeros

Avocado              avocados

Those which have a vowel before the final -o always just add -s:

Singular                plural

Studio                studios

Zoo                       zoos

Embryo                embryos

Here’s a list of the most common nouns ending in -o that are always spelled with -es in the plural:

Singular                plural

Buffalo                buffaloes

Domino                dominoes

Echo                     echoes

Embargo              embargoes

Hero                    heroes

Mosquito            mosquitoes

Potato                  potatoes

Tomato                  tomatoes

Torpedo               torpedoes

Veto                      vetoes

Here are some of the common nouns ending in -o that can be spelled with either -s or -es in the plural:

Singular                  plural

Banjo                     banjos or banjoes

Cargo                    cargos or cargoes

Flamingo               flamingos or flamingoes

Fresco                  frescos or frescoes

Ghetto                  ghettos or ghettoes

Halo                       halos or haloes

Mango                   mangos or mangoes

Memento               mementos or mementoes

Motto                    mottos or mottoes

Tornado                 tornados or tornadoes

Tuxedo                   tuxedos or tuxedoes

Volcano                   volcanos or volcanoes