Notes
Learn the rules for making nouns plural in English by understanding how different word endings change.
Plural Nouns Rules
In English, most nouns can be made plural by adding -s or -es to the end. However, the exact rule depends on how the word ends. This table shows the most common pluralization patterns.
Word Ending
Rule
Examples
Most words
Add -s
cat → cats, book → books, car → cars
-s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, -z, -o
Add -es
bus → buses, class → classes, dish → dishes, watch → watches, box → boxes, quiz → quizzes, tomato → tomatoes,
-y (after consonant)
Change -y to -ies
baby → babies, city → cities, story → stories
Irregular Plurals
Some nouns have irregular plural forms that don't follow the standard rules. These must be memorized.
Singular (1)
Plural (2+)
person
people
child
children
man
men
woman
women
foot
feet
tooth
teeth
fish
fish
plural nouns