Irregular and special plurals
Irregular plurals in -ves
The following nouns ending in -f(e) have plurals in -ves.
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
| calf | calves |
| elf | elves |
| half | halves |
| knife | knives |
| leaf | leaves |
| life | lives |
| loaf | loaves |
| self | selves |
| sheaf | sheaves |
| shelf | shelves |
| thief | thieves |
| wife | wives |
| wolf | wolves |
Dwarf, hoof, scarf and wharf can have plurals in either -fs or -ves. Hooves, scarves and wharves are more common than the plurals in -fs.
Other words ending in -f(e) have regular plurals, for example roofs, beliefs, safes.
Other irregular plurals
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
| child | children |
| foot | feet |
| goose | geese |
| louse | lice |
| man | men |
| mouse | mice |
| ox | oxen |
| penny | pence |
| person | people |
| tooth | teeth |
| woman | women |
The regular plural pennies can be used to talk about separate penny coins (and one-cent coins in the USA); pence is used to talk about prices and sums of money. Some British people now use pence as a singular (e.g. That’ll be three pounds and one pence, please).
Persons is sometimes used as a plural of person in official language. There is also a singular noun people (plural peoples) meaning ‘nation’.
Plural same as singular
Some words ending in -s do not change in the plural. Common examples:
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
| barracks | barracks |
| crossroads | crossroads |
| headquarters | headquarters |
| means | means |
| series | series |
| species | species |
| Swiss | Swiss |
| works (= factory) | works |
Note that some singular uncountable nouns end in -s. These have no plurals. Examples are news, billiards, draughts (and some other names of games ending in -s), measles (and some other illnesses).
- Here is the news. (not
Here are the news.)
Most words ending in -ics (e.g. mathematics, physics, athletics) are normally singular uncountable and have no plural use.
- Too much mathematics is usually taught in schools. (not
Too many mathematics are …)
Some words ending in -ics (e.g. politics, statistics) can also have plural uses.
- Politics is a complicated business. (but What are your politics?)
- Statistics is useful in language testing. (but The unemployment statistics are disturbing.)
Other nouns which do not change in the plural are craft (meaning ‘vehicle’), aircraft, hovercraft, spacecraft, Chinese, Japanese (and other nationality nouns ending in -ese), sheep, deer, fish, and the names of some other living creatures, especially those that are hunted or used for food. Fish has a rare plural fishes, but the normal plural is fish.
Dozen, hundred, thousand, million, stone (= 14 pounds) and foot (= 12 inches) have plurals without -s in some kinds of expressions. For details, (see here).
Dice (used in board games) is originally the plural of an old noun die. In modern English it is used as both singular and plural.
Data is originally the plural of datum, which is not now used. In modern English data can be used either as an uncountable noun (this data is …) or as a plural (these data are …), with no difference of meaning. The uncountable use is more common in modern English.
Media is originally the plural of medium. The plural expression the media (meaning ‘radio, TV, newspapers, the internet …’) is now quite often used as an uncountable noun with a singular verb.
Foreign plurals
Some words which come from foreign languages have special plurals. Examples:
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
| analysis | analyses (Latin) |
| appendix | appendices (Latin) |
| bacterium | bacteria (Latin) |
| basis | bases (Greek) |
| cactus | cacti (Latin) OR cactuses (less common) |
| corpus | corpora (Latin) |
| crisis | crises (Greek) |
| criterion | criteria (Greek) |
| diagnosis | diagnoses (Greek) |
| formula | formulae (Latin) OR formulas |
| fungus | fungi (Latin) OR funguses |
| hypothesis | hypotheses (Greek) |
| kibbutz | kibbutzim (Hebrew) |
| nucleus | nuclei (Latin) |
| oasis | oases (Greek) |
| phenomenon | phenomena (Greek) |
| radius | radii (Latin) |
| stimulus | stimuli (Latin) |
| vertebra | vertebrae (Latin) |
Note that some foreign plurals (e.g. agenda, spaghetti) are singular in English (see here).
Plurals in ’s
An apostrophe (’) can be used before the -s in the plurals of letters of the alphabet, and sometimes in the plurals of dates and abbreviations.
- She wrote ‘necessary’ with two c’s.
- I loved the 1990’s. (the 1990s is more common)
- PC’s are getting cheaper. (PCs is more common)
It is not correct to use -’s in other plurals, e.g. jean’s.
Compound nouns
In noun + adverb combinations, the plural -s is usually added to the noun.
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
| passer-by | passers-by |
| runner-up | runners-up |
The plural of mother-in-law and similar words is generally mothers-in-law, etc, but some people use mother-in-laws, etc. The plural of court martial (= military court or military trial) is either courts martial (more formal) or court martials (less formal).
In noun + noun combinations, the first noun is usually singular in form even if the meaning is plural (e.g. shoe shop). There are some exceptions. (see here).
Plurals with no singular forms
Cattle is a plural word used to talk collectively about bulls, cows and calves; it has no singular, and cannot be used for counting individual animals (one cannot say, for instance, three cattle).
- At one time many cattle suffered from a disease called BSE. (not
Much cattle suffered …)
Police, staff and crew are generally used in the same way.
- The police are looking for a fair-haired man in his twenties. (not
The police is looking …) orA police … - The staff are on strike. But A member of staff said … (not
A staff …)
However, numbers are sometimes used before these three words (e.g. four staff, six crew).
The expressions the British, the Dutch, the English, the French, the Irish, the Spanish and the Welsh (see here) are also plural, with no singular forms.
- In 1581 the Dutch declared their independence from Spain. (but A Dutchman came into the shop. not
A Dutch …)
Trousers, jeans, pyjamas (AmE pajamas), pants, tights, shorts, scales, scissors, glasses, spectacles (meaning ‘glasses’), goggles, binoculars, pliers, and the names of many similar objects that consist of two parts are plural, and have no singular forms. (The equivalent words in some other languages are singular.)
- Your jeans are too tight. (not
Your jean is …) - ‘Where are my glasses?’ ‘They’re on your nose.’
To talk about individual items, we can use a pair of (see here).
- Have you got a pair of nail scissors?
Other common words which are normally plural and don’t have singular forms include:
arms (= guns, etc), clothes (see here), congratulations, contents, customs (at a frontier), earnings, funds (= money), goods, groceries, leftovers, lodgings, manners (= social behaviour), the Middle Ages (a period in history), oats (but corn, wheat, barley and rye are singular uncountable), odds (= chances), odds-and-ends, outskirts, premises (= building), proceeds, refreshments, regards, remains, savings, supplies, surroundings, thanks, troops, valuables, wages.
- Congratulations on your new job. (not
Congratulation …) - She lives on the outskirts of Cambridge. (not
… the outskirt …)
For cases where plural nouns are used with singular verbs and pronouns (and the opposite), (see here).