Grammar-Quizzes › Noun Phrases › Nouns › Irregular Plural Nouns

Irregular Plural Nouns

Mark these nouns with plural forms: -ee, -i, -en, -a, -es, -ae

Mid-vowel Change vs. No Change

CHANGE MIDDLE VOWELS
In a few words, the mid-word vowels are changed to form the plural.
SINGULAR	PLURAL

mouse	mice /maɪs/
foot	feet /fit/
tooth	teeth /tiθ/
goose	geese /gis/
louse	lice /laɪs/

SINGULAR FORM (NO CHANGE)
In a few words, the singular form is used for both singular and plural.
SINGULAR	PLURAL

fish	fish
deer	deer
sheep	sheep
shrimp	shrimp² /ʃrɪmp/
offspring	offspring
series	series /ˈsɪər-iz/
species	species /ˈspi-ʃiz, -siz/
means	means
grapefruit	grapefruit¹
aircraft	aircraft

¹Plural form varies Fruit – plural form
²Plural form varies: Br-Eng shrimps / US-Eng shrimp

Also see Unusual Singular/Plural Nouns (people, police, pants, measles, means).

Irregular Plural Nouns (less common plural markers)

Borrowed words -i, -en, -a, -es, -ae

LATIN WORDS
In words borrowed from Latin, the Latin plural forms are used.

SINGULAR—US	PLURAL – i
cactus	cacti cactuses
focus /ˈfoʊkəs/	foci /ˈfoʊsaɪ, -kaɪ/ (focuses)
fungus /ˈfʌŋ-gəs/	fungi /ˈfʌn-dʒaɪ,ˈfʌŋ-gaɪ/
nucleus /ˈnu-kli-əs/	nuclei /ˈnu-kli-ˌaɪ/
stimulus	stimuli
syllabus /ˈsɪl-ə-bəs/	syllabi /ˈsɪl-ə-baɪ/
SINGULAR—ON, —UM	PLURAL –A
phenomenon Greek / Latin	phenomena /fɪˈ-nɒ-mə-nə/
criterion Greek / Latin	criteria
bacterium Latin	bacteria
curriculum Latin	curricula
datum Latin	data /de-tə, dæ-tə, dɑ-tə/
medium Latin	media
memorandum Latin	memoranda
SINGULAR—A	Plural –AE
formula /ˈfɔrmyələ/ Latin	formulas / formulae /ˈfɔrm-yə-li/
vertebra Latin	vertebrae /ˈvɜr təˌbri, -ˌbreɪ/
SINGULAR—IX, —EX	Plural –ICES, –ES,
appendix /əˈpɛn-dɪks/ Latin	appendices / ixes /əˈpɛn-də-siz/
index Latin	indices / indexes

OLD ENGLISH WORDS OR GREEK WORDS
In some words, the plurals are derived (come) from older language forms.

SINGULAR	PLURAL –EN
*man /mæn/ from Middle English	men /mɛn/
**woman /ˈwʊmən/	women /ˈwɪmɪn/
child /tʃaɪld/	children /ˈtʃɪl-drən/
ox	oxen /ˈɒksən/


SINGULAR –IS from Greek	PLURAL –ES
analysis Greek	analyses
basis Greek	bases
crisis Greek	crises
emphasis Greek	emphases
hypothesis Greek	hypotheses
oasis /oʊˈeɪsɪs/ Greek › Egyptian	oases /oʊˈeɪsiz/
parenthesis /pəˈrɛn-θə-sɪs/ Greek	parentheses /pəˈrɛn-θə--siz/

thesis /ˈθi-sɪs/ Greek	theses /ˈθi-siz/

IPA Pronunciation Key

*man— before 900; (noun) Middle English; Old English man ( n ); cognate with German Mann, Dutch man, Old Norse mathr, Gothic manna; (V) Middle English mannen, Old English mannian to garrison

**woman— before 900; Middle English womman, wimman, Old English wīfman, equivalent to wīf female + man human being; see wife, man1

octopus (The Greek plural is octopodes.) The English plural is octopuses. The word is not of Latin origin, so it is not *octopi. See link below.

"Subversive Facts: Describing language objectively need not meaning doing so dispassionately." Johnson. The Economist, 16 Mar. 2017. economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21718850-describing-language-objectively-need-not-meaning-doing-so-dispassionately-subversive-facts.

Plural

Varieties

PLURAL – ONE KIND
We bought fish.
We have fruit.
The market sells shrimp.
We tasted cheese.

PLURAL – ONE KIND

fish plural - same kind

We bought fish.

fruit - one kind

We have fruit.

shrimp plural

The market sells shrimp.

cheese

We tasted cheese.

PLURAL – VARIETIES
We bought several kinds of fish at the market. We bought different kinds of fish at the market. We bought a variety of fish at the market. *We bought fishes at the market. (error) Scientific context: Coral reef fishes, catalog of fishes, "all the fishes of the sea"
We have different kinds of fruit. We have several kinds of fruit. We have a variety of fruit. *We have fruits. (dialectal variation) Scientific context: Fruits of South America, fruits that are rich in anti-oxidants, "the fruits of our labor"; we bought fruits and vegetables (parallel plurals)
The market sells different kinds of shrimp. The market sells several kinds of shrimp. The market sells a variety of shrimp. *The market sells shrimps. (This is uncommon usage in U.S. Engish even if the market has a few varieties.) Scientific context: "The Secret World of Shrimps", Freshwater Shrimps, "shrimps and prawns" (parallel plurals)
We tasted several kinds of cheese. We tasted different kinds of cheese. We tasted a variety of cheese. We tasted several cheeses. (ok - noncount noun) Scientific context or topics: "The Cheeses of Greece"; Aging Cheeses; a list of cheeses

PLURAL – VARIETIES

fish -plural - different kinds

We bought several kinds of fish at the market.
We bought different kinds of fish at the market.
We bought a variety of fish at the market.

*We bought fishes at the market. (error)

Scientific context: Coral reef fishes, catalog of fishes, "all the fishes of the sea"

fruit - several kinds

We have different kinds of fruit.
We have several kinds of fruit.
We have a variety of fruit.

*We have fruits. (dialectal variation)

Scientific context: Fruits of South America, fruits that are rich in anti-oxidants, "the fruits of our labor"; we bought fruits and vegetables (parallel plurals)

shrimp plural kinds

The market sells different kinds of shrimp.
The market sells several kinds of shrimp.
The market sells a variety of shrimp.

*The market sells shrimps. (This is uncommon usage in U.S. Engish even if the market has a few varieties.)

Scientific context: "The Secret World of Shrimps", Freshwater Shrimps, "shrimps and prawns" (parallel plurals)

cheese - several kinds

We tasted several kinds of cheese.
We tasted different kinds of cheese.
We tasted a variety of cheese.

We tasted several cheeses. (ok - noncount noun)

Scientific context or topics: "The Cheeses of Greece"; Aging Cheeses; a list of cheeses

*Yellow highlighted words are examples of incorrect usage.

Also see Plurals of Compounds and Plurals of Letters and Numbers., Possessives and Pop-Q – "Fishes"

Practice 1

Irregular Plural Nouns

What is the plural form?

Select the response from the list that best completes the sentence.
Compare your responses to the feedback by clicking the "Check 1-20" button at the bottom.

Look for the keyword in the of these books.

Feedback 1

When writing, place your aside comments in .

Feedback 2

You have to look through a microscope to see .

Feedback 3

The human spinal cord has 33 .

Feedback 4

On my desk, you will find some .

Feedback 5

The Auroa Borealis and meteor showers are of nature.
phenomenon (N) — an amazing occurrence in nature, a remarkable, exceptional person (very talented)

Feedback 6

While walking on the woods, we saw several .

Feedback 7

In the Mojave Desert, you can see a variety of .

Feedback 8

To find the answer, we will need to look at the .

Feedback 9

10.

The scientist wrote down his .

Feedback 10

11.

First, there was one mouse in my house. Then, there were several in my house.

Feedback 11

12.

He went to the market to buy some .

Feedback 12

About "fruit" plural form

13.

I caught one fish and he caught three .

Feedback 13

14.

First, we saw one man and then several .

Feedback 14

15.

The dentist checked one tooth and then all my .

Feedback 15

16.

Mushrooms, mold, mildew and yeast are .

Feedback 16

17.

After the earthquake, we had a crisis. Two days later, we had several .

Feedback 17

18.

Place the focus of one spotlight on the lead singer and the of the other lights on the musicians.

Feedback 18

19.

We looked up when we heard .

Feedback 19

20.

Wave goodbye to the .

Feedback 20

Practice 2

Singular → Plural

Determine which form is the correct plural form for the noun in the sentence.

Select the response from the list that best completes the sentence.
Compare your responses to the feedback by clicking the "Check" or "Check 21-50" button.

21.

One child is here and the other are outdoors.

Feedback 21

22.

This foot of the chair is broken, but the other are fine.

Feedback 22

23.

One woman wants a hamburger and the other want salads.

Feedback 23

24.

This tooth hurts and so do my other .

Feedback 24

25.

This mouse is for a Macintosh. The other are for PCs.

Feedback 25

26.

Park that auto here, and park the other in the back lot.

Feedback 26

27.

Your first photo is focused, but the other are out of focus.

Feedback 27

28.

Type one zero here and type three there.

Feedback 28

29.

One hero , Martin Luther King Jr., like so many fought for freedom.

Feedback 29

30.

Peel one potato and put the other two away.

Feedback 30

31.

I want this video and those too.

Feedback 31

32.

One wolf will fight to control the other in the pack.

Feedback 32

33.

People have one life, but a cat, it is said, has nine .

Feedback 33

34.

A bread knife and several butter were left in the sink.

Feedback 34

35.

My belief and your may differ.

Feedback 35

36.

The tile roof didn't burn, but the wooden all caught fire.

Feedback 36

37.

One thief got away, but the other two were caught.

Feedback 37

38.

This red fish and those green, blue, and black are beautiful.

Feedback 38

39.

The World Series this year was more exciting than all the before.

Feedback 39

40.

I ate one grapefruit , but the other are not ripe yet.

Feedback 40

41.

One analysis was well-written, the other two were poorly written.

Feedback 41

42.

A bacterium multiplies to create more in seconds.

Feedback 42

43.

My thesis is different from their .

Feedback 43

44.

Here is the syllabus for Art 101 and the for Math I & II.

Feedback 44

45.

The basis of his research is built upon the of many other researchers' work.

Feedback 45

46.

One memorandum was lost, but the other were in his notebook.

Feedback 46

47.

An earthquake is a phenomenon unlike any other in nature.

Feedback 47

48.

Take out one parenthesis and leave the other two there.

Feedback 48

49.

I found the chapter in one index , but not the other two .

Feedback 49

50.

The course curriculum this year is more complete than the used in the past.

Feedback 50