A lot of nouns in the English Language function in their Singular and Plural forms. In this article we are going to learn about different Irregular Plural Nouns Examples.
Irregular plural nouns do not have the usual ‘-s’ or ‘-es’ ending. Their ending depends on the structure, and sometimes even the etymology of the singular noun.
The plural forms of different singular nouns don’t always work in a consistent way. Some irregular plural nouns follow a certain pattern and some don’t. There is no hard and fast rule about their change from one form to another. This sub-type of singular to plural nouns follows ambiguous and sporadic structures and rules, hence the terminology; ‘Irregular Plural Nouns’.
- Man- The men have boarded the aircraft.
- Goose- We saw around eight geese during our walk around the lake.
- Sheep- The farmer led his sheep into their shed at night.
- Cactus- She gifted me three beautiful cacti for my birthday.
- Thesis- My cousin has two theses to submit for his university course.
- Phenomenon- The trends she started turned into cultural phenomena on more than one occasion.
- Curriculum- The school designed two new forms of curricula for our batch to choose from.
- Index- Our boss has instructed for our indices to be neat and clean.
- Antenna- The antennae on top of the television need to be adjusted.
- Person- The course I signed up for consists of people from all over the world.
- Woman- I saw a large group of women waiting for the bus.
- Knife- The chef showed me his special collection of knives.
- Life- Do you actually believe that a cat has nine lives?
- Wife- The king had three wives.
- Foot- His feet have been hurting from running around the rough path.
- Tooth- His teeth have been hurting and his mother suspects that he has cavities.
- Calf- We saw four, sweet, little calves walking along the road.
- Leaf- The leaves have begun to turn brown, indicating the start of autumn season.
- Ox- I haven’t seen that many oxen in my lifetime.
- Die- He played the dice and got a lucky six.
- Swine- We once saw a farmhouse backyard full of swine.
- Fish- The restaurant had a koi pond but did not seem to be filled with that many koi fish.
- Fungus- Mushrooms are classified as fungi.
- Moose- Moose are much larger in size than one would expect, as we witnessed in Canada.
- Shrimp- My sister finished all the shrimp and none were left for me.
- Hair- All of our hair has collectively clogged the drain.
- Crisis- With so much to do at work she had so many crises to deal with.
- Criterion- Hardworking and ambitious is the only criteria we follow at this company.
- Datum- He by mistake lost all the data we had collected in the last three months.
- Analysis- She made and told us her analyses on all the topics we assigned her with.
- Child- The park is full of children on Sundays.
- Elf- My mother told me a story about elves during the holidays.
1. Man- The men have boarded the aircraft.
‘Men’ is the irregular plural noun form of the word ‘man’.
Note: This is the most common and basic examples of an irregular plural noun.
2. Goose- We saw around eight geese during our walk around the lake.
‘Geese’ is the irregular plural noun form of the word ‘goose’.
Note- Some nouns change from singular to plural with a change to vowels.
Image from Pxfuel.
3. Sheep- The farmer led his sheep into their shed at night.
‘Sheep’ remains as the the irregular plural noun form of the word ‘sheep’.
Note: Some words remain exactly the same in their plural as well as singular form.
4. Cactus- She gifted me three beautiful cacti for my birthday.
‘Cacti’ is the irregular plural noun form of the word ‘cacti’.
Note: Some singular nouns ending with ‘-us’ change to ‘-i’ in their plural form.
5. Thesis- My cousin has two theses to submit for his university course.
‘Theses’ is the irregular plural noun form of the word ‘thesis’.
Note: Some singular nouns ending with ‘-is’ change to ‘-es’ in their plural form.
6. Phenomenon- The trends she started turned into cultural phenomena on more than one occasion.
‘Phenomena’ is the irregular plural noun form of the word ‘phenomenon’.
Note: Some singular nouns ending with ‘-on’ change to ‘-a’ in their plural form.
7. Curriculum- The school designed two new forms of curricula for our batch to choose from.
‘Curricula’ is the irregular plural noun form of the word ‘curriculum’.
Note: Some singular nouns ending with ‘-um’ change to ‘-a’ in their plural form.
8. Index- Our boss has instructed for our indices to be neat and clean.
‘Indices’ is the irregular plural noun form of the word ‘index’.
Note: Some singular nouns ending with ‘-ex’ change to ‘-ces’ in their plural form.
9. Antenna- The antennae on top of the television need to be adjusted.
‘Antennae’ is the irregular plural noun form of the word ‘antenna’.
Note: Some singular nouns ending with ‘-a’ change to ‘-ae’ in their plural form.
10. Person- The course I signed up for consists of people from all over the world.
‘People’ is the irregular plural noun form of the word ‘person’.
Note: Some singular nouns completely lose their root word in their plural form.
11. Woman- I saw a large group of women waiting for the bus.
‘Women’ is the irregular plural noun form of the word ‘woman’.
12. Knife- The chef showed me his special collection of knives.
‘Knives’ is the irregular plural noun form of the word ‘knife’.
13. Life- Do you actually believe that a cat has nine lives?
‘Lives’ is the irregular plural noun form of the word ‘life’.
14. Wife- The king had three wives.
‘Wives’ is the irregular plural noun form of the word ‘wife’.
15. Foot- His feet have been hurting from running around the rough path.
‘Feet’ is the irregular plural noun form of the word ‘foot’.
16. Tooth- His teeth have been hurting and his mother suspects that he has cavities.
‘Teeth’ is the irregular plural noun form of the word ‘tooth’.
17. Calf- We saw four, sweet, little calves walking along the road.
‘Calves’ is the irregular plural noun form of the word ‘calf’.
18. Leaf- The leaves have begun to turn brown, indicating the start of autumn season.
‘Leaves’ is the irregular plural noun form of the word ‘leaf’.
19. Ox- I haven’t seen that many oxen in my lifetime.
‘Oxen’ is the irregular plural noun form of the word ‘Ox’.
20. Die- He played the dice and got a lucky six.
‘Dice’ is the irregular plural noun form of the word ‘die’.
21. Swine- We once saw a farmhouse backyard full of swine.
‘Swine’ remains as the irregular plural noun form of the word ‘swine’.
22. Fish- The restaurant had a koi pond but did not seem to be filled with that many koi fish.
‘Fish’ remains as the irregular plural noun form of the word ‘fish’.
Image from Pxfuel.
23. Fungus- Mushrooms are classified as fungi.
‘Fungi’ is the irregular plural noun form of the word ‘fungus’.
24. Moose- Moose are much larger in size than one would expect, as we witnessed in Canada.
‘Moose’ remains as the irregular plural noun form of the word ‘moose’.
25. Shrimp- My sister finished all the shrimp and none were left for me.
‘Shrimp’ remains as the irregular plural noun form of the word ‘shrimp’.
26. Hair- All of our hair has collectively clogged the drain.
‘Hair’ remains as the irregular plural noun form of the word ‘hair’.
27. Crisis- With so much to do at work she had so many crises to deal with.
‘Crises’ is the irregular plural noun form of the word ‘crisis’.
28. Criterion- Hardworking and ambitious is the only criteria we follow at this company.
‘Criteria’ is the irregular plural noun form of the word ‘criterion’.
29. Datum- He by mistake lost all the data we had collected in the last three months.
‘Data’ is the irregular plural noun form of the word ‘Datum’.
30. Analysis- She made and told us her analyses on all the topics we assigned her with.
‘Analyses’ is the irregular plural noun form of the word ‘analysis’.
31. Child- The park is full of children on Sundays.
‘Children’ is the irregular plural noun form of the word ‘children’.
32. Elf- My mother told me a story about elves during the holidays.
‘elves’ is the irregular plural noun form of the word ‘elf’.
Hi…..I’m a graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature. I wish to do a Masters in the same field someday and continue my career in Academia.
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