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Question
Why is the plural of fish still fish and not fishes?
—
Annabella
,
United States
Answer
Many English nouns have irregular plural forms. While the general rule says that adding -s or -es to a noun forms its plural, this is not always true. The following examples show some of the ways English nouns become plural.
For some nouns, like fish, there is no difference between the singular form and the plural form. Sometimes, however, people do use regular plural endings for irregular nouns, so in casual conversation you may hear fishes or elks.
- One fish; three fish
- A deer; many deer
- An elk; some elk
- One species; several species
- A series; many series
Some English words come from Latin, and take a Latinate plural ending.
- A syllabus; all of the syllabi
- A larva; many larvae
- This genus; these genera
- Her thesis; their theses
- One crisis; two crises
- An index; a couple of indices
- A matrix; two matrices
Sometimes nouns end in -f or -fe and the f becomes a v before adding -s or -es.
- A loaf of bread; a few loaves of bread
- One wolf; a pack of wolves
- A knife; some knives
Some plurals have no pattern and have to be memorized.
- That person; those people
- One child; three children
- One mouse; two mice
- A goose; several geese
- A man; two men
- An ox; a pair of oxen
Some nouns do not have plural forms because they cannot be counted. These are called noncount nouns, or mass nouns. Some common noncount nouns are water, rice, sand, butter, mud, rain, advice, homework, progress, and music.
I hope this helps.
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FAQs
Irregular plural nouns are nouns that do not become plural by adding -s or -es, as most nouns in the English language do. You're probably familiar with many of these already. For example, the plural form of man is men, not mans. The plural form of woman is women, not womans.
How do you remember irregular plural nouns? ›
However, one common pattern that can ease the process of memorizing these plurals is dropping the final letter. Many irregular nouns in English end with a consonant, and by simply removing the last letter and adding the plural “-s”, the noun becomes plural. For example, “man” becomes “men”, and “foot” becomes “feet”.
What are 15 examples of irregular plural nouns? ›
The following list shows fifteen examples of irregular nouns. Those are: man, woman, mouse, goose, moose, leaf, knife, criterion, louse, phenomenon, thesis, foot, child, half, wife.
What is an irregular plural noun 6th grade? ›
Not all English nouns can be made plural only by adding an "s" to the end. These are called irregular plurals. Many words that end in "f", like "leaf", "loaf", and "calf", change their sound when they become plural: "leaves", "loaves", and "calves".
What irregular plural nouns don t change? ›
These are singular nouns that have no change in their plural forms, such as aircraft, shrimp, elk, moose, and trout. These nouns stay the same, and the context of the sentence dictates whether they are singular or plural. These nouns can be common mistakes that elude even the best of communicators.
What plural words don't end in S? ›
An irregular plural noun is a type of noun that doesn't abide by the same rules as most other nouns. Unlike regular plurals, irregular plurals don't become pluralized when -s or -es is added to the end. An example of an irregular plural is 'wolves', which is the plural of 'wolf'.
What words end in s that are not plural? ›
Some nouns end in s even though they are considered singular. These include words such as mathematics, civics, measles, news, physics, mumps, and molasses. Physics is my favorite class.
Is fish an irregular plural? ›
Normally, the plural of “fish” is the same as the singular: “fish.” It's one of a group of irregular plural nouns in English that are identical to the corresponding singular nouns (e.g., “moose,” “sheep”).
What are the 50 examples of irregular verbs? ›
Detailed Irregular Verbs List in English, V1 V2 V3 List abide abode abode arise arose arisen awake awoke awoken be was/were been bear bore born beat beat beaten become became become befall befell befallen beget begot begotten begin began begun bespeak bespoke bespoken bestride bestrode bestridden bet bet bet bid bade/ ...
What are irregular nouns for Grade 2? ›
An irregular noun is a noun that becomes plural by changing its spelling in other ways than adding an “s” or “es” to the end of the word. This change can happen in a variety of ways.
The example nouns are man, child, foot, tooth, mouse, and person. These are regular nouns where we just add the S to make them plural. The example nouns are zoo, radio, stereo, video, and kangaroo. This chart exists to be able to compare it with the next chart about nouns ending in a consonant + O.
How many irregular words are there? ›
Some of the most common English verbs are irregular. They do not take the –ed ending in the simple past and past participle forms, and their irregular forms need to be memorized. How many irregular verbs are there? Many sources count around 200 irregular verbs in English, but not all of those are commonly used.
