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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.
What are the 15 irregular 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.
How do you remember irregular plural nouns? ›
Although there are no hard rules for forming irregular plural nouns, there are some patterns that can help you remember them. Some nouns just change one letter, such as 'man' to 'men,' or 'woman' to 'women. ' Some nouns change their spelling completely, such as 'mouse' to 'mice'.
What irregular 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 are 3 examples of irregular plural nouns? ›
Here's a few examples that pupils might be likely to come across in day-to-day use:
- Mouse -mice.
- Loaf - loaves.
- Child - children.
- Wolf - wolves.
- Person - people.
- Thief - thieves.
- Scarf - scarves.
- Man – men.
- Woman – women.
- Ox – oxen.
- Goose – geese.
- Child – children.
- Tooth – teeth.
- Foot – feet.
- Mouse – mice.
Here are just a few examples:
- Tooth - teeth.
- Man - men.
- Woman - women.
- Foot - feet.
- Oasis - oases.
- Goose - geese.
Irregular plural nouns are nouns that do not get the traditional “s” ending to become plural. Instead, they may follow a new rule to become plural.
What are the 6 irregular plural? ›
100 Irregular Plural Nouns List
| addendum | addenda or addendums |
|---|
| loaf | loaves |
| locus | loci |
| louse | lice |
| man | men |
94 more rowsNov 4, 2019
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”).
An irregular plural noun is a noun that becomes plural in a way other than adding -s or -es to the end. For example, an irregular noun like mouse changes into the plural noun mice. Another example is the noun thief which becomes thieves when there is more than one robber involved in a heist.
Is babies an irregular plural? ›
Some irregular nouns that end in -y are made plural by changing the y to an i and adding -es. For instance, baby becomes babies, and lady becomes ladies. But, if it ends in a vowel followed by y, it's actually a regular noun.
Why do irregular nouns exist? ›
Why are there irregular plural nouns in the English language? Irregular plurals exist because the English language has a rich history of borrowing words and linguistic evolution. Many of these irregular plurals can be traced back to Old English or even earlier sources such as Germanic and Romance languages.
What is an irregular noun? ›
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.
Why are nouns irregular plural? ›
In most cases, irregular plurals exist because the noun has been adopted from a language with different ways to form the plural. In other cases, though, English has made these nouns regular by adding an -s that would seem strange in the original language.
