Pronunciation of Plural Nouns in English
The pronunciation of plural nouns is very important. Below you will find the rules which should be followed in the pronunciation of plural nouns.
| Regular spelling | Pronunciation | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| when a noun ends with a vowel or voiced consonant with the exception of /z/ and / dz / |
/ z / | bed | beds |
| stove | stoves | ||
| dog | dogs | ||
| room | rooms | ||
| when a noun ends with voiceless consonant with the exception of: /s/, /f/ /tf/ |
/ s / | clock | clocks |
| cat | cats | ||
| roof | roofs | ||
| month | months | ||
| when a noun ends with a consonant /z/, /s/, /f/, /dz/ or /tf/ or when a singular noun ends with s, ss, sh, ch, z |
/ iz / | gas | gases |
| glass | glasses | ||
| nose | noses | ||
| brush | brushes | ||
| watch | watches | ||
| judge | judges | ||
| box | boxes | ||
| a consonant + -y turns into | ies | country | countries |
| baby | babies | ||
| fly | flies | ||
| lady | ladies | ||
| a vowel + y takes -s | -ay | day | days |
| -ey | key | keys | |
| -oy | boy | boys | |
| -uy | guy | guys | |
| proper nouns | Fry | the Frys | |
| Kennedy | the Kennedys | ||
| nouns ending with -f / -fe | -ves | loaf | loaves |
| wife | wives | ||
| wolf | wolves | ||
| half | halves | ||
| some nouns have double forms | -s or -ves | hoof | hoofs / hooves |
| scarf | scarfs / scarves | ||
| wharf | wharfs / wharves | ||
| nouns which change vowels | foot | feet | |
| louse | lice | ||
| mouse | mice | ||
| woman | women | ||
| goose | geese | ||
| man | men | ||
| tooth | teeth |