Irregular Plurals Spelling Tricks You Need to Know

Irregular Plurals Spelling Tricks You Need to Know Irregular Plurals: Spelling Tricks You Need to Know Why, English? Why do you do this to us? Whenever we think we’ve figured out the rules, it turns out you have a bunch of counterexamples tucked away somewhere in the dictionary. Possibly the most famous way the English language likes to keep us guessing is with irregular plural nouns. These are words that don’t follow the usual spelling convention of adding an â€Å"-s† to make a plural (for instance, â€Å"one dog† becomes â€Å"many dogs†). Words that end in a â€Å"-y† are one example, but there are plenty of others. Luckily, we have some guidelines for spelling different kinds of irregular plural. It all depends on how the word ends†¦ Words Ending â€Å"-f† or â€Å"-fe† When a word ends in an â€Å"s include: Singular Plural Half Halves Life Lives Scarf Scarves This does not apply when a word ends in a â€Å"-ff,† so â€Å"sheriff† becomes â€Å"sheriffs† (not â€Å"sherives†). Other exceptions include chiefs† and â€Å"beliefs.† Words Ending â€Å"-us† Often originating in Latin, words that end in â€Å"-us† typically take an â€Å"-i† in plural form, such as when â€Å"cactus† becomes â€Å"cacti†: Singular Plural Abacus Abaci Nucleus Nuclei Hippopotamus Hippopotami Again, there are exceptions to this rule, notably â€Å"virus† (which becomes â€Å"viruses†) and â€Å"octopus† (for which â€Å"octopuses† – not â€Å"octopi† – is the standard plural). Likewise, hippopotamuses and abacuses are now also commonly accepted as correct variations of the older Latin spellings. Word Ending â€Å"-on† or â€Å"-um† Other Latin-derived word endings to look out for include â€Å"-on† and â€Å"-um,† both of which take an â€Å"-a† when forming a plural (so â€Å"criterion† becomes â€Å"criteria† and â€Å"stadium† becomes â€Å"stadia†). Additional examples include: Singular Plural Phenomenon Phenomena Millennium Millennia Automaton Automata Bacterium Bacteria Words Ending â€Å"-is† or â€Å"-ix† Words with Latin or Greek origins and â€Å"-is,† â€Å"-ex† or â€Å"-ix† endings tend to change to â€Å"-es† or â€Å"-ices† in their plural forms, so â€Å"analysis† becomes â€Å"analyses† and â€Å"appendix† becomes â€Å"appendices†: Singular Plural Crisis Crises Dominatrix Dominatrices Axis Axes Vortex Vortices Words that Change Vowel Sounds To make matters even more confusing, some words change their vowel sound completely when forming a plural, like how â€Å"foot† becomes â€Å"feet†. See also: Singular Plural Woman Women Tooth Teeth Mouse Mice Words that Stay the Same Some irregular plurals actually stay the same as the singular form of the word. Examples include â€Å"squid,† â€Å"sheep,† â€Å"fish,† and â€Å"species.† For instance, both â€Å"a fish† (singular) and â€Å"a shoal of fish† (plural) are correct. It’s also worth noting that uncountable nouns, like â€Å"water† or â€Å"sand,† stay the same regardless of the amount being described.