Writing Irregular Plural Nouns

One of the basic editing tasks is to ensure that subjects and verbs match in number . There are three numbers—singular, dual, and plural—that are distinguished in both the noun and the verb, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica. Let's not worry about the archaic "dual" form here. The greatest problem for writers is the fact that many nouns, which are used for subjects, don't always become plural by the regular method of adding an s or es to the end of the singular form: dog, dogs/church, churches. In fact, most words that end in s, x, ch, or sh form plurals this way.

Irregular nouns don't need a laxative, but they do need special handling when forming their plurals and, subsequently, when writing an associated verb. If the plural of a noun is the same word, take care to use a plural verb when that is what you mean. For example, we may use fish or fishes as the plural form of fish. Thus all the following sentences are correct:

Fishes fill the dish.
Fish fill the dish.
A fish fills the dish. (singular)

Other unchanging nouns include:

barracks
deer
crossroads
offspring
dice (although die can be the singular)
gallows
headquarters
sheep
means
series
species

Find help with forming plurals of all forms of irregular nouns at the University of Victoria's 330 Grammar and Georgia State University's Joanna Crump's grammar pages.