Most of the English plural nouns can be formed by adding –s to the singular as in boy – boys. But the moment we begin to think of irregular plurals of English nouns, we are stepping into troubled waters. The following questions often land even the most experienced of English teachers in trouble:

  • Is chicken the plural of chick?
  • Is the word media singular or plural?
  • Is it son-in-laws or sons-in-law?
  • Is syllabuses the plural of syllabus?

Well, irregular plurals are those that are not formed by adding –s at the end. This article is an attempt to remove all the doubts regarding irregular plurals in English. You can search the following list of irregular plurals of English nouns to find the singular and plural forms of confusing nouns.

SingularPlural
abyssabysses
addendumaddenda
agendumagenda/agendas
agent provocateuragents provocateurs
aide-de-campaides-de-camp
algaalgae
alumnaalumnae
alumnusalumni
analysisanalyses
anathemaanathemata/anathemas
antennaantennas, antennae
apparatusapparatuses
appendixappendices, appendixes
aquariumaquaria, aquariums
archarches
atlasatlases
attorney generalattorneys general
axeaxes
axisaxes
babybabies
bacillusbacilli
bacteriumbacteria
basisbases
batchbatches
beaubeaux
beau gestebeaux gestes/beau gestes
bel-hommebeaux hommes
belle epoquebelles epoques/belle epoques
bildungsromanbildungsromane
bill of attainderbills of attainder
biscottobiscotti
bisonbison
bon motbons mots/bon mots
bon vivantbons vivants/bon vivants
brotherbrothers/brothren
brushbrushes
buffalobuffalos, buffaloes
bureaubureaus, bureaux
busbusses, buses
cactuscactuses, cacti
calfcalves
candelabrumcandelabra/candelabras
cantocantos
cat-o'-nine-tailscat-o'-nine-tails
chateauchateaux, chateaus
cherrycherries
chickchicks
chickenchickens
childchildren
churchchurches
circuscircuses
citycities
codcod, cods
copycopies
corpscorps
corpuscorpora, corpuses
coup d'etatcoups d'etat
court martialcourts martial
cri du coeurcris du coeur
crisiscrises
criterioncriteria
curriculumcurricula
datumdata
deerdeer
diagnosisdiagnoses
diedice
director generaldirectors general
dogmadogmata/dogmas
dominodominoes
DukhoborDukhobortsy
dwarfdwarfs, dwarves
echoechoes
elfelves
ellipsisellipses
embargoembargoes
emphasisemphases
entente cordialeententes cordiales
erratumerrata
fait accomplifaits accomplis
faxfaxes
fee simple absolutefees simple absolute
firemanfiremen
fishfish, fishes
flushflushes
flyflies
focusfoci, focuses
footfeet
formulaformulae, formulas
fungusfungi, funguses
gensgentes
genugenua
genusgenera
goosegeese
governor-generalgovernors-general
graffitograffiti
halfhalves
halluxhalluces
ham on ryehams on rye/ham-on-ryes
head of stateheads of states/heads of state
heroheroes
heteroheteros
hippopotamushippopotami, hippopotamuses
hoaxhoaxes
holluschikholluschikie
hoofhoofs, hooves
hypothesishypotheses
idee fixeidees fixes
indexindices, indexes
insigneinsignia/insignias
irisirises
iteritinera
jack-in-the-boxjacks-in-the-box/jack-in-the-boxes
jack-in-the-pulpitjacks-in-the-pulpit/jack-in-the-pulpits
jack-o'-lanternjack-o'-lanterns
kimonokimonos
kisskisses
knifeknives
kronekroner
ladyladies
leafleaves
lemmalemmata/lemmas
lifelives
loafloaves
louselice
manmen
man-about-townmen-about-town
man-childmen-children
mangomangoes
man-of-warmen-of-war
manservantmenservants
matrixmatrices, matrixes
matzomatzoth
meansmeans
mediummedia
memorandummemoranda
messmesses
millenniummillenniums, millennia
minister-presidentministers-president
moosemoose
mosquitomosquitoes
mottomottoes
mousemice
nannynannies
nebulanebulae, nebulas
neurosisneuroses
never-wasnever-weres
nucleusnuclei
oasisoases
octopusoctopi, octopuses
offspringoffspring
opusopera/operas
ornisornithes
ovumova
oxoxen
paninopanini/paninis
paparazzopaparazzi
paralysisparalyses
parenthesisparentheses
passpasses
passerbypassersby
pennypennies
personpeople
phenomenonphenomena
photophotos
pianopianos
plateauplateaus, plateaux
poppypoppies
porticoporticos
potatopotatoes
propros
procurator fiscalprocurators fiscal
quadransquadrantes
quarto (paper size)quartos
quizquizzes
radiusradii, radiuses
reflexreflexes
rubairubaiyat
runner-uprunners-up
scarfscarfs, scarves
schemaschemata/schemas
scissorsscissors
scratchscratches
scrotumscrota, scrotums
selfselves
seraphseraphim
seriesseries
sheafsheaves
sheepsheep
shelfshelves
ship of the lineships of the line
shtetlshtetlach
son of a bitchsons of bitches/sons-of-a-bitch
son-in-lawsons-in-law
spaghettospaghettis/paghetti
speciesspecies
splashsplashes
spyspies
stigmastigmata/stigmas
stimulusstimuli
stitchstitches
stomastomata/stomas
storystories
stratumstrata
syllabussyllabi, syllabuses
symposiumsymposia, symposiums
synopsissynopses
synthesissyntheses
tableautableaux, tableaus
taxtaxes
tete-a-tetetete-a-tetes
thatthose
thesistheses
thiefthieves
thisthese
tomatotomatoes
toothteeth
tornadotornadoes
torpedotorpedoes
tortetorten
tour de forcetours de force
trytries
ushabtiushabtiu
vasvasa
vertebravertebrae
vetovetoes
vitavitae
volcanovolcanoes
waltzwaltzes
wharfwharves
wifewives
will-o'-the-wispwill-o'-the-wisps
wolfwolves
womanwomen
woman doctorwomen doctors
wunderkindwunderkinder
yeshivayeshivoth
zecchinozecchini
zerozeros, zeroes
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