Nouns with irregular pronunciation and spelling

The following thirteen nouns with spellings ending in -for -fe (pronounced /fI) in the singular, are all spelt with-ves in the plural (pronounced /vz/) calf/calves elf/elves half/halves knife/knives

leaf/leaves life/lives loaf/loaves self/selves sheaf/sheaves

shelf/shelves thief'thieves wife/wives wolf/wolves

The following nouns have regular and irregular plural pronunciation

and spellings

dwarf/dwarfs ordwarves hoof/hoofs orhooves scarf/scarfs or

scarves wharf/wharfs or wharves

But note the following nouns which have regular spelling, but both regular and irregular pronunciation in the plural (/fs/ or /vs/) handkerchief/handkerchiefs roof/roofs

Nouns with plurals ending in -'s

There are a few instances where s is commonly used to form a plural

- after lettersWatch your p s and q s

After the following, the plural is normally formed with the addition of but s also occurs

- yearsthe 1890s or 1890s the 1980s or 1980s

- abbreviationsVIPs orVIP s (Very Important Persons) MPs or

MPs (Members of Parliament) Note the finals isa small letter

The plural of nouns ending in -o

Many commonly used nouns techo hero potato tomato ) ending in -o are spelt oes in the plural The following are spelt with-oes or-os buffalo cargo commando grotto halo mosquito tornado volcano All these endings are pronounced/ əʊz I

The following have plurals spelt with os

- nouns ending in vowel + -o or double o bamboos folios
kangaroos oratorios radios studios videos zoos

- abbreviationskilos (for kilograms),photos (for photographs)

- Italian musical terms e gconcertos pianos solos sopranos ~ proper nounsEskimos Filipinos

Irregular spelling: internal vowel change

The following nouns form their plurals by changing the internal vowel(s) (this is a survival from old English) foot'feet goose/geese louse lice man/men mouse/mice tooth/teeth woman/women Compound nouns formed with man or woman as a suffix form their

Number (singular and plural)

plurals with -men or -women policeman/policemen policewoman policewomen Both -man and men in such compounds (but not -woman/women) are often pronounced /man/

Other survivals from the past are a few nouns which form their plurals with -en brother brethren child/children ox/oxen Brethren is used in religious contexts, otherwise brothers is the normal plural of brother Penny can have a regular plural pennies when we are referring to separate coins (ten pennies) or a collective plural, pence, when we are referring to a total amount (tenpence)