Irregular Noun Exceptions

Vowel Change Plurals

While most nouns follow regular patterns, a specific set of irregular nouns change their inner vowels when becoming plural. You cannot simply add an -s to these words.

• The woman is drinking coffee, but the other women are drinking tea.
• My left foot hurts, but both of his feet hurt.
• He lost one tooth, so now he has twenty-seven teeth.

Nouns That Stay the Same

Some nouns do not change form at all. The singular and plural forms are completely identical. You can only tell if they are plural by the context of the sentence.

• I saw one sheep on the hill. Then I saw a flock of fifty sheep.
• We caught a beautiful fish, but they caught many fish.
• The deer is eating grass. Look at all those deer!

Adding -en

A very small number of English nouns form their plural by adding -en or -ren.

• Child ➔ Children
• Ox ➔ Oxen