Humanities Languages A List of 100 Irregular Plural Nouns in English Share Flipboard Email Print The plural form of wolf is wolves. Guy Edwardes / Getty Images Languages English Grammar Using Words Correctly Writing Tips & Advice Sentence Structures Rhetoric & Style Punctuation & Mechanics Developing Effective Paragraphs Developing Effective Essays Commonly Confused Words Questions & Answers Exercises & Quizzes Topic Suggestions Glossary of Key Terms Readings & Resources English as a Second Language Spanish French German Italian Japanese Mandarin Russian View More by Richard Nordquist Richard Nordquist is a freelance writer and former professor of English and Rhetoric who wrote college-level Grammar and Composition textbooks. Updated September 21, 2018 Most English nouns form their plural by adding either -s (books, bands, bells) or -es (boxes, bunches, batches). These plural forms are said to follow a regular pattern.There are no easy rules, unfortunately, for irregular plurals in English. They simply have to be learnt and remembered.(S. Curtis and M. Manser, The Penguin Writer's Manual, 2002)But not all nouns conform to this standard pattern. In fact, some of the most common English nouns have irregular plural forms—such as woman/women and child/children. In addition, several nouns have alternative plurals, one regular and the other irregular.In regard to these alternative forms, there are no strict rules to guide our use of them:People have to learn which form to use as they meet the words for the first time, and must become aware of variations in usage. When there is a choice, the classical [irregular] plural is usually the more technical, learned, or formal, as in the case of formulas vs. formulae or curriculums vs. curricula. Sometimes, alternative plurals have even developed different senses, as in the cases of (spirit) mediums vs. (mass) media, or appendixes (in bodies or books) vs. appendices (only in books).(David Crystal, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press, 2003)As you'll see in the list that follows, many words with irregular plurals are loanwords that have kept their foreign plural forms (or at least held on to those forms as alternatives to regular English plurals). List of 100 Irregular Plural Nouns in EnglishIn the list below, you'll find singular noun forms in the left column and the corresponding plural forms in the right column. When a noun has more than one plural form, the irregular one appears first, though that doesn't necessarily mean that the irregular form is more widely accepted than the regular form. addendumaddenda or addendumsaircraftaircraftalumnaalumnaealumnusalumnianalysisanalysesantennaantennae or antennasantithesisantithesesapexapices or apexesappendixappendices or appendixesaxisaxes bacillusbacillibacteriumbacteriabasisbasesbeaubeaux or beausbisonbisonbureaubureaux or bureaus cactuscacti or cactus or cactuseschâteauchâteaux or châteauschildchildrencodexcodicesconcertoconcerti or concertoscorpuscorporacrisiscrisescriterioncriteria or criterionscurriculumcurricula or curriculums datumdatadeerdeer or deersdiagnosisdiagnosesdiedice or diesdwarfdwarves or dwarfs ellipsisellipseserratumerrata faux pasfaux pasfezfezzes or fezesfishfish or fishesfocusfoci or focusesfootfeet or footformulaformulae or formulasfungusfungi or funguses genusgenera or genusesgoosegeesegraffitograffitigrousegrouse or grouses halfhalveshoofhooves or hoofshypothesishypotheses indexindices or indexes larvalarvae or larvaslibrettolibretti or librettosloafloaveslocuslocilouselice manmenmatrixmatrices or matrixesmediummedia or mediumsmemorandummemoranda or memorandumsminutiaminutiaemoosemoosemousemice nebulanebulae or nebulasnucleusnuclei or nucleuses oasisoasesoffspringoffspring or offspringsopusopera or opusesovumovaoxoxen or ox parenthesisparenthesesphenomenonphenomena or phenomenonsphylumphylaprognosisprognoses quizquizzes radiusradii or radiusesreferendumreferenda or referendums salmonsalmon or salmonsscarfscarves or scarfsselfselvesseriesseriessheepsheepshrimpshrimp or shrimpsspeciesspeciesstimulusstimulistratumstrataswineswinesyllabussyllabi or syllabusessymposiumsymposia or symposiumssynopsissynopses tableautableaux or tableausthesisthesesthiefthievestoothteethtrouttrout or troutstunatuna or tunas vertebravertebrae or vertebrasvertexvertices or vertexesvitavitaevortexvortices or vortexes wharfwharves or wharfswifewiveswolfwolveswomanwomen SourcesThe plural forms in this list are recognized by Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003) and The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2011). Continue Reading