English Language Learning - Class 1-5: Irregular Nouns

Her feet are in a lot of pain.

Definition:

Many nouns have irregular plural forms. Irregular nouns are nouns that completely change the spelling of the word when the word is in plural form.

Examples:

one child = two children

one man = three men

one person = four people

one woman = five women

Examples of Irregular Nouns

The ending of the noun changes from –us to–i
Singular:	alumnus	cactus	fungus	nucleus
Plural:	alumni	cacti	fungi	nuclei

The ending of the noun changes from *-is* to *-es*
Singular:	axis	analysis	basis	crisis
Plural:	axes	analyses	bases	crises

The ending of the noun changes from *-ix* to *-ices* or *-ex* to *-eces*
Singular:	appendix	index	matrix
Plural:	appendices	indexes	matrixes

The ending of the noun changes from *-eu* to *-eaux*
Singular:	bureau
Plural:	bureaus

The ending of noun changes to –en
Singular:	child	man	ox	woman
Plural:	children	men	oxen	women

*Note: Some words have more than one plural form. Fungi = funguses, indexes = indeces, matrixes = matrices, and bureaus = bureaux.

Continued

The ending of the noun changes to –a
Singular:	bacterium	curriculum	medium	memorandum
Plural:	bacteria	curricula	media	memoranda

The middle of the noun changes from *-oo* to *-ee*
Singular:	foot	goose	tooth
Plural:	feet	geese	teeth

The ending of the noun changes from -a to *-ae*
Singular:	antenna	formula	nebula	vertebra
Plural:	antennae*	formulas*	nebulae	vertebrae

The ending of the noun changes from *-ouse* to *-ice*
Singular:	mouse	louse
Plural:	mice	lice

*Note: Antennae = antennas, and formulas = formulae.

Exercise

Exercise 1:You must change the regular noun to an irregular noun.

1. foot = feet

2. man = _________________

3. child = _________________

4. woman = _________________

3. mouse = _________________

4. fish = _________________

5. sheep = _________________

6. tooth = _________________

7. curriculum = _________________

9. deer = _________________

10. louse = _________________

Beginner English