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How to spell plural nouns: With –es or –s?

When do you add –s and when do you add –es to make a plural noun? It’s
not quite as arbitrary as it may seem.

If a word ends in –s, –sh, –ch, –x, or –z, you add –es. 

Examples of plural nouns ending in –es

I had to take only one bus; you had to take two buses.

I had to do only one wash; you had to do two washes.

I have a splotch on my shirt; you have two splotches.

I’m carrying one box; you’re carrying two boxes.

I heard one buzz; you heard two buzzes.

Some single nouns ending in –s or –z require more than the –es to form
their plural versions. To pluralize these nouns, you must double the –s or –
z before adding the –es. 

Examples of single nouns ending in –s or –z

Do you smell the gasses coming from the chemistry lab?

How many fezzes can the boy possibly have?

All other regular nouns can be pluralized by simply adding an –s. These are
just a few examples:
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I have one cat; you have two cats.

I have one cup; you have two cups.

I have one shoe; you have two shoes.

I have one ski; you have two skis.

I have one toque; you have two toques.

Adding –s or –es to a noun to make it plural is the most common form of
pluralization, but there are many other plural noun rules that apply to words
with certain endings.

Basic and common punctuation marks

Periods

When it comes to punctuation marks, you don’t get any more basic
than periods. The period, also known as the full stop, looks like this: .

It has one job: to end a declarative sentence. 

That’s all. That’s what periods do. 

Ellipses

Ellipses look like a set of three periods together: . . .

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An ellipsis is used to show that information has been omitted from a quote,
usually to shorten it. 

In fiction and poetry, they’re also used to build suspense, show a speaker’s
voice is trailing off or faltering, or represent incomplete thoughts. This
evolved into ellipses’ use in casual conversation, like text messages and
social media posts, where they’re frequently used to indicate pauses . . . or
voices or thoughts fading away. 

Commas

Commas are one of the most common punctuation marks. A comma looks

like this: ,

They’re also among the most commonly misused punctuation marks. A

comma indicates a pause in a sentence, either between phrases, clauses,
or items in a list. This is what can make them tricky—the points where
you’d pause in a spoken sentence aren’t always where you’d use a comma
in a written sentence. 

Apostrophes

The apostrophe is a busy little punctuation mark. It looks like this: ’ 

Apostrophes’ jobs include:

 Creating possessive nouns (Jim’s house, the Kelleys’ car)

 Combining words into contractions (don’t, she’ll, weren’t)

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And more casually, apostrophes are used to shorten words (government

becomes gov’t and the 1970s becomes the ’70s) and in quotes to show the
speaker has shortened a word, for example: We looked and found nothin’.

One last note on apostrophes: Most of the time, they are not used to
pluralize nouns. For example:

Don’t use them when you’re referring to a decade numerically (correct: the
1990s, incorrect: the 1990’s)

Don’t use them when the last letter follows an apostrophe (correct: don’ts,
incorrect: don’t’s)

Don’t use them when describing a group of people (correct: the Chens are
coming to dinner, incorrect: the Chen’s are coming to dinner)

However, the only time an apostrophe is used to pluralize a noun is when

the noun being pluralized is a lowercase letter. For example: Mind your p’s
and q’s. 

Exclamation points

Punctuation is exciting! 

You read that sentence in an eager, high-energy voice because it ended

with an exclamation point: !

Much like the period, the exclamation point has one job: to make sentences
exciting!

Just be careful not to overuse them—and in some kinds of writing, it’s best
to leave them out entirely. Exclamation points can be fun in casual
messages and show the passion in a character’s voice when you’re writing
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fiction, but they’re usually not a good choice in any kind of formal,
academic, or business writing. 

Question marks

The question mark is another one-job punctuation mark. They look

like ? and they’re used to communicate that a sentence is a question. 

Only use a question mark when you’re asking a direct question, like:

 What kind of phone do you have?

 Why didn’t my package arrive?

Indirect questions are actually declarative sentences, so they end with

periods. Examples of indirect questions include: 

 I wondered why there was so much traffic.

 She asked herself how she could have missed the signs. 

Dashes

There are two different kinds of dash you probably use fairly regularly in
your writing—and one you don’t. The two common ones are:

Em dash  —  

En dash – 

We explain the situations that call for each kind of dash in our post on using
colons, semicolons, and dashes in your writing. 
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And the rare one is known as a double hyphen. It looks like this: ⸗ and you
only use it when you’re wrapping a hyphenated word onto the next line of
text. 

Quotation marks

As their name implies, quotation marks denote direct quotes. But that’s not

all they do. 

They look like “ ” and they can also be used to: 

 State the title of a work (His article, “Why Chocolate is the Best
Flavor,” was published in Ice Cream magazine.)

 Signify a word within a sentence (Please refer to the champion as

“winner.”)

 Communicate that a specific word is being used in a facetious

disapproving way (The day-old pizza was “not that terrible.”)

Parentheses

When you need to add information to a sentence but the information

doesn’t fit in gracefully, add it with parentheses. Generally, this information
is a tidbit of detail or a quick aside.

Hyphens

Hyphens might look like dashes, but they aren’t dashes. Hyphens are used
to create compound words like:

 Load-bearing
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 Well-loved

 Great-looking

Less-commonly used punctuation marks

Interrobang

What‽

When your sentence calls for a question mark and an exclamation mark,

the interrobang is the punctuation mark you need. It was first introduced in
1968 and today it can be found in a wide variety of fonts. 

Brackets

Brackets might look like parentheses, but they aren’t parentheses. They
come in two different forms:

Square brackets: [ ]

Curly brackets, also known as braces or squiggly brackets: { }

Square brackets are used two different ways: to add content to a quote in
order to make the quote clearer and to mark a subordinate clause within
another subordinate clause within parentheses. If that sounds confusing,
seeing them in play visually may help:

 “I loved it [the new movie]. I couldn’t look away,” Bob said.

 I invited my family (Mom, Dad, my sisters [but only Melanie came]

and Grandma) to come meet the new puppy. 
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Squiggly brackets are rarely seen outside programming, physics, and high-
level mathematics. But when they are, they’re generally used to indicate a
list. 

Types of punctuation

Punctuation marks are grouped according to what they do. 

Terminal points

Terminal points are punctuation marks that end sentences. These marks
are: 

 Periods

 Question marks

 Exclamation points

 Interrobangs

Pausing points

Pausing points are punctuation marks that tell the reader to pause. These
include:

 Commas

 Colons

 Semicolons

 Em dashes
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 Ellipses

Identifying quotation

And then there are the punctuation marks that identify quotations. This
group includes quotation marks. 

Why is punctuation important?

Punctuation is important because it directs your writing’s flow. If your

writing is a roadway, the punctuation marks are the traffic signs. They show
the reader where to pause, where to come to a complete stop, and how to
interpret the phrases they come across.

Different pieces of punctuation can radically change your writing’s

message. Take a look at this example, which you might have seen before:

 Let’s eat Grandma.

 Let’s eat, Grandma.

See how much of a difference a comma makes? 

Common punctuation errors and questions

How many spaces go after a period?

One. 
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If you started writing when typewriters were commonplace, you were

probably taught to put two spaces after each period. This is because on a
typewriter, each character takes up the same amount of space on the
page, so two spaces made the start of a new sentence clearer. With
computers, this isn’t necessary because word processing programs
automatically adjust the amount of space between each letter.

When should I use a colon? What about a semicolon?

It’s not always easy to know when a colon or a semicolon is the right call.
And to make things more confusing, there are situations where either can
be appropriate. 

Generally, a colon is for situations where you’re introducing information and

need to give it some context or you have two directly related clauses and
you want to emphasize the second one. Here are both scenarios in action: 

 We watched everything that airs on weeknights: Wheel of

Fortune, Eyewitness News, and Jeopardy!

 I’ll tell you why I’m not going to pass this assignment: I still haven’t
started writing my essay. 

When you have two independent clauses, you can use a semicolon to bring
them together as a full sentence. 

What is the Oxford comma? 

The Oxford comma, also known as the serial comma, is a comma placed in
a list between the second-to-last item and the word “and.” Here is a quick
example: 
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 I made grilled cheese sandwiches, steamed broccoli, and cut

strawberries for lunch. 

That comma right after “broccoli” is the Oxford comma. Some style guides,
notably the Chicago Manual of Style, require it. Others, notably the
Associated Press Stylebook, do not. If you’re not sure whether to use the
Oxford comma in your writing, check your style guide—if you have one. If
not, whether to use the Oxford comma or not is completely your call.  

You’ll notice in this blog post and others that at Grammarly, we use the
Oxford comma. But lots of other blogs don’t, and that doesn’t make their
grammar less correct than ours. 

The Oxford comma can make your lists clearer because it eliminates any
possibility of the reader’s misinterpreting the last two items as anything but
items in the list. Take a look at how the Oxford comma clears up confusion
in this list: 

 I called two plumbers, Jack and Steve.

 I called two plumbers, Jack, and Steve. 

Are Jack and Steve the plumbers, or did you call them in addition to calling
two plumbers? The Oxford comma clarifies that. But when you’re working
with a style guide that doesn’t use the Oxford comma, you can make lists
like these clear by changing your word order: I called Steve, Jack and two
plumbers. 

Whether you decide to use the Oxford comma in your writing or

not, always make sure you stay consistent with your choice. Seeing an
Oxford comma in one sentence, then seeing lists without it for the rest of
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the piece, can be jarring for readers and make you look like an inattentive
proofreader. 

Should I use single or double quotes?

In American English, use double quotes except for when you’re writing a
quotation within a quotation, like:

“I brought it to the dealership and the guy said, ‘It’ll be $50 just for me to
take a look at it.’ Can you believe that?” Jessie asked. 

In British English, single quotes are typically used. 

Do periods go inside quotation marks? How about

parentheses?

In American English, periods always go inside quotation marks. The same

is true for commas. However, not all other punctuation marks go inside
quotation marks. Dashes, colons, and semicolons always go outside
quotation marks (unless they’re part of what’s being quoted) and
exclamation and question marks sometimes go outside, sometimes go
inside. With these, whether they go inside or outside the quotation marks
depends on whether they’re part of the quote or part of the larger clause.
Here’s a look at both situations: 

 “How much do I owe you?” Jim asked the driver. 

 I want a steak, not this “soy-based substitute”!

With parentheses, the same rules apply. If the period, or any other
punctuation mark, is part of the sentence or clause within the parenthesis, it
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stays inside the parenthesis. If it’s part of the larger sentence, it goes
outside the parentheses. 

How do I know I’m using punctuation correctly?

One way to quickly catch punctuation mistakes is to read your writing

aloud. Does it sound right? If something sounds off, it might be your
punctuation. 

Don’t just trust your ears to catch grammar mistakes. While some errors
are easy to recognize when you listen to your writing, others aren’t so
obvious. For these, Grammarly can help. 

Here’s a tip: Punctuation can be tricky, but it doesn’t have to trip you up. Use
Grammarly’s Grammar Checker to get instant feedback on grammar, spelling,
punctuation, and other mistakes you might have missed.

What is an antonym?

Antonyms are words that have opposite meanings. For example, an

antonym of day is night, and an antonym of on is off. The
term antonym comes from antonymy, which is the technical grammar term
for words that have contradictory meanings—but you can think of antonyms
as opposites. 

Synonyms and antonyms

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Antonyms are closely related to synonyms, which are words that have
identical meanings. While antonyms have opposite meanings, synonyms
have the same meaning. 

Let’s look at the example word big. The antonym of big is small. This

is because big and small are opposites; the synonym
of big is large because big and large mean the same thing. 

big antonym: small synonym: large

Don’t overthink it, but the words synonym and antonym are actually

antonyms!

Contronyms or auto-antonyms

A contronym, also known as an auto-antonym, is a special type of

antonym. Contronyms are words that have multiple meanings, and some of
those meanings are antonyms of each other. Technically, contronyms are
antonyms that are also homophones, which are words that are pronounced
the same but have different meanings. Contronyms can fit into any of the
types of antonyms below. 

One of the most common contronym examples is dust. As a verb, dust can

mean:

 To remove dust (as in cleaning)

 To sprinkle with dust (as in putting sugar on food)

Essentially, the word dust means both to “add dust” and “remove dust.”

This contrast in definitions makes it a contronym. You can find more
examples in our article on verb contronyms. 
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What’s the purpose of antonyms? 

Antonyms play an important role in writing by making your words more

effective. Placing opposites together highlights their differences and makes
the individual words stronger. Specifically, you can use the power of
opposites in three ways. 

1 Comparisons

Antonyms are great for comparing two separate things and drawing
attention to what makes them different. If you’re writing a research
paper that compares two topics, using pairs of antonyms can better
communicate what sets them apart. 

For example, let’s say you’re discussing life in urban areas versus life in
rural areas. Instead of just listing facts about each, you can use antonym
pairs to communicate the differences more clearly. So you could call rural
life “quiet” and urban life “noisy” or say that there are “few” people in rural
areas and “many” people in urban areas.  

2 Description

Sometimes the best way to describe something is to explain what it isn’t.

Using antonyms with a negative can add new dimensions to your
descriptions and improve your writing’s word choice.

For example, you might describe someone who is arrogant as “not modest”
or “not humble.” Because modest and humble are antonyms of arrogant,
you’re saying the same thing. However, using the antonyms draws
attention to the fact that the person chooses not to be modest or humble,
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which adds a little more characterization than simply calling them

“arrogant.” 

Keep in mind that positive descriptions are usually better than negative
descriptions, so antonyms are not recommended for descriptions all the
time. Still, they work well when you’re playing with the reader’s
expectations. For example, bugs are usually small, so when you mention a
“giant bug,” the contrast makes the phrase stronger. 

In this way, antonyms can enhance your persuasive writing by

strengthening your descriptive words and challenging your reader’s
expectations. 

3 Antithesis 

Antithesis is a literary device that directly harnesses the power of opposites

by placing them next to or near each other. As mentioned above, antonyms
draw attention to what makes things different, making each word seem
stronger. Antithesis takes this to the next level by putting antonyms
together. Always look for opportunities to use antithesis when
you revise your writing. 

One of the most famous examples of antithesis is Neil Armstrong’s real-life

quote when landing on the moon: 

That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

There are two different pairs of antonyms here: small and giant,

and step and leap. By putting the opposite concepts of “small step” and
“giant leap” together in the same sentence, his statement makes each of
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them seem more significant. If Neil’s first words on the moon were “I took a
small step” and nothing more, his quote wouldn’t be nearly as popular! 

Types of antonyms

When we say antonyms are opposites, that’s a bit general. There are
different types of opposites and so different types of antonyms. 

Complementary antonyms

Also known as binary antonyms or contradictory antonyms,

complementary antonyms are word pairs where the positive use of one
means the negative use of the other. In other words, they have an either-or
relationship: Something can be either one or the other but never both at the
same time. 

Complementary antonym examples:

on — off real — fake alive — dead

Gradable antonyms

Also known as polar antonyms, gradable antonyms are opposite

amounts of the same quality. For example, far and near are gradable
antonyms because they are opposite amounts of distance. However, these
qualities are relative: The mall may be far from your home, but compared to
the middle of the Pacific Ocean, it’s near your home.

Gradable antonym examples:

new — old hot — cold long — short

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Relational antonyms

Also known as converse antonyms, relational antonyms play opposite

roles in a mutual relationship. For example, teacher and student are
relational antonyms: Neither can exist without the other, and yet their roles
are completely different. 

Relational antonym examples:

buy — sell left — right parent — child

Antonyms and prefixes

In English, antonyms are often used with prefixes, small syllables of around

one to three letters that attach to the beginnings of words to change their
meaning. There are a few prefixes that reverse a word’s meaning, turning it
into its opposite—perfect for antonyms! 

Be careful when using prefixes: Not every word can take a prefix, so you
can’t add them wherever you want. You just have to familiarize yourself
with the common prefixed words in English until you memorize the correct
terms. Also, pay attention to spelling, as sometimes a letter gets doubled to
assist the pronunciation. 

Here are some common prefixes used with antonym pairs, along with their
examples. Each of these prefixes essentially changes a word’s meaning to
its opposite. 

dis- honest — dishonest appear — disappear agree — disagree

i- logical — illogical legal — illegal responsible — irresponsible

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in-, im- possible — impossible decent — indecent discreet — indiscreet

non- believer — nonbeliever binary — nonbinary linear — nonlinear

mis- lead — mislead behave — misbehave fortune — misfortune

mal- function — malfunction nutrition — malnutrition adaptive —

maladaptive

un- important — unimportant necessary — unnecessary likely — unlikely

Antonym FAQs 

What are antonyms?

Antonyms are words with opposite meanings,

like hot and cold, good and bad, and happy and sad. 

When should antonyms be used?

Antonyms are best used in comparisons to draw attention to what

separates two opposing things. By pointing out these differences, antonym
pairs can better communicate what sets each apart from the other. 

What are the different kinds of antonyms?

Complementary antonyms, like on and off, cannot be true at the same

time. Gradable antonyms show opposite amounts of the same quality,
like big and small, which describe different sizes. Relational antonyms
show opposite roles in the same relationship, like teacher and student.
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