Irregular plural nouns

In English, there are hundreds of nouns that don’t follow the standard rules for
pluralization. There are no easy ways to remember them, so they generally have to be
memorized.
Some of the rarer irregular plurals are often misused, leading to the creation of variant
forms, which usually encounter resistance at first but eventually make it into the language.
For example, the plural of formula has traditionally been formulae, but formulas is now far
more common, and few would call it incorrect.

-ch, sh, x, s, z get -es

Nouns that end in –ch, sh, x, s or z require an -es for the plural:
singular plural
box boxes
gas gases
kiss kisses
witch witches
wish wishes
Consonant + y becoming -ies
Nouns that end in a consonant + -y drop the - y and take -ies
singular plural
baby babies
lorry lorries
Vowel + y take -s
Nouns that end in a vowel + y take the letter -s:
singular plural
boy boys
way ways
Latinate plurals
Some nouns have retained their plural forms from Latin and other languages:
singular plural
addendum addenda
alga algae
alumnus alumni
amoeba amoebae
antenna antennae
bacillus bacilli
bacterium bacteria
cactus cacti
corpus corpora
curriculum curricula
datum data
erratum errata
focus foci
formula formulae
fungus fungi
genus genera
larva larvae
medium media
memorandum memoranda
nucleus nuclei
radius radii
stratum strata
stimulus stimuli
syllabus syllabi
vertebra vertebrae
terminus termini
-o becoming -oes
Most nouns ending in -o are pluralized by adding an –es —for example:
singular plural
echo echoes
embargo embargoes
hero heroes
potato potatoes
tomato tomatoes
torpedo torpedoes
veto vetoes
-o becoming -os
Some nouns ending in -o break the above rule and get –os in the plural form:
singular plural
auto autos
kangaroo kangaroos
kilo kilos
memo memos
photo photos
piano pianos
pro pros
solo solos
soprano sopranos
studio studios
tattoo tattoos
video videos
zoo zoos
Changing vowel sounds
Some nouns change their central vowel sounds when pluralized—for example:
singular plural
child children
foot feet
goose geese
louse lice
man men
mouse mice
ox oxen
person people
tooth teeth
woman women
-f becoming -ves
Some nouns ending in -f are pluralized by dropping the -f and adding -ves:
singular plural
calf calves
elf elves
half halves
hoof hooves
knife knives
leaf leaves
life lives
loaf loaves
self selves
shelf shelves
thief thieves
wife wives
wolf wolves
-is becoming -es
Some nouns ending in -is are pluralized by dropping the -is and adding -es:
singular plural
axis axes
analysis analyses
basis bases
crisis crises
diagnosis diagnoses
ellipsis ellipses
emphasis emphases
hypothesis hypotheses
neurosis neuroses
oasis oases
paralysis paralyses
parenthesis parentheses
synopsis synopses
thesis theses
-ix becoming -ices
Some nouns ending in -ix are pluralized by dropping the -ix and adding -ices:
singular plural
appendix appendices
index indices
matrix matrices
-on becoming -a
Some nouns of Greek origin ending in -on are pluralized by dropping the –on and adding –
a:
singular plural
automaton automata
criterion criteria
phenomenon phenomena

Unchanged plurals
A few nouns are unchanged in their plural forms:
singular plural
barracks barracks
deer deer
fish fish
gallows gallows
means means
offspring offspring
series series
sheep sheep
species species