What Are Irregular Plural Nouns?
Irregular plural nouns don’t adhere to specific rules; therefore, it’s prudent to study them or search for accurate pluralization in the dictionary. Lack of definite rules makes it challenging to understand them. So, you must devote your time to study and memorize them. Otherwise, you’re bound to error when making use of irregular nouns in plural form.
Examples of irregular nouns in singular and plural format:
| Singular | Plural |
| Man | Men |
| Foot | Feet |
| Mouse | Mice |
| Child | Children |
| Woman | Women |
| Goose | Geese |
| Person | People |
Irregular Plural Nouns | Rules
No Change in the Plural
Some nouns have identical singular and plural. Many of these are the names of animals.
Irregular Plural Nouns List:
- Aircraft – aircraft
- Barracks – barracks
- Deer – deer
- Gallows – gallows
- Moose – moose
- Salmon – salmon
- Hovercraft – hovercraft
- Spacecraft – spacecraft
- Series – series
- Species – species
- Means – means
- Offspring – offspring
- Deer – deer
- Fish – fish
- Sheep – sheep
- Offspring – offspring
- Trout – trout
- Swine – swine
Changing the Spelling of the Singular Noun
The plural is sometimes formed by simply changing the vowel sound of the singular (these are sometimes called mutated plurals):
Irregular Plural Nouns List:
- Person – people
- Ox – oxen
- Man – men
- Woman – women
- Caveman – cavemen
- Policeman – policemen
- Child – children
- Tooth – teeth
- Foot – feet
- Goose – geese
- Mouse – mice
- Louse – lice
- Penny – pence
Note: There are many compounds of man and woman that form their plurals in the same way: postmen, policewomen, etc.