Health Editor’s Note: Sometimes we just have to memorize things….no way to work them out using grammatical rules. English is a difficult language to learn and you are fortunate if you leaned it as you grew up, not as a second language…Carol
100 Irregular English Plural Nouns
By Richard Nordquist ThoughtCo.
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)</cite
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
Carol graduated from Riverside White Cross School of Nursing in Columbus, Ohio and received her diploma as a registered nurse. She attended Bowling Green State University where she received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History and Literature. She attended the University of Toledo, College of Nursing, and received a Master’s of Nursing Science Degree as an Educator.
She has traveled extensively, is a photographer, and writes on medical issues. Carol has three children RJ, Katherine, and Stephen – one daughter-in-law; Katie – two granddaughters; Isabella Marianna and Zoe Olivia – and one grandson, Alexander Paul. She also shares her life with her husband Gordon Duff, many cats, and two rescues.
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Sometimes knowing other languages helps.
For example German Zahn, Zähne ; English tooth, teeth. The vowel shift is called “Umlaut” and shows that English has some Germanic roots. Another example is Dutch kind, kinderen ; English child, children.
Knowing som Latin also helps, because when you recognize a word as a Latin loan word, then you get its plural from the Latin declination tables. This is a great help for foreigners who have had several languages in school.
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