PE-3: Plural Nouns: Regular and Irregular
All the plural rules in one place — the -s and -es endings, y → ies, f → ves, the irregular family (child → children) and the nouns that never change.
PE-3: Plural Nouns: Regular and Irregular
Uzbek has one plural ending and it never lets you down: -lar. Kitob → kitoblar, bola → bolalar, oyoq → oyoqlar. English promises you the same simplicity with -s … and then hands you children, feet, mice and sheep. This lesson gives you every rule, in the order you actually need them.
In this lesson you will learn
- When to add -s and when to add -es
- The spelling changes: city → cities, knife → knives
- The irregular plurals every learner must memorise
- The three ways the -s ending is pronounced
1. The default: just add -s
Nine nouns out of ten do exactly this and nothing else.
book → books · pen → pens · table → tables · student → students · day → days
kitob → kitoblar · ruchka → ruchkalar · stol → stollar
2. Add -es after a hissing sound
If the word already ends in a hissing or buzzing sound, -s alone cannot be heard, so English adds a whole extra syllable: -es. This happens after -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, -z.
bus → buses · class → classes · dish → dishes · watch → watches · box → boxes
avtobus → avtobuslar · sinf → sinflar · tovoq → tovoqlar
Say them aloud: bus-iz. You can hear the extra syllable.
Most nouns ending in -o also take -es: potato → potatoes, tomato → tomatoes, hero → heroes. But modern and shortened words keep plain -s: photo → photos, piano → pianos, video → videos, kilo → kilos.
3. Consonant + y → -ies
Look at the letter before the y. If it is a consonant, the y becomes -ies. If it is a vowel, do nothing special — just add -s.
consonant + y → ies
- city → cities
- country → countries
- baby → babies
- story → stories
vowel + y → just s
- day → days
- boy → boys
- key → keys
- toy → toys
4. -f / -fe → -ves
Many (not all) nouns ending in -f or -fe soften to -ves:
knife → knives · wife → wives · leaf → leaves · life → lives · half → halves · shelf → shelves · wolf → wolves
pichoq → pichoqlar · xotin → xotinlar · barg → barglar
Exceptions that keep the f: roof → roofs, chief → chiefs, cliff → cliffs, belief → beliefs, chef → chefs.
5. The irregular family — learn these by heart
These do not follow any rule. They are old words that English has kept unchanged for a thousand years, and they are extremely common — so memorising them pays every day.
| Singular | Plural | Oʻzbekcha |
|---|---|---|
| man | men | erkak → erkaklar |
| woman | women | ayol → ayollar |
| child | children | bola → bolalar |
| person | people | odam → odamlar |
| foot | feet | oyoq → oyoqlar |
| tooth | teeth | tish → tishlar |
| mouse | mice | sichqon → sichqonlar |
| goose | geese | gʻoz → gʻozlar |
And a small group never changes at all — the singular and the plural look identical: sheep, fish, deer, aircraft, series, species.
One sheep, ten sheep. There are many fish in this river.
Bitta qoʻy, oʻnta qoʻy. Bu daryoda koʻp baliq bor.
The noun does not change, but the verb shows you it is plural: are.
6. How to pronounce the -s
The spelling is one letter, but the sound is three different things. Your mouth chooses automatically once you know the pattern.
- /ɪz/ — after a hissing sound (s, sh, ch, x, ge): buses, watches, boxes, pages. An extra syllable you can hear.
- /s/ — after a voiceless sound (p, t, k, f): books, cats, maps, cups. A soft snake sound.
- /z/ — after everything else, including vowels: dogs, pens, boys, cars. A buzzing sound.
7. Common mistakes
There are five childs in the family.
There are five children in the family.
Many peoples came to the concert.
Many people came to the concert.
My foots hurt after the match.
My feet hurt after the match.
She has two babys.
She has two babies. (consonant + y → ies)
We saw three sheeps on the hill.
We saw three sheep on the hill.
Practice
1 Write the plurals: watch · country · knife · photo · man
Show answer
watches (hissing sound → -es), countries (consonant + y), knives (-fe → -ves), photos (shortened word keeps -s), men (irregular).
2 Why is it days but cities?
Show answer
Because of the letter before the y. In day it is the vowel a → just add -s. In city it is the consonant t → y becomes -ies.
3 Correct it: Sherbek brushes his tooths twice a day.
Show answer
Sherbek brushes his teeth twice a day.
Tooth → teeth is irregular. Notice brushes also takes -es — the same hissing-sound rule works on verbs.
4 Is / Are: The police ? looking for the driver.
Show answer
are — police has no -s, but English treats it as a plural group of officers, like people.
5 Which pronunciation of -s: maps · pens · classes?
Show answer
maps = /s/ (after the voiceless p), pens = /z/ (after the voiced n), classes = /ɪz/ (after the hissing ss, an extra syllable).
Key words — Kalit soʻzlar
- Pluralkoʻplik
- Singularbirlik
- Regularqoidali
- Irregularqoidasiz
- Endingqoʻshimcha
- Vowelunli harf
- Consonantundosh harf
- Syllableboʻgʻin
- Spellingimlo
- Pronunciationtalaffuz
🎯 Remember this
- Default: + s. After a hissing sound (s, sh, ch, x, z) and most -o: + es.
- Consonant + y → -ies; vowel + y → just -s.
- Many -f / -fe words become -ves (knife → knives).
- Memorise the irregulars: men, women, children, people, feet, teeth, mice.
- Sheep, fish, deer never change — the verb shows the number.