Pluralizing words, plural nouns

Pluralizing words isn’t always a simple matter of adding an S to the end. And switching a word from the masculine to feminine form isn’t always a matter of adding -ess.

The words alms, amends, cattle, clothes, doldrums, ides, pants, pliers, scissors, shorts, smithereens and trousers are all plural or plural nouns.

Many words are both singular and plural also. We’ve listed a few: scissors, species, you, pants, deer, moose and sheep are spelled and pronounced the same way in both their singular and plural forms.

Examples

‘There stands a sheep’ – singular form. And ‘look at that flock of sheep’ – plural form.

More interesting words with this property are congeries, kudos, premises, shambles, series and species. Fish can be both singular and plural, yet fishes is also a correct pluralization of the word.

The words bourgeois, chassis, corps, faux pas, gardebras, precis, pince-nez and rendezvous all have plurals spelled the same way, but pronounced differently.