The key difference between regular and irregular nouns is that regular nouns are nouns that can be converted into their plural form by simply adding “-s” and “-es” to their end, whereas irregular nouns are nouns that do not follow a standard rule in converting plurals. The difference between regular and irregular nouns can be identified from their plural form. It’s important to note that although the endings of the nouns have distinct formations, their purpose is the same.
Key Takeaways
- Regular nouns can be converted into plurals by simply adding “-s” or “-es” at the end of the word, while irregular nouns do not follow a standard rule in forming plurals.
- Irregular nouns often have a major spelling change when converting to their plural form, unlike regular nouns.
- Both regular and irregular nouns serve the same purpose, despite their different plural formations.
What are Regular Nouns?
Plural nouns indicate that there is more than one of the referred noun. Regular nouns are nouns that can be formed into their plural form by simply adding “-s” and “-es” to the end. For example, the noun “flower” is singular, and it indicates one thing. This noun can be made plural by adding “s” at the end as “flowers,” giving the meaning “more flowers.”
At the same time, nouns that end with -ss, -s, -sh, -ch, -z, -x, and -o are converted into plural formation by adding “-es.” For example, the noun “class” in the singular form can be converted into plural form by adding “-es” at the end of the word, making it “classes.” Therefore, singular regular nouns are formed into plurals by adapting the general rule: adding “-s” and “-es” at the end of the particular word. In other words, a major spelling change does not take place in regular nouns when converting the regular nouns into plurals.
What are Irregular Nouns?
Irregular nouns are nouns that do not follow the same rule of regular nouns or any standard rule when converting into plurals. For example, the irregular noun “child” changes into plural as “children.” It does not use any addition of “-s” or “-es” at the end, like regular nouns. If the noun “thief” is taken as another example, it changes to the plural as “thieves.” Furthermore, nouns like “sheep” and “scissors” have the same formation, and these nouns can be either singular or plural. This means the plural form of “sheep” and “scissors” remains “sheep” and “scissors.”
A major spelling change takes place in forming most irregular nouns into plural formation. Thus, the spellings of the irregular nouns change when there is a change in their number or quantity.
What is the Difference Between Regular and Irregular Nouns?
The key difference between regular and irregular nouns is that regular nouns follow a general rule when changing into plurals, while irregular nouns do not follow any standard rule when they are converted into plurals. Moreover, regular nouns can be converted into plural nouns by simply adding “-s” or “-es” at the end of the word, whereas irregular nouns do not follow any standard rule in forming plurals.
Furthermore, irregular nouns take a completely different formation from their plurals. Although all regular nouns are converted into plurals by adding “-s” or “-es,” there are some irregular nouns that are used with the same formation where they are referred to as one or many.
Summary – Regular vs Irregular Nouns
The key difference between regular and irregular nouns is their plural form. Regular nouns can be converted to plural nouns by simply adding “-s” or “-es” at the end of the word, whereas irregular nouns do not follow any standard rule in converting into plural form.