Question

How do you make the plural form of most of the words ending with f?

Answer 1

Hint: Usually, when a word ends in 'f' or 'fe' we change the 'f' to 'v' and add 'es' or 's' to make it plural. There are many plural noun rules, and because we use nouns so frequently when writing, it’s important to know all of them. The correct spelling of plurals usually depends on what letter the singular noun ends in.

Complete answer:
To make a plural of a word ending in -f, change the f to a v and add es. Similarly, if a word ends in -fe, change the f to a v and add an s. The result for both types is a plural that ends in -ves. This spelling arose because of the difficulty of pronouncing f and s together in English (an attempt to do this will produce a v sound).

Singular (-f, -fe)	Plural (-ves)
knife	knives
life	lives
wife	wives
calf	calves
leave	leaves

Exceptions: roofs and proofs (among others).
Nouns Ending in -o
Plurals of words ending in -o are usually made by adding -es.

Singular (-o)	Plural (-oes)
potato	potatoes
tomato	tomatoes
hero	heroes
Torpedo	torpedoes
veto	vetoes

But of course, there are exceptions. (Aren’t there always?) Some words ending in -o that are borrowed from other languages take only an s to make a plural, such as pianos, cantos, photos, and zeros. Cello, which is an abbreviation of the Italian word violoncello, can be written the traditional way, celli, or the commonly accepted anglicized way, cellos.


Note: Obviously, there are a wide variety of exceptions in this case. Some of these are
Exceptions:
i) roof – roofs
ii) belief – beliefs
iii) chef – chefs
iv) chief – chiefs