Grammatical Number – Why is the Plural Form of Piano ‘Pianos’ and Not ‘Pianoes’?

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The rule says that if a singular noun ends in consonant + "o" then the plural form will be consonant + "oes".

e.g. tomato => tomatoes.

Then, why this rule does not apply to piano?

Best Answer

Plural of nouns ending in -o:

Nouns ending in -o can add either -s or -es in the plural, and some can be spelled either way.

As a general rule, most nouns ending in -o add -s to make the plural:

So you have:

solo solos, zero zeros, avocado avocados

Note that:

Those which have a vowel before the final -o always just add -s:

like:

studio studios, zoo zoos, embryo embryos.

So:

piano, pianos

Oxford Dictionary

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