Python Program to Convert Singular to Plural

In this article, we will see how to pluralize a given word using Inflect module of Python.

Various ways to pluralize a given word

• Using regex
• Using NLTK and Pattern-en package
• Using Textblob 
• Using inflect

Method 1: Using regex to pluralize a given word in Python

Regex Python module which finds a string or set of strings using a certain pattern is known as the regex module. This module usually comes preinstalled with Python, but in case it doesn’t exist in your Python.

Stepwise Implementation:

Step 1: First of all, import the re library.

from re import *

Step 2: Now, define the word and declare it in a variable.

word="#Define the word"

Step 3: Then, run an if-else loop to check if the string contains certain alphabets in end and replace them with certain characters to make it plural. In this step, we check if a word is ending with s,x, or z or ends with ‘ah’, ‘eh’, ‘ih’, ‘oh’, ‘uh’, ‘dh’, ‘gh’, ‘kh’, ‘ph’, ‘rh’, ‘th’, and then add es in end to make the word plural.

if search('[sxz]$', word) or search('[^aeioudgkprt]h$', word):
   print( sub('$', 'es', word))

Step 4: Next, we check if the word ends with ‘ay’, ‘ey’, ‘iy’, ‘oy’, or ‘uy’. If yes, then we remove y from the word and replace it with ‘ies’ in end to make it plural.

elif search('[aeiou]y$', word):
   print( sub('y$', 'ies', word))

Step 5: Finally, for the rest of the left cases, we add s, in the end, to make it plural.

else:
   print( word + 's')

Example:

Output:

apples

This way is not too efficient for getting plural of words as it does plural of certain words appropriately, while it fails in some cases too. Hence, we will look for more efficient ways to find a plural of the word.

Method 2: Using NLTK and Pattern-en package

Modules Required:

• NLTK: The module which builds Python programs to work with human language data and provides easy-to-use interfaces to corpora and lexical resources is known as the NLTK module.
• Pattern: An open-source module of Python which is used to perform various natural language processing tasks is known as a pattern module. This module can be used for text processing, data mining, and various other operations.

Stepwise Implementation:

Step 1: First of all, import the module, i.e., NLTK.

import nltk

Step 2: Now, you need to download the NLTK data for running the en function of the package module. This is just a one-time step. You don’t need to do it in each program.

nltk.download('popular')

Step 3: Then, import the plural function of pattern.en module.

from pattern.en import pluralize

Step 4: Finally, make the word plural by using pluralize() function and printing the output.

print (pluralize('#Define the word'))

Example:

Output:

children

Method 3: Using textblob to pluralize a given word in Python

Textblob Python module which is used for processing textual data is known as the Textblob module. It is one of the easiest modules to perform natural language processing tasks. This module can be downloaded using the following command. Along with textblob module, you also need to install the corpora function of textblob module.

Stepwise Implementation:

Step 1: First of all, import the library textblob.

from textblob import TextBlob

Step 2: Now, define the word and store it in a variable.

blob = TextBlob('#Define the word')

Step 3: Finally, make the word plural by using words. pluralize() function and print the result.

print(blob.words.pluralize())

Example:

Output:

[cats]

Method 4: Using Inflect to pluralize a given word in Python

Inflect Python module, that is not only used to generate plurals, singular nouns, ordinals, and indefinite articles but also used to convert numbers to words is known as Inflect module. This module can be installed through the following command:

Stepwise Implementation:

Step 1: First of all, import the libraries required, i.e., inflect.

import inflect

Step 2: Now, declare a method of the import module.

p = inflect.engine()

Step 3: Finally, print the plural of the string by using the plural() function. The plural() function works appropriately by converting the singular noun to a plural noun.

print("Plural of string: ", p.plural('#string-text'))

Examples:

Example 1:

In this example, we have defined the string text, i.e., ‘child‘ in a variable a, and then print the result by using the plural() function of inflect module.

Output:

children

Example 2:

In this example, we have taken the string input as ‘apple‘ to see if the plural() function works appropriately or not. 

Output:

Plural of apple: apple

Example 3:

In this example, we have taken the string input as ‘tooth‘ to see if the plural() function works appropriately or not. 

Output:

Plural of tooth: teeth

Example 4:

In this example, we have taken the string input as ‘watch‘ to see if the plural() function works appropriately or not. 

Output:

Plural of watch: watches

Example 5:

In this example, we have made the program dynamic, by taking the input from the user in a variable. Then, we converted that variable to plural.

Output:

Plural of entered word: oxen