Plural Rules Part One
By
Brian Carruthers
Plural Rule 1
Most
words add s to make the plural.
one apple
two apples
desk desks
month months
book books
train trains
pen pens
name names
shop shops
friend friends
chair chairs
teacher teachers
Try these
pencil
road
flower
girl
plant
window
door
cake
banana
shoe
Plural Rule 2
Add
es to words ending in ch, sh, s, ss,
x or z to make the plural.
one box
many boxes
wish wishes
beach beaches
cross crosses
waltz
waltzes
bus
buses
church churches
dish dishes
loss
losses
fox
foxes
bunch bunches
Try these
watch
pitch
wax
class
gas
glass
dress
bush
hutch
quiz quizzes
Plural Rule 3
When
the letter before a y is a consonant,
change the y to an i before adding an es.
one baby
two babies
city
cities
pony ponies
reply replies
berry
family
lady
berries
families
ladies
Try these
daisy
ferry
army
party
fly
diary
cherry
belly
jelly
filly
Plural Rule 4
When
words end in ay, ey, iy, oy, and uy
add an s to make the plural.
one donkey
two donkeys
day
key
play
days boy
keys delay
plays
boys
delays
guy
guys
Try these
quay
valley
tray
pulley
toy
monkey
trolley
buoy
relay
holiday
Plural Rule 5
When
words end in f or fe change the
f or fe to a v before adding es.
one knife
two knives
leaf
leaves
half halves
wife wives
life
hoof
thief
lives
hooves
thieves
Try these
wolf
elf
loaf
self
calf
shelf
Exceptions cliffs, chiefs, roofs, dwarfs
and handkerchiefs.
Plural Rule 6
When
a word ends in an o and comes after a
consonant, add es to make the plural.
one tomato
two tomatoes
cargo
cargoes
mango mangoes
echo echoes
hero
heroes
volcano volcanoes torpedo torpedoes
Try these
potato
avocado
mosquito
domino
buffalo
dingo
Exceptions pianos, banjos, solos,
radios and Eskimos.
Plural Rules 7
Sometimes
a word may completely
change its form when a plural is made.
one child
two children
person
people goose geese
man men
woman
women
cactus cacti
fungus fungi
Try these
tooth
dice
foot
mouse
nucleus
criterion
Plural Rule 8
Sometimes
a word may stay the same in both
its singular and plural form.
one fish
many fish
tuna
tuna
deer deer
moose moose
trout trout
sheep sheep
series series
Try these
aircraft
species
offspring
salmon
bream
perch
Recap and Consolidation
The
easiest way to learn how to spell a
word is to practise! Practise! Practise!
Spelling rules are helpful but practice
makes perfect.
Once you learn how to spell a word you
will not forget how to spell it as long as
you practise! Practise! Practice!
So what did you think of that?