Plural Rules Part One

1. Plural Rules Part One By Brian Carruthers

2. 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

3. pencil → road → flower → girl → plant → window → door → cake → banana → shoe → Try these…

4. 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 → buseschurch → churches • dish → dishes loss → losses • fox → foxes bunch → bunches

5. watch→ pitch → wax → class → gas → glass → dress → bush → hutch → quiz → Try these… quizzes

6. 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 → citiesberry → berries • pony → ponies family → families • reply → replieslady → ladies

7. daisy → ferry → army → party → fly → diary → cherry → belly → jelly → filly → Try these…

8. 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 → daysboy → boys • key → keysdelay → delays • play →plays guy → guys

9. quay → valley → tray → pulley → toy → monkey → trolley → buoy → relay → holiday → Try these

10. 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 life → lives • half → halves hoof → hooves • wife → wives thief → thieves

11. Try these • wolf → • elf → • loaf → • self → • calf → • shelf → • Exceptions → cliffs, chiefs, roofs, dwarfs and handkerchiefs.

12. Plural Rule 6 • When a word ends in an ‘o’ and comes after a consonant, add ‘es’ to make theplural. • one tomato two tomatoes • cargo → cargoes mango → mangoes • echo → echoes hero → heroes • volcano →volcanoes torpedo→ torpedoes

13. Try these • potato → • avocado → • mosquito → • domino → • buffalo → • dingo → • Exceptions → pianos, banjos, solos, radios and Eskimos.

14. 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

15. tooth → dice → foot → mouse → nucleus → criterion → Try these

16. Plural Rule 8 • Sometimes a word may stay the same in both its singular and plural form. • one fish many fish • tuna → tuna trout → trout • deer → deer sheep → sheep • moose moose series → series

17. aircraft → species → offspring → salmon → bream → perch → Try these

18. 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!

19. So what did you think of that?