PLURALS - BASIC LEVEL

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Plural Spelling Rules

boys     countries   radios    heroes    boxes    rulers   women   children    dogs washes   lorries

Do you know why and when we add -ies, -ves, -s and -es to plural nouns?

We're going to look at these important plural spelling rules then there's a spelling test so read carefully. 

If you want more information and watch a video about the individual rules click on the links below.

1. Add -s to regular plurals.  Adding an s is all you need to do to form a regular plural:
file/files, centre/centres, girl/girls, book/books, pen/pens, computer/computers.

2. Adding -es 

Words ending in -ch, -s, -sh, -x, -z  add -es to form a plural
wash/washes, box/boxes, match/matches, glass/glasses

There's one exception to this rule. If the -ch ending is pronounced with a 'k' then add -s (stomach/stomachs)

3. Changing -f or -fe to -ves or -s  

Words ending in -f or -fe change to -ves or -sknife/knives,  life/lives, wife/wives, shelf/shelves

*exceptions add -s - roof/roofs, proof/proofs, chief/chiefs.*These words could be either -ves or -s - scarf/scarves or scarfs,dwarf/dwarves or dwarfs

4. Change -y to -ies or -s 

a. If the word ends in a vowel-a,e,i,o,u, + y then just add -s.
boy/boys, journey/journeys, key/keys, tray/trays.

b. If the word ends in a consonant + y then it changes to -ies country/countries, baby/babies, body/bodies, memory/memories

5. Adding -s  or -es to  words ending in O 

You can either add an -s or -es to words ending in -O or sometimes they're spelled either way.

a.If a word ends in a vowel-a,e,i,o,u + -O then we sometimes add -s.radio/radios, stereo/stereos, video/videos

b. If a words ends in consonant + -O then we sometimes add -s or -es.No rules for this - you just have to learn them or use a dictionary.

kilo/kilos, zero/zeros, piano/pianos, photo/photos
but hero/heroes, potato/potatoes, volcano/volcanoes, tomato/tomatoes.

6. Irregular plurals

a woman/some women, a man/5 men, child/children, person/people, tooth/teeth, foot/feet, mouse/mice, penny/pence

7. No change between plural and singular.
There are some words that are the same in the plural as in the singular:
sheep, series, fish, cod, salmon, aircraft, cattle, scissors, deer, trousers

Spelling test

Change the words to plurals

1. man 

2. fox 

3. family

 4. mobile phone 

5. baby 

6. person 

7. radio 

8. dictionary 

9. teacher 

10. watch 

11. bus 

12. scarf 

13. photo 

14. tomato 

15. woman 

16. wife

 17. body 

18. fly 

19. colour 

20. mother-in-law 

Check your answers below.

Thanks to Oxford Dictionaries online

Answers
1. men
2. foxes
3. families
4. mobile phones
5. babies
6. people
7. radios
8. dictionaries
9. teachers
10. watches
11. buses
12. scarfs or scarves
13. photos
14. tomatoes
15. women
16. wives
17. bodies
18. flies
19. colours
20. mothers-in-law