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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.
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)
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
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
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
