You already know that singular means one and plural means more than one. You know that we usually add -s to make a word plural (cat/cats, pen/pens). But English has many special rules for forming plurals. Let us learn all of them!
Rule 1: Most nouns -- just add -s: book/books, girl/girls, dog/dogs, mango/mangoes.
Rule 2: Nouns ending in -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, -o -- add -es: bus/buses, glass/glasses, brush/brushes, watch/watches, box/boxes, potato/potatoes.
If a noun ends in a consonant + y, change the y to i and add -es.
baby → babies, city → cities, story → stories, lady → ladies, army → armies, fly → flies
If a noun ends in a vowel + y, simply add -s. Do not change the y.
boy → boys, toy → toys, key → keys, day → days, monkey → monkeys, donkey → donkeys
For many nouns ending in -f or -fe, change the f/fe to v and add -es.
leaf → leaves, knife → knives, wife → wives, wolf → wolves, shelf → shelves, life → lives, half → halves, thief → thieves
Some nouns do not change at all. The singular and plural forms are the same.
sheep → sheep, fish → fish, deer → deer, aircraft → aircraft
Some nouns change their spelling completely. These must be memorised.
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
| man | men |
| woman | women |
| child | children |
| tooth | teeth |
| foot | feet |
| mouse | mice |
| goose | geese |
| ox | oxen |
| Rule | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Add -s | book, girl, dog | books, girls, dogs |
| Add -es | bus, brush, watch | buses, brushes, watches |
| Consonant + y → -ies | baby, city, story | babies, cities, stories |
| Vowel + y → add -s | boy, toy, key | boys, toys, keys |
| -f/-fe → -ves | leaf, knife, wolf | leaves, knives, wolves |
| No change | sheep, fish, deer | sheep, fish, deer |
| Irregular | man, child, tooth | men, children, teeth |
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Singular | A word that means only one (a cat, a child) |
| Plural | A word that means more than one (cats, children) |
| Consonant | All letters except a, e, i, o, u |
| Vowel | The letters a, e, i, o, u |
| Irregular plural | A plural that does not follow the usual rules |
Plural Challenge: Write the plural of each word and sort it into the correct rule column.
Words: lady, key, thief, ox, sheep, brush, day, life
| Word | Plural | Rule Used |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | ||
| 2. | ||
| 3. | ||
| 4. | ||
| 5. | ||
| 6. | ||
| 7. | ||
| 8. |
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You already know that singular means one and plural means more than one. You know that we usually add -s to make a word plural (cat/cats, pen/pens). But English has many special rules for forming plurals. Let us learn all of them!
Rule 1: Most nouns -- just add -s: book/books, girl/girls, dog/dogs, mango/mangoes.
Rule 2: Nouns ending in -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, -o -- add -es: bus/buses, glass/glasses, brush/brushes, watch/watches, box/boxes, potato/potatoes.
If a noun ends in a consonant + y, change the y to i and add -es.
baby → babies, city → cities, story → stories, lady → ladies, army → armies, fly → flies
Look at the letter before y. In "baby," the letter before y is "b" (a consonant). So we change y to i and add -es.
If a noun ends in a vowel + y, simply add -s. Do not change the y.
boy → boys, toy → toys, key → keys, day → days, monkey → monkeys, donkey → donkeys
In "boy," the letter before y is "o" (a vowel). So we just add -s.
For many nouns ending in -f or -fe, change the f/fe to v and add -es.
leaf → leaves, knife → knives, wife → wives, wolf → wolves, shelf → shelves, life → lives, half → halves, thief → thieves
Some nouns do not change at all. The singular and plural forms are the same.
sheep → sheep, fish → fish, deer → deer, aircraft → aircraft
We say "one sheep" and "five sheep" -- the word does not change!
Some nouns change their spelling completely. These must be memorised.
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
| man | men |
| woman | women |
| child | children |
| tooth | teeth |
| foot | feet |
| mouse | mice |
| goose | geese |
| ox | oxen |
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Singular | A word that means only one (a cat, a child) |
| Plural | A word that means more than one (cats, children) |
| Consonant | All letters except a, e, i, o, u |
| Vowel | The letters a, e, i, o, u |
| Irregular plural | A plural that does not follow the usual rules |
| Rule | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Add -s | book, girl, dog | books, girls, dogs |
| Add -es | bus, brush, watch | buses, brushes, watches |
| Consonant + y → -ies | baby, city, story | babies, cities, stories |
| Vowel + y → add -s | boy, toy, key | boys, toys, keys |
| -f/-fe → -ves | leaf, knife, wolf | leaves, knives, wolves |
| No change | sheep, fish, deer | sheep, fish, deer |
| Irregular | man, child, tooth | men, children, teeth |
A. Write the Plural of the Following Words
B. Fill in the Blanks with the Correct Plural Form
C. Multiple Choice Questions
D. Identify the Rule Used
Plural Challenge: Write the plural of each word and sort it into the correct rule column.
Words: lady, key, thief, ox, sheep, brush, day, life
| Word | Plural | Rule Used |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | ||
| 2. | ||
| 3. | ||
| 4. | ||
| 5. | ||
| 6. | ||
| 7. | ||
| 8. |