The document outlines 8 plural rules in English: 1. Most words form the plural by adding 's', such as apple to apples. 2. Words ending in ch, sh, s, x or z add 'es', such as box to boxes. 3. Words ending in a consonant plus y change the y to i and add 'es', such as baby to babies. 4. Words ending in ay, ey, oy or uy add 's', such as donkey to donkeys. 5. Words ending in f or fe change the f or fe to v and add 'es', such as knife to knives. 6. Words ending in a

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

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 → buses church → churches
 dish → dishes loss → losses
 fox → foxes bunch → bunches

5. Try these…
watch →
pitch →
wax →
class →
gas →
glass →
dress →
 bush →
hutch →
quiz → 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 → cities berry → berries
 pony → ponies family → families
 reply → replies lady → ladies

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

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 → days boy → boys
 key → keys delay → delays
 play → plays guy → guys

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

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
 Exceptions → cliffs, chiefs, roofs, dwarfs and handkerchiefs.

11. Try these
wolf →
elf →
loaf →
self →
calf →
shelf →

12. 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
Exceptions → pianos, banjos, solos, radios and Eskimos.

13. Try these
potato →
avocado →
mosquito →
domino →
buffalo →
dingo →

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

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

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?