When a Monkey becomes Monkeys! Pluralizing nouns ending in “y”

Why is the “y” so special? When you have one monkey, it is spelled monkey So, why is more than one monkey spelled monkeys not monkies ?

Today’s Task Today, we will learn the next rule for making nouns that end in the letter “y” plural, so that our monkey can become monkeys!

Last Week’s Words Bunny = Bunnies Berry = Berries Baby = Babies Last week, you learned the first rule of how to make nouns ending in “y” plural. You found out that if the “y” follows a consonant, you take off the “y” and add “ies” to the end! For example: Bunny = Bunnies Berry = Berries Baby = Babies

Ready? More than meets the “y” There is one more rule you will need to learn to make other nouns ending in “y” plural! If you memorize this rule, spelling will be much easier! Ready?

The New Rule If the final “y” follows a vowel, keep the “y” and add an “s” to the end. For example: Monkey The word “Monkey” has a “y” that follows the vowel “e”. So, we leave the “y” alone, and add an “s”! Monkeys

Tray Try It Out! Trays Traies Based on the new rule, pick the answer that would be the plural form of: Tray Trays Traies

Correct! The noun “tray” ends with a “y” that follows the vowel “a”. To make it plural, just add an “s”! Trays

Key Try It Out! Keies Keys Based on the new rule, pick the answer that would be the plural form of: Key Keies Keys

Correct! The noun “key” ends with a “y” that follows the vowel “e”. To make it plural, just add an “s”! Keys

Toy Try It Out! Toies Toys Based on the new rule, pick the answer that would be the plural form of: Toy Toies Toys

Correct! The noun “toy” ends with a “y” that follows the vowel “o”. To make it plural, just add an “s”! Toys

Congratulations! You now know all of the rules for making nouns that end in the letter “y” plural, and have successfully used the rule!

Using Your New Skill! It is important that you remember these rules in the future. Every time you see a noun ending in “y” try making it plural, just for fun! Everyone will be impressed with how well you can spell!