1. Tips and Tricks for Making Nouns Plural
Plural Nouns
Tips and Tricks for Making Nouns Plural
Copyright ©2015 Hannah Buckingham. All Rights Reserved.

2. Can you think of the most common ways that we make nouns plural?
What is a plural noun?
Plural means more than one
A noun’s spelling usually changes when we turn it into a plural
Can you think of the most common ways that we make nouns plural?
We add s or es!

3. Add S
Most words can be made plural by simply adding s on the end of the word.
Cat Cats
Computer Computers
Ski Skis
Try These!
Door
Apple
Monkey
Doors
Apples
Monkeys

4. Add ES Try These! Other words need es added onto the end of them
These words usually end in -ch, -x, -s, or s-like sounds
Box Boxes
Kiss Kisses
Witch Witches
Try These!
Fox
Bus
Foxes
Buses

5. What is an irregular plural noun?
Irregular plural nouns become plural by changing their spelling other than “s” or “es”.
ies
ves
Or a different spelling change
But Wait!
To really confuse us, some words stay exactly the same!

6. Y to ies When words end in a consonant + y, we drop the y and add ies
However, if the word ends in a vowel (a, e, i, o, u) + y, we just add an s (like monkeys or keys)
Penny Pennies
City Cities
Try These!
Sky
Baby
Skies
Babies

7. F or fe to ves
Words that end in f or fe need to be changed to ves
Drop the f or fe, replace it with a v, then add es
Wolf Wolves
Scarf Scarves
Try These!
Half
Elf
Halves
Elves

8. Do you know the plural form of these words?
Change the Whole Word
Other times, words have to be changed completely to become plural!
No rules – they just take practice to remember
Woman Women
Goose Geese
Foot Feet
Do you know the plural form of these words?
Mouse
Child
Mice
Children

9. Stay the Same Some words stay the exact same when they become plural!
Sheep Sheep
Fish Fish
Deer Deer
Moose Moose
Scissors Scissors

10. Ex: “The dogs were barking” means more than one dog was barking
Reminder!
Adding ‘s DOES NOT make a word plural!
‘s shows possession – meaning something belongs to someone
For example, “Jacob’s computer” tells who the computer belongs to (Jacob)…this doesn’t mean that there is more than one Jacob
Ex: “The dogs were barking” means more than one dog was barking
Ex: “The dog’s bed was destroyed” means that the bed belongs to the dog

11. Summary Plural means more than one Usually, we can just add s or es
When words end in a consonant + y, we drop the y and add ies
When words end in f or fe, drop the f or fe and add ves
Some words don’t have a rule – they just change completely!
On rare occasions, words stay the EXACT SAME!