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

11. Try these wolf → elf → loaf → self → calf → shelf →
Exceptions → cliffs, chiefs, roofs, dwarfs and handkerchiefs.

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

13. Try these potato → avocado → mosquito → domino → buffalo → dingo →
Exceptions → pianos, banjos, solos, radios and Eskimos.

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 tuna → tuna trout → trout deer → deer sheep → sheep
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?