Wednesday, 27 August 2014

Plural Nouns

Hello children :) Read the information below regarding Plural Nouns.

Plurals of nouns

Most nouns make their plurals by simply adding –s to the end (e.g. cat/cats, book/books, journey/journeys). Some do change their endings, though. The main types of noun that do this are:

Nouns ending in -y

If the noun ends with a consonant plus -y, make the plural by changing -y to -ies:
singularplural
berryberries
activityactivities
daisydaisies

If the noun ends with -ch-s-sh-x, or -z, add -es to form the plural:
singularplural
churchchurches
busbuses
foxfoxes

There’s one exception to this rule. If the -ch ending is pronounced with a ‘k’ sound, you add -s rather than -es:
singularplural
stomachstomachs
epochepochs

Nouns ending in -f or -fe

With nouns that end in a consonant or a single vowel plus -f or -fe, change the -f or -fe to -ves:
singularplural
knifeknives
halfhalves
scarfscarves

Nouns which end in two vowels plus -f usually form plurals in the normal way, with just an -s
singularplural
chiefchiefs
spoofspoofs

Nouns ending in -o

Nouns ending in -o can add either -s or -es in the plural, and some can be spelled either way.
  • As a general rule, most nouns ending in -o add -s to make the plural:
singularplural
solosolos
zerozeros
avocadoavocados

  • Those which have a vowel before the final -o always just add -s:
singularplural
studiostudios
zoozoos
embryoembryos

  • Here’s a list of the most common nouns ending in -o that are always spelled with -es in the plural:
singularplural
buffalobuffaloes
dominodominoes
echoechoes
embargoembargoes
heroheroes
mosquitomosquitoes
potatopotatoes
tomatotomatoes
torpedotorpedoes
vetovetoes

  • Here are some of the common nouns ending in -o that can be spelled with either -s or -es in the plural:
singularplural
banjobanjos or banjoes
cargocargos or cargoes
flamingoflamingos or flamingoes
frescofrescos or frescoes
ghettoghettos or ghettoes
halohalos or haloes
mangomangos or mangoes
mementomementos or mementoes
mottomottos or mottoes


2 comments:

Unknown said...

Teacher, this is very helpful!
I've been facing difficulty on this topic and this helps me to understand more :) thank you teacher.

Unknown said...

I'm glad you have understood this topic :) Keep up the good work!