All the rules and tricks you need to
know to form PLURALS.
Take a
lesson from:
Ahhrnold,
the Plural-
nator
“I take puny singular nouns and
PLURAL-NATE THEM! Ha Ha!”
My name is Ahhrnold, the Pluralnator, and I plural-nate puny
regular and irregular nouns and
transform them into strong plurals.
I do this by adding specific letters
to the end of the singular noun.
BUT! there are rules to follow to
make sure that each noun has its
correct PLURAL FORM.
For regular nouns: 2 Rules
Rule #1:For most puny regular nouns
all I do is add an -S at the end to
PUMP THEM UP!
Noun ending
consonant
Forming the plural
Examples
Add -s
cat- cats
chair – chairs
look –looks
Rule #2: For words that end in a
"hissing" sound (-s, -z, -x, -ch, sh), add an -es to form the plural.
Noun ending
s, x, ch or sh
Forming the plural
Examples
Add -es
boss - bosses
tax - taxes
bush - bushes
I love to PLURAL-nate puny SINGULAR
REGULAR NOUNS !!!
How I enjoy turning those TRICKY
IRREGULAR NOUNS from singular to
PLURAL!
They are more CHALLENGING having
7 rules!
For irregular nouns:
Rule #1: If the word ends in a
consonant plus -y, change the -y
into -ie and add an -s to form the
plural.
Noun ending
consonant + y
Forming the plural
Change y to i
then
Add -es
Examples
fly - flies
try - tries
curry - curries
Rule #2: If the word ends in a
vowel plus -y (-ay, -ey, -iy, -oy, uy), add an -s to the word.
Noun ending
vowel + y
Forming the plural
Examples
Add -s
key – keys
way - ways
boy – boys
Rule #3: For words that end in -is,
change the -is to -es to make the
plural form.
Noun ending
-is
Forming the plural
Examples
change –is to
-es
thesis - theses
Rule #4: Words that end in -f or
-fe have plurals that end in -ves.
Noun ending
-f or -fe
Forming the plural
Examples
change –f or –fe
to
-ves
knife - knives
wife – wives
life - lives
elf – elves
shelf – shelves
Rule #5: Words that end in -o are
formed by either adding -s or by
adding -es.
Noun ending
-o
Forming the plural
add –s or –es
Examples
studio - studios
taco – tacos
stereo – stereos
potato – potatoes
tomato – tomatoes
Rule #6: words that end with –us
change the –us to -i
Noun ending
ends with -us
Forming the plural
Change -us to -i
Examples
cactus - cacti
nucleus nuclei
focus - foci
Rule #7: if the word ends
with -on change –on to -a
Noun ending
ends with -on
Forming the plural
Change -on to -a
Examples
phenomenon phenomena
criterion - criteria
there are those words
that don’t have any rules,
you just have to memorize them
ALL KINDS
Change the vowel
or
Change the word
or
Add a different ending
man – men
foot – feet
child children
person –
people
tooth –
teeth
mouse –
mice
And some words don’t change at
all…
Noun ending
Unchanging
Forming the plural
Singular and plural
are the same
Examples
Sheep
Deer
Fish
Moose
I don’t like those words because I can’t
PLURAL-nate them! ARGGGG!!!!
Now that you know how to form
plurals out of those PUNY
singular regular and irregular nouns,
you too can be a PLURAL-nator !
Just follow those rules, and if you
ever get stuck, check the very
strong, the very heavy,
DICTIONARY, before I come over
there and PLURAL-NATE YOU!!!
Other links and activities:
• Regular Nouns: Lesson & Activity
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/330/grammar/plural.htm
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_spelnoun.ht
ml
• Irregular Nouns: Lesson & Activity
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/330/grammar/irrplu.htm
http://www.clta.on.ca/EAOnline/GrammarCentral/reallyirregular.
html
• Games:
http://fen.funbrain.com/cgibin/shtml.cgi?A1=../plurals/index.html
http://www.quia.com/cc/67715.html