Why is spelling so difficult? Remember that our history lesson a few weeks ago explained how English is made up of many different languages
—including spelling! However, we can feel confident in our spelling skills when we know a few tricks. Today we will discuss a few spelling strategies that deal with plural words.
Look at this list of words. Do you notice anything about them?
dogs children babies fish dishes leaves toys
They are all plural words, but they all have a different plural ending! A few guidelines concerning plural spellings can help us. Let's first break up our list into two categories: regular and irregular.
Regular Plural Endings
Plural -s ending
In general, when you want to make a noun plural, simply add an -
s to the end of the word. Most plural nouns end in -
s because -
s is considered the regular plural ending.
dogs cats trees flowers students desks cars planes
Plural -es ending
The -
es ending is also considered a regular plural ending, but follows nouns that end with -
s,
-x, -
z,
-ch, or
-sh.
kisses dresses foxes boxes quizzes arches churches bushes brushes
Words that end with -y
We have to be careful when we see nouns that end with
-y. BEFORE you add an
-s, check the letter before the
-y.
If the letter is a VOWEL, simply add -
keys trays guys monkeys toys ways turkeys
If the letter is a CONSONANT, change the
-y to and
i and add
-es.
baby - babies party - parties lady - ladies spy - spies university - universities
Words that end with -f
Generally, nouns that end in a single -f will change spelling. Change the f to a v and add -es.
leaf - leaves loaf - loaves knife - knives life - lives wolf - wolves
However, there are exceptions to this rule:
roof - roofs belief - beliefs
Irregular Plural Endings
Words that change spelling
Sometimes nouns completely change spelling. These words are usually easy to remember because they are more common.
man - men woman - women child - children person - people foot - feet
Words that don't change
Sometime count nouns don't change at all! Again, these words are also usually easy to remember because there aren't very many of them.
fish deer sheep moose scissors
Greek and Latin
Many words derived from Greek and Latin have irregular endings.
crisis - crises fungus - fungi phenomenon - phenomena appendix - appendices
Spelling words correctly is a continuous process for many people. Don't be discouraged if spelling is difficult. Learning can be a fun and exciting process! Nomen Global students enjoy learning together every day. If you would like to know more about spelling or studying at Nomen Global, visit our
website. Check back next week for some more English practice!
