Plurals Nouns, add -ies
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Consonant Digraph
Other Consonant Sounds
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English for Kids
When the singular noun ends in a consonant followed by a “y”, the plural noun is formed by changing the “y” to “-ies”.
When the singular noun ends in a vowel followed by a “y”, the plural noun is formed by adding -s.
How to make nouns plural when they end in “y”?
Remember the rule:
- Consonant + y: Change the “y” to “-ies” (e.g., baby → babies).
- Vowel + y: Add “-s” (e.g., boy → boys).
This is a very consistent rule in English, so mastering it will significantly improve your grammar and spelling.
Examples of Consonant + y = -ies:
baby → babies
city → cities
country → countries
duty → duties
family → families
fly → flies
lady → ladies
party → parties
Examples of Vowel + y = -s:
boy → boys
day → days
key → keys
toy → toys
way → ways
The following diagram shows some examples of changing singular nouns ending in “y” into plural nouns. Scroll down the page for more examples.
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Rules for forming plural of nouns
The most common way to form the plural of a noun is by adding “-s” to the end.
cat → cats
dog → dogs
book → books
Make plural nouns by adding s
Words ending in -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, or -z: Add “-es” to form the plural.
This is because adding just “-s” would make the word difficult to pronounce.
bus → buses
dress → dresses
Make plural nouns by adding es
Words ending in consonant + -y: Change the “y” to “-ies”.
baby → babies
story → stories
Words ending in vowel + -y: Simply add “-s”.
boy → boys
day → days
Plural nouns for words ending in y
Words ending in -f or -fe: In many cases, change the “f” or “fe” to “-ves”. However, some words just add “-s”.
leaf → leaves
chief → chiefs
Plural nouns for words ending in f or fe
Words ending in -o: Generally add “-es,” but some words just add “-s.” There’s no perfect rule, so memorization is often necessary.
potato → potatoes
photo → photos
Plural nouns for words ending in o
Irregular Plurals:
Some nouns have irregular plural forms that don’t follow any of the above rules. These must be memorized.
man → men
child → children
foot → feet
ox → oxen
Nouns with the Same Singular and Plural Form:
Some nouns have the same form in both singular and plural.
sheep
deer
Irregular plural nouns
Spelling Rules: Making Plurals by Adding ‘ies’
If the word ends consonant ‘y’ don’t stress
Change ‘y’ to an ‘i’ and then add ’es’
ies - Plurals - fairies, ladies
Plural Nouns in English | Regular & Irregular Plural Nouns | Plurals Spelling
Regular nouns adding -s to the end.
Nouns ending in s, ch, sh, x, and z (adding -es to the end)
Nouns ending in f or fe (the -ves rule)
Nouns ending in a vowel + y (add -s to the end)
Nouns ending in a consonant + y (the -ies rule)
Nouns ending in a vowel + o (add -s to the end)
Nouns ending in a consonant + o (the -es rule)
Irregular nouns that do not end in s in their plural form (e.g. child)
Nouns that remain the same in singular and plural form (e.g. sheep)
| Plural Nouns | ||
|---|---|---|
| Plural Nouns, add -s | Plural Nouns, add -es | Words ending with y |
| Words ending with f or fe | Words ending with o | Irregular Plural Nouns |
| Summary of Plural Nouns | ||
| Other Digraphs | ||
|---|---|---|
| AR Sound | Er,Ir,Ur | OR Sound |
| Ar,Er,Ir,Or,Ur | Ou, Ow | Oi, Oy |
| OO Sound | ||
Free Printable Worksheets for Consonant Digraphs
These worksheets focus on the consonant digraphs: ch, sh, th, qu and ng.
| Printable Worksheets (Consonant Digraphs) | |
|---|---|
|
Learning "ch" |
Learning "sh" |
|
Learning "th" |
Learning "qu" |
|
Learning "ng" |
|
Free Printable Worksheets for Digraphs
| Printable Worksheets (EE, OO, OU, OI, AW) | |
|---|---|
|
EE Words |
OO Words |
|
OI Words |
AW Words |
Learn the sound of the letters
Learning Short Vowels
| Short Vowels | ||
|---|---|---|
| Short A | Short E | Short I |
| Short O | Short U | Short Vowels |
Learning Long Vowels
| Long Vowels | ||
|---|---|---|
| Long A | Long E | Long I |
| Long O | Long U | Y (vowel) |
| Long Vowels | Short & Long Vowels | |
Compare Short & Long Vowels
| Short & Long Vowels | ||
|---|---|---|
| Short & Long A | Short & Long E | Short & Long I |
| Short & Long O | Short & Long U | |
Learning Consonants
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