Spelling rules of making plurals by adding s,es,ies,ves and irregular plural
Plural noun rules
The correct spelling of plurals usually depends on what letter the singular noun ends in.
1. To make regular nouns plural, add –s to the end.
2 . If the singular noun ends in –s, –ss, –sh, –ch, –x, or –z, you usually add -es to the end to make it plural.
A. Add -s to regular plurals.
B. Add es to words ending in -ch, -s, -sh, -x, -z:
wash – washes, box – boxes, match – matches, glass – glasses, bus – buses, business – businesses…
*There’s one exception to this rule. If the -ch ending is pronounced with a & then add -s (stomach – stomachs).
Some words ending in f or fe change to ves: knife – knives, life – lives, wife – wives, shelf – shelves
Exceptions: add s: roof – roofs, proof – proofs, chief – chiefs
Words ending in ff add s: cliffs, sniffs, scoffs, toffs stiffs, tiffs…
These words can be either ves or s: scarf – scarves or scarfs, dwarf – dwarves or dwarfs
C. Change y to ies or s
a. If the word ends in a vowel (a,e,i,o,u) + y then just add s:
boy – boys, journey – journeys, key – keys, tray – trays
b. If the word ends in a consonant + y change y to ies:
country – countries, baby – babies, body – bodies, memory – memories
D. Adding s or es to words ending in O:
a. If a word ends in a vowel (a,e,i,o,u) + ‘o’, then we sometimes add s.
radio – radios, stereo – stereos, video – videos
b. If a words ends in a consonant + ‘o’, we sometimes add s, sometimes es. No rules for this – you just have to learn the common words, or use a dictionary.
kilo – kilos, zero – zeros, piano – pianos, photo – photos
but hero – heroes, potato – potatoes, volcano – volcanoes, tomato – tomatoes.
