Forming Plurals And Changing Verbs
Marion Field was Head of English in a large Comprehensive School for many years and is an examiner for GCSE English. She is the author of several language improvement books for writers.
To make a plural it is usually necessary to add an ‘s’ to the word and to make no other changes.
ADDING AN ‘S’
Nouns that end in an ‘e’ usually only require an ‘s’ to form a plural:
bone |
bones |
plate |
plates |
case |
cases |
rate |
rates |
date |
dates |
resource |
resources |
envelope |
envelopes |
sale |
sale |
file |
files |
scene |
scenes |
game |
games |
shape |
shapes |
globe |
globes |
spice |
spices |
guide |
summes |
shape |
shapes |
guide |
guides |
table |
tables |
house |
houses |
toe |
toes |
magazine |
magazines |
tree |
trees |
niece |
nieces |
wine |
wines |
nurse |
nurses |
Many nouns that end in consonants are also made plural by adding an ‘s’:
block |
blocks |
pen |
pens |
book |
books |
pencil |
pencils |
brain |
brains |
plan |
plans |
colour |
Colours |
seat |
seats |
desk |
desks |
stamp |
stamps |
director |
directors |
street |
streets |
doctor |
doctors |
ticket |
tickets |
girl |
girls |
torrent |
torrents |
letter |
letters |
victim |
victims |
light |
lights |
wheel |
wheels |
newspaper |
newspapers |
whisk |
whisks |
CHANGING OR KEEPING THE ‘Y’
If a noun ends in ‘y’ and is preceded by a consonant, change the ‘y’ into an ‘i’ and add ‘es’ to make the plural:
ally |
allies |
lady |
ladies |
baby |
babies |
library |
libraries |
berry |
berries |
lorry |
lorries |
body |
bodies |
penny |
pennies |
company |
companies |
pony |
ponies |
enemy |
enemies |
ruby |
rubies |
enquiry |
enquiries |
sky |
skies |
estuary |
estuaries |
society |
societies |
family |
families |
story |
stories |
ferry |
ferries |
tragedy |
tragedies |
fly |
flies |
||
gallery |
galleries |
||
glory |
glories |
Looking at the exceptions
Surnames ending in ‘y’ need only an ‘s’ to make the plural:
–The Perrys are moving to Taunton.
–The Doubtys are holding a party.
A carriage drawn by a single horse was known as a ‘fly’. The plural of this is ‘flys’.
Keeping the ‘y’
If the ‘y’ is preceded by a vowel, retain the ‘y’ and add ‘s’ to make the plural:
alley |
alleys |
attorney |
attorneys |
chimney |
chimneys |
covey |
coveys |
donkey |
donkeys |
key |
keys |
journey |
journeys |
lackey |
lackeys |
tray |
trays |
trolley |
trolleys |
spray |
sprays |
storey |
storeys. |
LOOKING AT WORDS ENDING IN ‘O’
If the ‘o’ at the end of a word is preceded by a vowel, an ‘s’ only is usually needed to form a plural:
cameo |
cameos |
cuckoo |
cuckoos |
curio |
curios |
impresario |
impresarios |
oratorio |
oratorios |
patio |
patios |
radio |
radios |
rodeo |
rodeos |
stereo |
stereos |
studio |
studios |
taboo |
taboos |
tattoo |
tattoos |
video |
videos |
zoo |
zoos |
An ‘o’ preceded by a consonant
Unfortunately, when a consonant precedes the ‘o’, there is no definite rule to help you decide whether to add ‘s’ alone or ‘es’. The following words end in ‘es’.
buffalo |
buffales |
cargo |
cargoes |
halo |
haloes |
hero |
heroes |
echo |
echoes |
mango |
mangoes |
mosquito |
mosquitoes |
negro |
negroes |
potato |
potatoes |
tomato |
tomatoes |
tornado |
tornadoes |
torpedo |
torpedoes |
The following words need only an ‘s’ to make them plural:
casino |
casinos |
concerto |
concertos |
contralto |
contraltos |
dynamo |
dynamos |
embryo |
embryos |
libretto |
librettos |
manifesto |
manifestos |
photo |
photos |
memo |
memos |
solo |
solos |
soprano |
sopranos |
DISCOVERING DIFFICULT PLURALS
With some words you will find it necessary to add ‘es’ because the word would be difficult to pronounce without the addition of the ‘e’. ‘Es’ has to be added to words ending in ‘s’, ‘ch’, ‘sh’, ‘x’ and ‘z’:
ass |
asses |
brass |
brasses |
cross |
crosses |
duchess |
duchesses |
grass |
grasses |
pass |
passes |
princess |
princesses |
witness |
witnesses |
bench |
benches |
church |
churches |
crutch |
crutches |
dispatch |
dispatches |
hutch |
hutches |
leech |
leeches |
lunch |
lunches |
porch |
porches |
torch |
torches |
trench |
trenches |
witch |
witches |
||
brush |
brushes |
bush |
bushes |
crash |
crashes |
crush |
crushes |
dash |
dashes |
flush |
flushes |
box |
boxes |
cox |
coxes |
fix |
fixes |
fox |
foxes |
hoax |
hoaxes |
||
buzz |
buzzes |
fizz |
fizzes |
waltz |
waltzes |
