Nouns · Beginner (A1)
Plural nouns
Make plurals with -s, -es and -ies, and learn the common irregular plurals.
The rules
Most nouns add -s: book → books. Nouns ending in -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x add -es: bus → buses, box → boxes, watch → watches.
Consonant + y → -ies: city → cities, baby → babies (but vowel + y: day → days, key → keys). Some nouns ending -f/-fe → -ves: knife → knives, leaf → leaves, life → lives.
Irregular plurals: man → men, woman → women, child → children, person → people, tooth → teeth, foot → feet, mouse → mice. Some don’t change: sheep, fish, series.
| Rule | Examples |
|---|---|
| +s | cars, pens |
| +es | glasses, dishes, boxes |
| y → ies | stories, countries |
| f/fe → ves | wives, halves |
| irregular | men, children, feet, people |
Examples
- There are two buses every hour.
- Our children love animals.
- Three women and two men.
- Brush your teeth!
Common mistakes
✗ two childs
✓ two children
Child has an irregular plural.
✗ many peoples
✓ many people
People is already plural.
✗ citys
✓ cities
Consonant + y becomes -ies.
Practice
Complete the sentence.
Quiz
1.Complete the sentence.
2.Complete the sentence.
3.Which is correct?
4.The plural of “tooth” is “tooths”.