Grammar Drops: Regular and Irregular Plurals in English

🧠 Grammar Drops: Regular and Irregular Plurals in English

When learning English, one of the first grammar points you’ll encounter is how to make plural nouns—words that mean more than one of something. But did you know there are two types of plurals? Let’s break them down!

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✅ Regular Plurals

Most nouns in English follow a regular pattern when we make them plural. The basic rule is:

Add “-s” or “-es” to the end of the noun.

Here are some examples:

Singular	Plural	Rule
cat	cats	Add -s
dog	dogs	Add -s
bus	buses	Add -es (ends in -s)
box	boxes	Add -es (ends in -x)
baby	babies	Change -y to -ies
knife	knives	Change -f to -ves

📌 Some Quick Rules:

• Add -es to nouns ending in -s, -sh, -ch, -x, or -z:
  watch → watches, dish → dishes

• Change -y to -ies when it follows a consonant:
  party → parties, baby → babies

• Change -f/-fe to -ves in many cases:
  leaf → leaves, wife → wives

⚠️ But not all -f endings change:
roof → roofs is regular.

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❗ Irregular Plurals

Some nouns don’t follow the rules and change form completely—or not at all!

Singular	Plural
man	men
woman	women
child	children
tooth	teeth
foot	feet
mouse	mice
person	people
goose	geese
ox	oxen

And a few nouns stay exactly the same in plural form:

• sheep → sheep

• deer → deer

• fish → fish (but “fishes” can be used in biology!)

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🎯 Let’s Practice!

📝 Part 1: Multiple Choice

Choose the correct plural form:

1. The plural of baby is:
   a) babys
   b) babies
   c) babyes

2. The plural of box is:
   a) boxs
   b) boxez
   c) boxes

3. The plural of woman is:
   a) womans
   b) women
   c) womanses

4. The plural of knife is:
   a) knifes
   b) knive
   c) knives

5. The plural of child is:
   a) childs
   b) children
   c) childies

Check part 1 here:

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✍️ Part 2: Fill in the Blanks

Write the correct plural form of the words in brackets:

6. I saw three ________ in the field. (deer)

7. My two ________  were hurt playing soccer. (foot)

8. The farmer has many ________.  (ox)

9. We need some clean________ for the party. (glass)

10. The ________ were hiding in the wall. (mouse)

Check part 2 here:

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🔍 Part 3: Find the Mistake

Can you find and correct the mistake in each sentence?

11.  I saw five sheeps on the hill.
     I saw five sheep on the hill.

12.  The mans are working in the factory.
     The men are working in the factory.

13.  My tooths hurt when I eat candy.
     My teeth hurt when I eat candy.

14.  She has two babys at home.
     She has two babies at home.

15.  There are many knifes in the drawer.
     There are many knives in the drawer.

Check part 3 here:

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💬 Final Tip:

🗣 Want to get better at plurals? Try labeling objects around your home with their plural names or play matching games. And remember: irregular plurals just take practice!

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