There are different ways that the plurals of nouns are formed in English.
Add 's' (pronounced /s/ as in 'so')
shop - shops
cat – cats
book – books
Add 's' (pronounced /z/ as in zoo)
girl – girls
boy – boys
door – doors
Add 'es' (pronounced /iz/)
race – races
box – boxes
dish – dishes
Add 's' or 'es' to words ending in 'o'
piano – pianos
photo – photos
radio – radios
tomato – tomatoes
hero – heroes
potato – potatoes
Change the final 'f' or 'fe' to 'ves'
wife – wives
knife – knives
shelf – shelves
Add 's' if a word ends in a vowel letters plus 'y'
key – keys
day – days
say – says
If a noun ends in a consonant + 'y' the 'y' is removed and 'ies' added
baby – babies
lady – ladies
city – cities
-en is used for only a few words and is an old English plural form
child – children
man – men
woman – women
the plural form of the following is formed in this way
father-in-law – fathers-in-law
cupful – cupfuls
passer-by – passers-by
Lesson by Tristan, English teacher at EC Malta English school
Now choose the correct plural form of the following:
