QQ.5 Use regular plural nouns with -s, -es, and -ies
What are nouns?
Nouns are words that name people, places, animals, things, or ideas.
- person → teacher
- place → school
- animal → dog
- thing → book
Every sentence needs a noun because it tells who or what the sentence is about.
What are plural nouns?
A plural noun names more than one person, place, animal, or thing.
- one cat → two cats
- one book → three books
- one child → many children
Some plural nouns follow special rules, but many are made by adding letters to the end of the word.
Regular plural nouns with -s
To make most nouns plural, add -s to the end of the word.
- dog → dogs
- apple → apples
- car → cars
If the noun does not end with special letters like s or y, adding -s is usually correct.
Regular plural nouns with -es
Add -es to nouns that end in s, x, z, ch, or sh.
- bus → buses
- box → boxes
- brush → brushes
- church → churches
These words need -es because they are harder to pronounce with only an -s.
Regular plural nouns with -ies
If a noun ends with a consonant + y, change the y to -ies to make it plural.
- baby → babies
- city → cities
- puppy → puppies
If the word ends with a vowel before the y, just add -s (toy → toys).
Using plural nouns in sentences
Plural nouns help readers understand how many people or things are being talked about.
- The dogs are playing in the yard.
- She packed two boxes for the move.
- The babies are sleeping.
Check that plural nouns match words like many, two, or several in the sentence.