Plurals: Special Spellings (A1 Grammar)

Some plurals change their spelling instead of just adding -s.

Quick tip: Consonant + y becomes -ies, but a vowel before the y keeps it. Learn the irregulars by heart.

Consonant + Y: change Y to -IES

If the letter before y is a consonant, change y to i and add -es.

• baby → babies
• city → cities
• story → stories

Vowel + Y: just add -S

If the letter before y is a vowel (a, e, i, o, u), just add -s.

• key → keys
• boy → boys
• day → days

Nouns ending in -F or -FE: change to -VES

Many nouns ending in -f or -fe change to -ves.

• knife → knives
• leaf → leaves
• wife → wives

Irregular plurals

Some nouns change completely. You must memorize them.

• man → men
• woman → women
• child → children
• foot → feet
• tooth → teeth
• person → people

Common mistakes

• Not "Many citys" — say "Many cities". Consonant + y: change y to ies.
• Not "The childs" — say "The children". Irregular plural: child → children.
• Not "Three mans" — say "Three men". Irregular plural: man → men.
• Not "My foots" — say "My feet". Irregular plural: foot → feet.
• Not "Some knifes" — say "Some knives". Words ending in -fe: change to -ves.

Practise it

Learn the irregular plurals: man→men, woman→women, child→children, foot→feet, tooth→teeth, person→people, fish→fish