Look at the pattern: baby → babies · city → cities · story → stories. The y becomes ies. (But if a, e, i, o, or u comes right before the y, keep it: day → days. More on the next card.)
y → ies
baby → babies
city → cities
story → stories
Try it: Haffenville and Ghafwick are two ___. (cities / citys / city) Answer: cities — Close, the y changes here: city → cities (not "citys").
a, e, i, o, u + y → just -s
But when a, e, i, o, or u comes right before the y, keep the y and just add -s: key → keys · boy → boys · day → days.
key → keys
boy → boys
day → days
Try it: 1 day. Now seven ___. (days / daies / day) Answer: days — An a comes before the y in "day", so the y stays and you just add -s: days (not "daies").
Try it: One is a city, one is a boy. Two ___ and three ___. (cities … boys / citys … boies / cities … boies) Answer: cities … boys — Look at the letter before the y. City has t, which is not a, e, i, o or u, so the y becomes ies: cities. Boy has o, which is one of them, so the y stays: boys.
Try it: One baby, one day. Two ___ and seven ___. (babies … days / babys … daies / babies … daies) Answer: babies … days — Baby has b before the y, and b is not a, e, i, o or u, so it becomes babies. Day has a before the y, so the y stays: days.
-f / -fe → -ves
Some common words ending in -f or -fe change to -ves. Learn these ones: knife → knives · leaf → leaves · wife → wives · life → lives. (A few add only -s, like roof → roofs.)
knife → knives
leaf → leaves
wife → wives
Try it: I need two ___ to cut the bread. (knives / knifes / knife) Answer: knives — Knife is one of the -fe words that change: knife → knives (not "knifes").
People: man, woman, child, person
These four change the word itself, not the ending: man → men · woman → women · child → children · person → people. Learn them by heart.
one man → two men
one woman → two women
one child → two children
one person → two people
Not "Three childs are here." — say "Three children are here.". Child never takes -s. The word itself changes: child → children.
Try it: Two ___ are playing in Senville Park. (children / childs / childrens) Answer: children — "Child" does not follow the -s rule, its plural is the special form children (not "childs").
Try it: Many ___ come to Mosh Market on Saturday. (people / persons / peoples) Answer: people — If you added -s ("persons"), that is the regular ending, but this word does not take it: person → people. You will hear it every day.
Body: foot, tooth
Two body words change oo to ee: foot → feet · tooth → teeth. Same pattern, so learn them together.
one foot → two feet
one tooth → two teeth
Not "My foots are tired." — say "My feet are tired.". oo becomes ee. There is no -s.
Try it: Lars walks all morning. Now his ___ are tired. (feet / foots / feets) Answer: feet — "Foot" changes oo to ee: foot → feet. It never takes -s.
Try it: The dentist looks at my ___. (teeth / tooths / teeths) Answer: teeth — If you wrote "tooths", this word never takes -s. It works like foot: the oo becomes ee, so tooth → teeth.
Try it: Camila buys food for the party. Three ___ help her carry the bags. (women / womans / womens) Answer: women — If you added -s ("womans"), this word does not take it — the word itself changes: woman → women. Same family as man → men and child → children.
Try it: Lani: Who is in Senville Park today? Farid: Two _____ and three _____. Complete what Farid says. (families … boys / familys … boys / families … boies) Answer: families … boys — family has an l before the y, so the y becomes ies: families, not familys. boy has an o before the y, so the y stays and only -s is added: boys, not boies.
Try it: Ethan: Who is at Farrisen Gym today? Yasmin: Three _____ and two children. Complete what Yasmin says. (men / mans / mens) Answer: men — If you added -s, that is the regular ending, but this word does not take it: man → men. It works like child → children, which is right there in the same answer.
Irregular plurals + 's (children's)
children, men, women and people do not end in s, so they take 's for possession, the same way a name does: the children's bags.
the children's bags
the men's room
the women's team
the people's questions
Try it: Camila: Are these your coats? Hiroshi: No, they are the _____ coats. Complete what Hiroshi says. (children's / childrens / children) Answer: children's — children does not end in s, so it takes 's like a name does: the children's coats. childrens adds an -s to a word that already means more than one, and children on its own carries no mark for whose coats they are.
What are the common mistakes?
Incorrect
Correct
Why
Three childs are here.
Three children are here.
Child never takes -s. The word itself changes: child → children.