Chronicle Editor
WHEN you have two or more of something you need to change the noun to the plural form. Most words add “-s” to make the plural. Usually nouns just add “-s” at the end to make them plural. Examples: human – humans; place – places, crime – crimes, job – jobs and tree – trees. “-s” is added to the noun to make it plural.
Some words need “-es”. Add “-es” to nouns ending on a hissing sound –”s”, “ch”, “sh”, “x” and “z”. You cannot just add “-s” to these nouns because they”d be difficult to say. We need to add “-es” to help us pronounce the word. Examples: glass + “-s” = glasss > glass + “-es = glasses. Watch + “s” = watchs > watch + “-es” = watches. Box + “-x” = boxs > box + “es” = boxes.
There are two plural forms for words that end in “-y”. Look at the letter in front of the “y”. If it is a vowel – the letters “a”, “e”, “I” “o” “u” – just add “-s”. Examples: key – keys, play –plays. The letter before the “y” is “a” – a vowel, so you only need to add an “-s”. If the letter in front of the “y” is a consonant – drop the “y” and add “-es”. Examples: party _ parties, cry – cries. Fly – fly – flies. The letter before the “y” is “l” – a consonant. You need to drop the “y” and add “ies”.
Most plurals of names just need an “-s” at the end. You always add an “-s” when you write the plural of a name (unless the name ends with “-s”).
Examples: Both Bennys were present at the party. Even though the letter before “y” is “n”, a consonant because it is a name you just add an “-s”.
There were three Joneses who learnt at this school. The name Jones ends with “s”, so it follows the “-es” rule. If a word ends in “-s”, add “-es” for the plural.
Words that end in “o” can be tricky. Words that end in “o” usually add “-s” to make their plural, for example, pianos, discos. Some words ending in “o” are different though – they take “-es” instead. Potato + “-es” = potatoes, tomato + -es” = tomatoes, hero + “-es” =heroes. Echo + “-es” = echoes.
There is no pattern for this rule – you just have to remember the exceptions.
Most words ending in “f” and “fe” add “-ves” to make the plural. For these words you need to change the “_f” into a “v”, and add “-es”. Examples: loaf – loaves, life – lives, shelf – shelves, wife – wives. But there are awkward ones that keep the “f” and just add “-s”. Chief – chiefs, proof – proofs, reef – reefs and chef – chefs.
Some plurals are irregular and do not follow any rules. Instead of adding or removing letters you might have to change the spelling of the original word. These words change their vowel sound when they become plural: woman – women, tooth – teeth, foot – feet, and mouse – mice.
Some words that come from other languages also have irregular plurals: radius – radii, formula – formulae, criterion – criteria, oasis – oases, analysis –analyses and crisis – crises. Some words stay the same in the plural. Some words do not change at all – they”re the same in both singular and plural forms: Examples: one sheep – two sheep, one deer – lots of deer, one aircraft – many aircraft, one fish – several fish. Words like “fishes” are old-fashioned.
Prefixes and suffixes: You add prefixes and suffixes to a word to change its meaning. Prefixes go at the beginning of a word, and suffixes go at the end.
Prefixes and suffixes are letters that do not make any sense by themselves but when they are added to other words, they change the word’s meaning: Dial is the root word. Redial – “re” is the prefix. It changes the meaning of the root word to mean to dial the number again.
Remember – “pre” means “before”, so prefixes go at the start of words. “Farm” is the root word. Farmer – “-er” is the suffix. It changes the meaning of the root word to mean someone who does farming. Look out for these common prefix spelling errors. The spelling of the root word never changes when a prefix is added. Do not fall into the trap of adding or taking away letters:
Examples: dissimilar, disappearance. These are correct. The spelling of the root words and prefixes have not changed. The rule is simple – do not touch the root word when you add a prefix. Sometimes you need to add a hyphen between the prefix and the word. Hyphens are those small dashes that join up words. Using them correctly can completely change the meaning of a word (or sentence).
If the prefix ends with the same letter the word starts with. Examples: re-enter, semi-interested and co-operate. You can also define prefixes as letters that go at the start of a word to change its meaning. There are exceptions to the rule stated in this paragraph, so make sure you learn the main ones: misspell, unnecessary, immaterial and irrelevant.
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