Plural Nouns
Background Information & Activities

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Remind your children that a noun is a word that names a person, place, animal, thing, or idea. Nouns can be singular and name one thing, or they can be plural and name more than one thing. Making plural nouns can be confusing because there are many rules and exceptions, but creating a print-rich environment and exposing your children to different words through books, magazines, charts, posters, and other media will help them recognize and spell plural nouns correctly.

Remind your children that a plural noun names more than one thing. Together, identify different nouns around you and have your children practice saying its singular and plural forms. Then write the singular and plurals together. Ask your children to notice the different endings of the plurals. Can they categorize them by types of endings?

You can make most nouns plural by simply adding an ¬¬-s at the end of the word, as in birds, rugs, bats, ticks, packs, and kings. Brainstorm other plural nouns that follow this rule together.

For nouns that end in -ch, -sh, -s, -x, or -z, you must add –es to make them plural, as in wrenches, wishes, gases, and boxes.. Find examples that follow this rule together. You can use this opportunity to practice finding rhyming words that follow the same spelling pattern and making them plural. When a word ends in -f or -fe, you should drop the f and add -ves, as in knife/knives, loaf/loaves, and wife/wives. There are some words that do not follow this rule, such as chefs. When a word ends in -o, you should add -es, as in heroes, tomatoes, and potatoes. However, there are several common words that do not follow this rule, such as pianos and kangaroos.

If a word ends in a vowel and -y, you can add an –s at the end of the word to make it plural, as in boys, jays, and keys. If a word ends in a consonant and -y, you drop the y, and add -ies, as in butterfly/butterflies and cry/cries.

Some words do not change from their singular form when they become plural, as in moose, deer, and sheep. You do not have to add an -s at the end of the noun to make then plural. Some nouns, however, take irregular plural forms, such as goose/geese, mouse/mice, child/children, man/men, and cactus/cacti.

Words vary greatly and the rules that govern them have plenty of exceptions. Help your children understand that language is diverse and rich and fun to explore. Some children may become confused or overwhelmed, but provide plenty of positive feedback and encouragement. It is helpful if they write down a plural word and see if it looks right to them. Exposing them to a wide range of words will not only build their vocabulary, but help them recognize patterns and exceptions to the rule.

Plural Nouns Teacher Activities – Click Here!

Plural Nouns Family Activities – Click Here!

Plural Nouns Teacher Activities

© 1999-2009 BrainPOP. All rights reserved.

Singular/Plural

Have your students line up into two equal lines, each student across from another student. Then have one student name a noun out loud and write it on a piece of paper. Then have the opposite student say the plural form out loud and write it down. Have other students in line confirm his or her answer. Go down the line and then swap roles so that each student gets an opportunity to say a singular and plural noun.

Noun Poem

Divide your class into partners and have them create a noun poem together. They should use both singular and plural forms of nouns in their poem. Encourage them to incorporate irregular nouns into their writing. You might want to model an example to use such as “I see one fox,/She sees two foxes,/I found one box,/She finds two boxes.” Partners can write their poems and decorate them, or act them out using props or pictures.

Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down

Write a singular noun on the board and then write its plural form incorrectly, such as sheep/sheeps. Ask your students if the form is correct by showing a thumbs up or a thumbs down. Try the activity using different words, occasionally throwing in common misspellings and irregular nouns. Then have student volunteers come up and write singular and plural words on the board to test the class.

Plural Nouns Family Activities

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Plural Book

Cut out pictures from old magazines or newspapers and have your child glue them into a notebook and label them with the singular and plural forms. For example, he or she might paste one picture of an apple and write the singular noun, and then paste several pictures of different apples and write the plural form. Make sure your child practices different spelling rules and uses a variety of words, both regular and irregular.

Plural Mad Lib

Create a “mad lib” by writing a story and creating blanks where there should be singular or plural nouns. You may want to take a short book and rewrite it without the nouns. Then have your child name or write singular or plural nouns to plug into the story. Read your “mad lib” together and share it with friends or family members.