English Rules of Spelling

Question 1

Regular nouns form their plurals by adding “s” or “es” to the singular. Add “s” to most nouns, add “es” to a sibilance like s, “sh”, “ch”.

Ex. Loss + “es” = Losses. & Tree + “s” = Trees. & Church + “es” = Churches

Answer 1

Rule 1

Question 2

The plurals of nouns ending in “y” proceeded by a consonant are formed by changing “y” to “I” and adding “es”.

Ex. For Example – City (ends in “y”, so we change the y to an “i” ) + es = Cities.

Answer 2

Rule 2

Question 3

The plurals of nouns ending in “y” proceeded by a vowel are formed by adding “s”.
Ex. Essay + “s” = Essays.

Answer 3

Rule 3

Question 4

The plurals of most nouns ending in “o” are formed by adding “s”.
1. In some cases, people add “es.”
2. Others can add “s” or “es” and still remain correct.

Ex. Piano + “s” = Pianos. & Potato + “es” = Potatoes. & Zero + “s” or “es” = Zeros/Zeroes

Answer 4

Rule 4

Question 5

The plurals of most nouns ending in “f” are formed by adding “s”.
* Change “f” or “fe” to “v” and add “es.”

Ex. Chief + “s” = Chiefs
Life (change ‘fe’ to v) + “es” = Lives

Answer 5

Rule 5

Question 6

A few everyday nouns form their plurals irregularly, instead of adding “s” or “es.”

Foot is Feet,
Ox is Oxen,
Woman is Women,
Louse is Lice,
Oasis is Oases

Answer 6

Rule 6

Question 7

A few nouns occur in plural form and are rarely singular.

Scissors,
Trousers,
Suds

Answer 7

Rule 7

Question 8

Compound nouns that are singular words form their plurals by adding “s”.

Ex. Mouthful + “s” = Mouthfuls & Textbook + “s” =Textbooks

Answer 8

Rule 8

Question 9

Many hyphenated (ex. mother-in-law) nouns form their plurals by adding “s” to the principle word, and NOT at the end of the phrase.

Ex. Mother-in-law is Mothers-in-law & Attorney-at-law is Attorneys-at-law

Answer 9

Rule 9

Question 10

A few irregular nouns have the same spelling for the singular word as for the plural.

Trout, Sheep, Species, Deer, Series

Answer 10

Rule 10