General Rules for Pluralizing Nouns

• Most nouns form their plural by adding -s or -es.

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Nouns Ending in F or FE

• For most nouns ending in f or fe, change the f or fe to v and add -es.
• Example:
  • Leaf → Leaves
  • Knife → Knives
• Some nouns simply add -s without changing f or fe.
• Example:
  • Roof → Roofs
  • Belief → Beliefs
• Exceptions: There are irregular nouns that do not follow these rules.
• Example:
  • Chief → Chiefs
  • Handkerchief → Handkerchiefs

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Nouns Ending in O

• For most nouns ending in o, add -es.
• Example:
  • Potato → Potatoes
  • Hero → Heroes
• Some nouns ending in o only add -s.
• Example:
  • Piano → Pianos
  • Photo → Photos
• Exceptions: Musical terms often just add -s.
• Example:
  • Cello → Cellos
  • Banjo → Banjos

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Nouns Ending in Y

• For nouns ending in a consonant followed by y, change the y to i and add -es.
• Example:
  • Baby → Babies
  • Story → Stories
• For nouns ending in a vowel followed by y, simply add -s.
• Example:
  • Boy → Boys
  • Key → Keys

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Examples and Sentences

• Nouns Ending in F or FE:
  1. Leaf → Leaves
     • The tree’s leaves turned yellow in the fall.
  2. Knife → Knives
     • She used the kitchen knives to prepare dinner.
  3. Wolf → Wolves
     • The wolves howled at the moon.

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• Nouns Ending in O:
  1. Potato → Potatoes
     • She bought some potatoes to make soup.
  2. Hero → Heroes
     • Many heroes were honored at the ceremony.
  3. Echo → Echoes
     • Their voices created echoes in the cave.

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• Nouns Ending in Y:
  1. Baby → Babies
     • The babies were all sleeping peacefully.
  2. Story → Stories
     • She loves reading stories before bedtime.
  3. City → Cities
     • They traveled to several cities on their vacation.