Spelling rule
Making plurals
Most words just add -s to mean more than one, but a few patterns cover nearly all the rest.
How it works
- 1
Most words add -s
- cat → cats
- book → books
- 2
After s, x, z, ch or sh, add -es
- bus → buses
- box → boxes
- church → churches
- wish → wishes
- 3
A consonant then y: change y to ies
- baby → babies
- city → cities
- but day → days
- 4
Many words ending f or fe change to ves
- leaf → leaves
- knife → knives
- half → halves
- 5
Some words ending o add -es
- potato → potatoes
- tomato → tomatoes
- hero → heroes
- echo → echoes
- 6
Some change inside
- woman → women
- child → children
- mouse → mice
- foot → feet
Watch out
- A plural never needs an apostrophe: potatoes, not potato's.
Words to practise
Years 3 and 4 statutory words
- potatoes
- women
- woman
Practise a few minutes a day
The daily spelling workout brings back the words your child finds tricky, and shows you which rules they need to revisit.