Ch 2 · Lesson 30English · Chapter 2 · Lesson 30 · Grammar primer
Plurals that change: men, children, people
Man and men, child and children, person and people: the plurals with no rule. And how to say the -s, with the extra beat in buses.
The short version
Children and people are already plural
Ana .
Why?Hide
A small group of very common words have their own plural, and there is no rule: man, men; woman, women; child, children; person, people; foot, feet. Children and people are already plural, so never add -s, and the verb is plural too: the people are nice.
Irregular plurals: man, men; child, children
A small group of very common words have their own plural. There is no rule: learn them by heart. The colour shows what changes.
| One | More than one |
|---|---|
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
,
.(2 + 3 people)Ana .(not childs).(both feet)
Women sounds like "wimmin": the first part of the word changes too, not just the end. Children and people are already plural, so never add -s: not childrens, not peoples.
Saying the -s: three sounds
The plural -s is written one way but said three ways. Listen to the last sound of the word.
| Last sound | Say | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| p, t, k, f, th | /s/ | |
| /z/ | | |
| s, z, ch, sh, j | /ɪz/ | |
The third group adds a beat. Bus is one beat; buses is two. Horse,
house and page do this too, though they end in e:
(HOR-siz), (PAY-jiz).
Do not worry too much about /s/ and /z/: people will understand you. The extra beat in buses matters more. It is the same idea as the -ed beat in wanted (-ed endings).
Common mistakes
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| two childs | two children | Irregular plural. |
| two boies | two boys | Vowel + y: -s. |
| three babys | three babies | Consonant + y: -ies. |
| The people is nice. | The people are nice. | plural. |
| some informations | some information | plural. |
| some advices | some advice | plural. |
| a books | a book / books | plural. |
Information and advice have no plural in English, because you cannot count them: some information, a piece of advice. See countable and uncountable nouns.
Going further: One and more than one: add -s and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
Practice
Practise this lesson
9-question session
One question at a time, mixed across the exercises in this lesson. Miss one and it comes back round before the end.
English · Free printables
Worksheets for this lesson
Worksheets with answer keys built in. Open any one to view, print or save.
Lesson 30 of 37 in this chapter