Form plurals of nouns ending in f, fe, o and y

Key Notes:

🌟 Forming Plurals of Nouns Ending in F, FE, O, and Y 🌟

Some nouns ending in f or fe change f/fe → ves in plural.

Rule:

  • If a noun ends in f or fe, often we change f → ves or fe → ves.

Examples:

SingularPlural
leaf 🍃leaves 🍃
wolf 🐺wolves 🐺
knife 🔪knives 🔪
life 🌱lives 🌱

Exceptions: Some just add s instead of changing f → ves.

  • roof → roofs 🏠
  • belief → beliefs ✅

Some nouns ending in o form plurals by adding -es, some by just -s.

Rule:

  • Usually, if a noun ends with a consonant + o, we add -es.
  • If it ends in vowel + o, we just add -s.

Examples:

SingularPlural
tomato 🍅tomatoes 🍅
hero 🦸heroes 🦸
photo 📸photos 📸
piano 🎹pianos 🎹

Tip: Sometimes you need to memorize exceptions.

The plural form depends on the letter before Y.

Rule 1: If a consonant comes before Y, change y → ies.
Rule 2: If a vowel comes before Y, just add -s.

Examples:

SingularPlural
baby 👶babies 👶
city 🏙️cities 🏙️
boy 👦boys 👦
key 🗝️keys 🗝️
  • f → ves: leaf → leaves 🍃
  • fe → ves: knife → knives 🔪
  • Consonant + o → -es: hero → heroes 🦸
  • Vowel + o → -s: radio → radios 📻
  • Consonant + y → -ies: baby → babies 👶
  • Vowel + y → -s: boy → boys 👦

There are always exceptions, so the best way is to practice with examples and make a plural chart!

Let’s practice!✒️