蜜芽传媒

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Learning English - The Flatmates

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Language Point

Quiz

Talk

Spelling - plural nouns

Khalid holding a hammer and Tim in the living room

The most common way of making nouns plural is to add 's' or 'es' (book, books, box, boxes).

Here some other rules about the spelling of plural nouns.

baby	→	babies		city	→	cities		lorry	→	lorries
lady	→	ladies		butterfly	→	butterflies		pony	→	ponies

bush	→	bushes	church	→	churches	bus	→	buses
box	→	boxes	buzz	→	buzzes

There are some nouns ending in -o which also fall into this category:
tomato	→	tomatoes	potato	→	potatoes	echo	→	echoes
hero	→	heroes	volcano	→	volcanoes	mosquito	→	mosquitoes

But most nouns ending in -o don't fall into this category:
photo	→	photos	piano	→	pianos	solo	→	solos
Eskimo	→	Eskimos	radio	→	radios	studio	→	studios

calf	→	calves	half	→	halves	wife	→	wives
wolf	→	wolves	life	→	lives	leaf	→	leaves

Note: the plural of roof → can be roofs or rooves

Normally there are no plurals of these nouns:

athletics	mathematics	physics

news	politics	economics

These nouns have no singular versions:

trousers	clothes	goods

thanks	congratulations	earnings

The examples below have unusual plural forms

mouse	→	mice	child	→	children	person	→	people
tooth	→	teeth	woman	→	women	goose	→	geese

DIY
Short for do-it-yourself (do tasks around the home or garden rather than pay someone to do the work for you)

I had the flat to myself
no-one else was in the flat except me

checked with
asked that it's OK or asked permission from someone

give someone the thumbs up
tell someone it's OK to do something, show you approve of something