Do you find yourself wishing you could grasp more natural teaching moments with your child? Do you have a child who resists anything contrived or in workbook form? Do you love unit studies, but have a hard time working in the nitty gritty details of grammar? Are you a Charlotte Mason or Ruth Beechick family who wants to get more out of copywork? Are you an unschooling or eclectic-learning family that wants to introduce small snippets of grammar into normal life? We are two moms who created this website for our own use, but would love to share it with others who are in the same boat. Dig in, explore, and let us know what you think!

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Nouns 5 - Harder Plurals

Simple plurals of nouns are made by adding s or es. More difficult plurals have a variety of rules. 
Daily Grammar Lessons 16-17

ends in y 
  • (preceded by consonant): change y to i; add es
    • baby -- babies
  • (preceded by vowel): add s
    • toy -- toys
ends in f or fe
  • change f to v and add s or es
    • leaf -- leaves
    • knife -- knives
  • exceptions to the rule
    • roofs, etc
ends in o
  • (preceded by consonant): add es
    • potato -- potatoes
  • (preceded by vowel): add s
    • radio -- radios
  • exceptions to the rule
    • musical terms (piano -- pianos)
irregular plurals
  • plural same as singular
    • deer, fish, sheep
  • plural a different word
    • mouse -- mice
    • foot -- feet

Teaching Ideas:
  • Point these different plurals out as they appear in copywork.
  • Create a reference chart to display or put in binder.
  • Play noun games ("Search By Topic" in sidebar) with plural nouns.
Copywork Ideas (younger):
  • It was October.  The leaves had fallen off the trees. (Lobel)
Copywork Ideas (older):
  • The Grecian ladies counted their age from their marriage, not their birth. (Homer)
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