Irregular Plural Nouns
Form and use irregular plural nouns (e.g., children, teeth, mice, geese) in addition to regular plurals, recognising that some nouns have irregular plural forms that do not follow the -s/-es pattern
What a learner can do afterwards
- Form and use irregular plural nouns correctly (e.g. child→children, tooth→teeth, mouse→mice, goose→geese)
- Identify collective nouns that name a group (e.g. 'a flock of birds', 'a group of children', 'a pack of wolves')
- Correct over-regularised plurals in writing (e.g. change 'mouses' to 'mice', 'foots' to 'feet')
The lesson
You already know that most nouns add -s or -es to become plural, like cat turns into cats. But a few nouns break that rule. They change into a whole new word instead.
One goose swims alone, but many geese swim together. The word does not just get an -s. It changes shape completely.
Watch out for over-regularising. Do not say mouses, childs, or foots. The right words are mice, children, and feet.
Some words also name a whole group at once. A flock of birds, a pack of wolves, and a group of children are all collective nouns. They talk about many as if they were one thing.
Some nouns change completely instead of adding -s, like child to children and mouse to mice, so learn them by heart, and remember a group of things can have its own special name too.
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Where this leads
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8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.