Name _______________________________________________

Born Worker

Word Study: Irregular Plurals

Directions: Most plural nouns are formed by adding -s and -es. Some plural nouns do not follow a regular spelling pattern. These are called irregular plurals. For some irregular plurals, you need to change the spelling of the singular noun, as in man and men, or scarf and scarves. Other irregular plurals have the same singular and plural form, such as series. Read each word below. Write the plural form for each word on the line. 1. tooth 2. fireman 3. moose 4. half 5. foot __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ 6. goose 7. knife 8. sheep 9. mouse 10. salmon __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ 11. shelf 12. fish 13. ox 14. deer 15. life __________ __________ __________ __________ __________

Directions: Find the plural nouns in the paragraph. Write each word in the correct column. The park needed a lot of work if it was going to open soon. A gardener had been hired to clean it, and he quickly got to work. First he raked around the flower beds. It was springtime, and the flowers would need the sunlight. He knew that children would want to play near the pond and geese would come to rest on it, so he used a net to collect any floating pieces of trash. He cleared rocks from the bike path and picked up discarded cans. Lastly, he repainted the bench so men and women could picnic under the shady leaves of the old oak tree. The work had been hard, but at last the park was clean and ready. Regular Plurals 16. __________________ 17. __________________ 18. __________________ 19. __________________ 20. __________________ Irregular Plurals 21. __________________ 22. __________________ 23. __________________ 24. __________________ 25. __________________
Scott Foresman 6

Notes for Home: Your child formed and identified irregular plurals, such as mice and deer. Home Activity: Read a newspaper article with your child. Help your child identify both regular and irregular plurals.

118 Word Study: Irregular Plurals