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Spelling Rules for Making Words Plural

When making words plural, why do you add S to some words but ES to others? And when a word ends with Y, how do you know whether to change the Y to I before adding the plural suffix? And why on earth does the word knife become knives?

You can unravel these mysteries with six scoops of ice cream. Just click the play button below for a yummy treat, and then read on for free printable spelling rule posters and sample lessons!

Ready to Dig In?

Whether you prefer your ice cream in dishes or in cones or with one cherry or two cherries, these tasty guidelines will help you spell plurals correctly every time.

Spelling Rule for Making Words Plural poster

Tips and tricks like these are taught throughout the All About Spelling program. Want to see more? Download these free resources to see just how easy teaching spelling rules can be.

download graphic for AAS Level 1 Lesson 22

Download All About Spelling Level 1, Lessons 22 and 23.

These lessons from All About Spelling Level 1 shows how we teach kids to make words plural by adding either S or ES.

download graphic for AAS Level 1 Lesson 16

Download All About Spelling Level 5, Step 17.

In this lesson from All About Spelling Level 5, you can see how we teach kids to pluralize words that end in F and FE.

spelling rules posters thumbnail

Download our free Spelling Rules Posters.

This handy resource will help make learning three important spelling rules fun and easy to remember for your children.

Do you think these guidelines for making words plural will improve your child’s spelling? Let me know in the comments below! And check out our other spelling rules, too!

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Emily

says:

Thanks for this! I have a question though. Have the numbering of the rules changed a bit since the last printing of the books? My student was a little confused that it didn’t seem to match with the Make It Plural book he was doing today.

Robin

says: Customer Service

You’re welcome, Emily.

No, the numbering hasn’t changed; what you have with the All About Spelling Level 5 Make It Plural book is what is currently offered.

Are you asking about how this infographic presents some of the plural rules in a different order? This poster wasn’t created that way to suggest the rules have to be taught or applied in a certain order. This poster is simplified over the patterns taught in the Make It Plural book. For example, the Make It Plural book teaches making silent E words plural by adding an S separately from adding an S to other words. This poster is a nice visual reminder, while the Make It Plural book is a more incremental step-by-step review of making words plural.

I hope this clears things up, but let me know if you have additional questions.

Betsy

says:

This is so helpful because we struggle with this concept.

Robin

says: Customer Service

My glad this is helpful, Betsy!

Kylee

says:

I find blogs like this so amazing in contributing to our reading/writing/spelling journey. Thank you so much.

Robin

says: Customer Service

You’re welcome, Kylee!

Kailee

says:

I have these hanging up on my wall to use as a reference for my tutoring students! Visually appealing and helpful!

Robin

says: Customer Service

Kailee,
I’m glad these will be useful and appealing to your students! Thank you.

Kandy

says:

Thank you so much for the spelling rule posters! They’re a great resource!

Robin

says: Customer Service

You’re so welcome, Kandy! Thank you!

omakltoum ajouri

says:

I love it ,Robin!

Katherine

says:

Very nice and informative poster. Thank you!

Robin

says: Customer Service

You’re welcome, Katherine! Thank you.

Gerda Theron

says:

This is a great help for parents.
Thanks

Robin

says: Customer Service

You’re welcome, Gerda! I glad this is a help for you.

Gerda Theron

says:

These are so much help for parents who are struggling with reading and writing English.
Thank you!

Kelly

says:

Thank you, for sharing resources.

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

You’re welcome, Kelly.

Robert

says:

I would like to know when spelling bible whether it is le or el?

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

Robert,
There is no rule for using LE or EL to spell the /ul/ syllable at the end of the word. The make matters worse, the /ul syllable can also be spelled IL or AL as well.

I can tell you that the IL spelling (as in pencil, stencil, basil) is the least common spelling. EL (as in cancel, travel, cruel) is the next in commonness, then AL (focal, local, traditional), and LE is the most common (Bible, pickle, article). One other tip is that most of the time AL is used when the word is an adjective.

So, with that in mind, it is best for students to become very familiar with IL words and EL words, as they have to be learned visually. Students need to know which just looks correct. Otherwise, ask themselves if the word is an adjective or has a base word as AL is a suffix added to words to make them adjectives. Otherwise, students need to know that LE is the most common spelling of this syllable and use it most often.

We recommend when teaching these to spend a lot of time with each one before introducing the next one, including reading a lot of words in addition to spelling them to build up visual memory for how they look.

I hope this helps some.

Ronald Dahl

says:

Can you get this in a book form
If so what is the name of it I think it helped me out too

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

Yes, Ronald. It is All About Spelling and it can be purchased through our website, All About Learning Press.

Carole McDonald

says:

We really like the ice cream poster.

hayden

says:

icecrema is my faoivrit

Cheree

says:

This is awesome info and I found it just in time! I am starting to work thru rules and guidelines of spelling plurals with my daughter ?

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

I’m glad this was just in time to be helpful for you, Cheree! ?

Elizabeth Black

says:

I absolutely love this bright Ana’s beautiful posters- they are so crispy and clear my kiddos love them, and like that they are not “too busy’). ELizabeth

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

Thank you, Elizabeth! I’m glad you like the posters.

shehzad Royyy

says:

Great work.
I have learned a lot from above mentioned rules.

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

Thank you, Shehzad.

Jacqueline

says:

These lessons have taken out all guessing for my kids learning how to spell plural words! We are so thankful for AAS!

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

This is great to hear, Jacqueline! I’m very pleased to know that this was helpful for your kids.

Stephanie

says:

Thank you. These will come in handy.

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

You’re welcome, Stephanie!

Melissa Remmert

says:

Love the resources! Also love the whole program! It’s really helping my daughter spell a lot better! Thank you!

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

Great to hear, Melissa! It’s exciting to hear that All About Spelling is helping your daughter to have success with spelling!

Shana Levy

says:

very helpful

Jeniver

says:

Very helpful! My son will love these!

Samantha Sinclair

says:

This was very helpful. Thank you!

Christine

says:

This was a very helpful video!

valentina guerrini

says:

This is a great way to make spelling easier to grasp.

Zorah F

says:

These are great engaging resources for teaching important spelling rules to my young kids!

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

Thank you, Zorah!

Katie

says:

It would have been wonderful to learn these rules thirty years ago in public school. Thank you for making many of your resources free to access.

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

I know what you mean, Katie. But I’m glad this is available in time to help today’s students.

Meg

says:

This was really helpful!

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

Thank you, Meg!

Emily

says:

Love that ice cream chart! Very engaging but easy to read.

Erin H

says:

I love how engaging your materials are.

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

Awww, thank you, Erin!