When are irregular plurals taught?

US standards place irregular plural nouns in second grade, but they keep appearing in spelling lists through fourth grade because the list is long and nothing about it is predictable.

Is it "childrens" or "children's"?

Neither is a plural. Children is already plural; children's is the possessive form, as in the children's playground. There is never a plain "childrens".

Do plural nouns take an apostrophe?

No. "The three cats were sleeping" needs no apostrophe. An apostrophe only appears when something belongs to the noun — that is covered on the possessives page.

Plural Nouns Worksheets

Making a noun plural starts as "add an s" and quickly stops being that. This bank covers the spelling-change rules and the irregular forms in the same sheet, because that is where children mix them up.

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3rd Grade Plural Nouns Practice

Plural Nouns

Circle the correct answer.

1.
The dentist counted all of my blank .
teethsteethtooths
2.
We raked the blank into a pile.
leafesleavesleafs

Write the correct word on each line.

3.
one goose, four blank
4.
one deer, five blank
5.
one apple, three blank
6.
one book, two blank
7.
one mouse, three blank
8.
one man, two blank
9.
one key, two blank
10.
one day, seven blank
11.
one brush, two blank
12.
one watch, six blank
13.
one woman, three blank

Each sentence has at least one mistake. Write the sentence correctly.

14.
The mouses ran under the shed.
15.
Both womans arrived early.

Plural Nouns: the rules these questions test

Add -es after s, x, ch, sh and z: bus / buses, box / boxes, watch / watches, brush / brushes. Saying them out loud helps: the extra syllable is the clue.
A consonant before y turns it into -ies: baby / babies, city / cities. But a vowel before y just takes an s: day / days, key / keys.
Many -f words become -ves: leaf / leaves, knife / knives, wolf / wolves. Roof, chief and belief are common exceptions that simply add -s.
The irregulars have to be learned: child / children, foot / feet, tooth / teeth, mouse / mice, person / people, goose / geese, man / men, woman / women.
Some nouns do not change at all: deer, sheep, fish, moose, series. One sheep, ten sheep.

Questions parents and teachers ask

When are irregular plurals taught?: US standards place irregular plural nouns in second grade, but they keep appearing in spelling lists through fourth grade because the list is long and nothing about it is predictable.
Is it "childrens" or "children's"?: Neither is a plural. Children is already plural; children's is the possessive form, as in the children's playground. There is never a plain "childrens".
Do plural nouns take an apostrophe?: No. "The three cats were sleeping" needs no apostrophe. An apostrophe only appears when something belongs to the noun — that is covered on the possessives page.