3.4 Singualar and plural; reading

English first additional language

Grade 5

Module 17

Singular and plural; reading

ACTIVITY 1

TO ANALYSE WORD FORMATION

[LO 6.4.1]

Singular and Plural

… simply means: One and Many

Read the extract and:

1. Underline all the singular nouns (singular = ONE ).
2. Circle the plural nouns in RED (plural = more than ONE).

Punk Cat and Pasha, her mate, are raising a litter of kittens. Gemma, our little hairy friend, is very interested in the sleeping, breathing pile of fur, noses, ears, paws and tails . . .

What letter do you find at the end of each plural noun in the above box? ______

Identify other plural noun endings from the words in the sentence below. Write the singular noun of each word in the box provided.

The boxes on the shelves were filled with toys , potatoes and radios .

They were being sent to poor children of different countries .

3. Do you notice that some words change slightly in the plural form?

The first one is done for you.

Look for CLUES ! Let me show you!

See! That was not so difficult. Just remember ‘-‘-es’ is added to singular nouns ending in ‘ss’, ‘x’, ‘ch’, ‘sh’ and ‘s’.

Now try these!

If a noun ends in y following a consonant , change the y to ies .

If a noun ends in a – y following a vowel , only add an – s .

(This one is tricky!)

When a noun ends in a single _______ or _____, change the f into ______

There is no firm rule for these words. Some plurals end in es ; others only take an s . (Note: All musical terms end in - os .)

Take a look and then add a few of your own examples:

mouse - mice foot - feet

child - children

Your examples:

Can you think of any nouns which do not change in the plural form? In other words, they stay the same ?

Some nouns take on a singular form, because they cannot be counted.

Some words appear only in the plural form. Can you name examples of these?

4.Change these singular nouns into the plural form:

a. baby - b. thief -

c. calf - d. bull -

e. chief - f. chimney -

g. sky - h. water -

i. secretary - j. elf -

k. journey - l. torch -

m. fox - n. atlas -

o. key - p. party -

q. silo - r. radio -

s. house- t. louse -

5. Change these nouns into their singular form:

a. batteries - k. buffaloes-

b. buck - l. wolves -

c. churches - m . infernos-

d. memories- n. heroes -

e. trolleys - o. remedies-

f. leaves - p. mice -

g. photos - q. elephants-

h. gases - r. benches -

i. loaves - s. geese -

j. sheep - t. women -

Assessment

LO 3

READING AND VIEWING The learner will be able to read and view for information and enjoyment, and to respond critically to the aesthetic, cultural and emotional values in texts.

We know this when the learner:

3.2 understands, in a simple way, some elements of poetry: