ACTIVITY 1

TO ANALYSE WORD FORMATION

[LO 6.4.1]

Singular and Plural

… simply means: One and Many

Figure 1

Read the extract and:

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 -

LO 3

READING AND VIEWINGThe 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:

3.2.4 comparisons (e.g. ‘he is the summer time’);

3.6 reads for pleasure:

3.6.1 reads fiction and non-fiction at an appropriate reading and language level;

3.6.4 solves word puzzles;

3.7 uses reference books and develops vocabulary:

3.7.1 uses a dictionary;

3.7.2 demonstrates a reading vocabulary of between 2 000 and 3 500 common words.

LO 6

LANGUAGE STRUCTURE AND USEThe learner will know and be able to use the sounds, words and grammar of the language to create and interpret texts.

We know this when the learner:

6.2 uses language forms and structures to communicate orally and in writing:

6.2.1 uses the tenses introduced in previous grades to communicate orally and in writing;

6.2.2 uses subject-verb concord (e.g. I have / she has);

6.4 develops own vocabulary:

6.4.1 analyses word formation.

ACTIVITY 1

The tasks on singular and plural are covered thoroughly in this unit. Learners are provided with clues and strategies with regards to knowing when and how to use plurals, with special emphasis on spelling.

Read and then:

mate ; litter ; friend ; pile

kittens ; fur; noses ; ears ; paws ; tails

Discuss: What letter do you find at the end of each plural noun?

Yes! Most singular nouns gain an –s when changed to the plural form.

Identify other plural noun endings from these words. Write the singular noun in the boxes provided.

Discuss that some words change slightly in the plural form.

Instructions to the learners : Help Pasha to teach Gemma how to discover the simple, yet valuable clues and help them to use the clues in the rules. Teach them how to look for clues :

If a noun ends in a ‘y’ following a consonant, change the y to an 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 f or fe, change the ‘f’ into –ves ; alternatively the word gains an –s.

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’.)

Some nouns do not really have rules on how they change.

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

mouse - mice

foot - feet

child - children

Examples of plurals which learners could give :

louse – lice ; policeman – policemen ; fireman – firemen ;

woman – women ; goose – geese ; tooth – teeth ; man – men ;

die – dice ; ox – oxen

Can you think of any nouns which do not change in the plural form? In other words, they stay the same … (usually name of animals) -

sheep ; water ; salmon ; buck ; deer ; fish ; moose ; aircraft ; series ; reindeer

Some nouns take a singular form as they are ‘uncountable’ :

advice ; gold ; luggage ; hair ; parking ; paper ; weather

Some words appear only in plural form :

scissors ; clothes ; thanks ; police ; news ; riches ; stairs ; measles ; mumps ; sports

4. Answers

5. Next activity: