Plurals Of Words Ending In ‘O’

How to spell the plurals of words ending in o. Some just add s, some add es and some give you the choice. Here are some ways to learn and remember.

1. Plurals of words ending in ‘ o ’ - os , - oes or either? By Johanna Stirling The Spelling Blog http://thespellingblog.blogspot.com

2. Ever wondered... ...when words ending in o add just s and when they add e s ?

3. Nouns that end in o can make their plural by adding s or es and many of them can be either. The patterns are not very clear but:

4. These w ords just add s : radio s , patio s , zoo s , kangaroo s What do they have in common? (Hint: look at the letter before the o ) -s

5. Words ending in VOWEL + o , just add s : radio s , patio s , zoo s , kangaroo s -s

6. These words just add s too kilo s , photo s , logo s , typo s What do they have in common? (Hint: related to the length of the word) -s

7. We just add s to short forms of longer words: kilo s photo s logo s typo s -s

8. We just add s to these words : Eskimo s Picasso s Filipino s What do they have in common? Hint: what does t he firs t letter tell you? -s

9. We usually just add s to proper nouns: Eskimo s Picasso s Filipino s -s

10. We just add -s to these words from tacos stilettos and many other musical terms sombreros solos What do these words have in common? Hint: Think about the origin of the words.

11. We usually just add -s to loan words* from from *Loan words are words that have come from another language with no change of spelling Spanish Italian tacos stilettos and many other musical terms sombreros solos

12. We just add s to kimono s avocado s casino s inferno s torso s Any idea why? (Hint: Think about when they entered the English language.) -s

13. We usually just add s to words that are newer to English: kimono s avocado s casino s inferno s torso s -s

14. These w ords add es : potato es tomato es echo es embargo es hero es veto es Any idea why? (Hint: Compare them with the words on the previous slide.) - es

15. Words that entered English long ago* usually add es : potato es tomato es echo es embargo es hero es veto es - es *and in which the spelling may have been Anglicised

16. Many words have two alternative spellings – you choose* - add s or es ... -s or - es *but try to be consistent!

17. -s or - es buffaloes / os dominoes / os ghettos / oes innuendos / oes mangos / oes mosquitoes / os mottos / oes tornadoes / os volcanoes / os zeros / oes Most common spelling shown first

18. So in fact... the only common words that must have es are: potato es tomato es echo es hero es veto es embargo es torpedo es That means ...

19. ... you could just learn these and write all the others with s potato es tomato es echo es hero es veto es embargo es torpedo es

20. Hope that helps! For more useful information like this, please visit ...