Hedgie's English Quest
Map › Ch 4 · Singular-Plural and One Word Substitution
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Chapter 4 · Book pages 13–15

🐑 Singular-Plural and One Word Substitution

One goose, two geese! Plural rules, rebel words and one-word magic.

By the end of this lesson, you can…
  • make plurals with -s, -es and -ies, like quails, boxes and rallies
  • change -f/-fe words to -ves (leaf → leaves) and choose -s or -es for -o words
  • remember rebel plurals like teeth, geese, women and same-form words like deer and species
  • handle special plurals like alumni, fungi, bacteria and brothers-in-law
  • replace a long phrase with one word, like cardiologist, orchard, optimist and geology
Start the story →Jump to quiz
One hedgehog, two hedgehogs. One goose, two… gooses? Let's find out! 🦔
📖 Story time

The Great Fair Count

The Bramblewood Fair was tomorrow. Ollie the Owl asked Hedgie to make a list of everything at the market stalls.

HedgieDone! My list says: “Five gooses, ten leafs for plates, three sheeps and two boxs of tomatos.”
🦉
Ollie the OwlHoo-hoo! Lovely counting, Hedgie. But English plurals don't always just add -s. One goose, two geese!
🐢
Tara TortoiseI love rules! Words ending in x take -es: boxes. And tomato takes -es too: tomatoes.
🐿️
Nutty SquirrelAnd leaf is a magic trick! The f turns into v: one leaf, ten leaves! Whoosh! 🍃
HedgieSo what about my three sheeps? Do they get a magic trick too?
🦉
Ollie the OwlSheep is a same-form word. One sheep, three sheep. Deer and fish behave the same way.
🦊
Fizz the FoxClever, clever. Now say this in ONE word, Hedgie: “the person at the stall who sells medicines.”
HedgieUm… the medicine-selling person? Oops, that's three words!
🦉
Ollie the OwlOne word: a pharmacist! Saying a long idea in just one word is called one word substitution. Today you'll master plurals AND one-word magic.

Hedgie crossed out his list, sharpened his pencil and began again…

💡 Big ideas

Let's learn it

Read each card, try the example sentences out loud (tap 🔊), then answer the Quick check.

1

➕Add -s, -es or -ies

A singular noun names one thing (one cat). A plural noun names more than one (two cats). Most nouns just add -s.

  • Add -s: quail → quails, appliance → appliances, matchstick → matchsticks, axe → axes (axe already ends in e, so just add s).
  • Add -es after s, ss, sh, ch, x, z: bus → buses, glass → glasses, dish → dishes, bench → benches, box → boxes.
  • Consonant + y: change y to ies: rally → rallies, boundary → boundaries, baby → babies.
  • Vowel + y: just add s: toy → toys, key → keys, monkey → monkeys.
Word ends inRuleExample
most letters+ squail → quails
s, ss, sh, ch, x, z+ esbench → benches
consonant + yy → iesrally → rallies
vowel + y+ sdonkey → donkeys
  • Riya packed two boxes of matchsticks for the camp. box + es (ends in x) · matchstick + s
  • The two countries agreed on their boundaries. country, boundary: consonant + y → ies
  • Dev lost both his keys at the park. key: vowel (e) + y → just add s
Hedgie's trickAdd -es after the hissing, buzzing sounds: s, ss, sh, ch, x, z. Try saying boxs: your tongue trips! Box-es gives an extra beat.
Olympiad trap!Axe → axes, not axis (an axis is an imaginary line, like the Earth's axis). And don't just add s to a consonant + y word: rallys and boundarys are wrong.
🧐 Quick check
Which is the correct plural of city?
2

🍃-f/-fe words and -o words

Many words ending in -f or -fe change to -ves:

  • leaf → leaves, life → lives, knife → knives, wife → wives
  • wolf → wolves, half → halves, shelf → shelves, calf → calves, thief → thieves

But some just add -s: roof → roofs, chief → chiefs, cliff → cliffs, belief → beliefs.

-o words are a little bit tricky. Some add -es and some add only -s:

-o + es-o + s
potato → potatoesphoto → photos
tomato → tomatoespiano → pianos
hero → heroesradio → radios
echo → echoeszoo → zoos
mango → mangoeskangaroo → kangaroos
  • Autumn leaves covered the path to Hedgie's house. leaf → leaves (f becomes v, add es)
  • People live very different lives in different parts of the world. life → lives
  • Meera clicked ten photos of the heroes at the parade. photo + s · hero + es
Hedgie's trickHedgie's trick: “The hero ate potatoes, tomatoes and mangoes, and heard an echo!” These -o words take -es. Music and machines (piano, radio, photo, video) just take -s.
Olympiad trap!Leafs, leafes and leaven are traps. The plural of leaf is leaves. Also, lives (plural of life) is the right spelling, never livez or livess.
Fun factA cat is said to have nine lives. Luckily, hedgehogs only need one, with lots of spikes! 🦔
🧐 Quick check
Pick the correct plural of wolf.
3

🦷Rebel and same-form plurals

Some plurals are rebels! They don't add -s at all. They change inside the word instead.

Same-form words look exactly the same for one or many: one deer, ten deer. Also: sheep, fish, species, aircraft, salmon.

Always-plural words name things with two joined parts: scissors, trousers, spectacles, jeans. We say a pair of scissors.

OneMany
toothteeth
footfeet
goosegeese
man / womanmen / women
childchildren
mousemice
oxoxen
personpeople
  • The dentist told Aarav to brush his teeth twice a day. tooth → teeth
  • Brave women have changed science, art and politics. woman → women (never womans or womens)
  • We saw many species of birds and three deer at the sanctuary. species and deer stay the same
Hedgie's trickTooth → teeth, foot → feet, goose → geese: the oo turns into ee! Picture it: the geese stepped on my feet and showed their teeth. 🪿
Olympiad trap!Gooses, tooths, womans, sheeps, deers are NOT words. And species is the same for one or many. Specie is a different word (it means coins!).
Fun factWe usually say five fish. But scientists say fishes when they mean many different KINDS of fish.
🧐 Quick check
Ten ______ were drinking water at the lake.
4

🏛️Special guests: Latin and hyphen plurals

Some words came to English from Latin, a very old language. They kept their Latin plurals:

Hyphen words (compound nouns) are made of parts joined with little dashes. Make the main word plural, usually the person: brother-in-law → brothers-in-law, mother-in-law → mothers-in-law, passer-by → passers-by.

EndingOneMany
-us → -ialumnus, fungus, cactusalumni, fungi, cacti
-um → -abacterium, datum, mediumbacteria, data, media
-is → -esaxis, crisisaxes, crises
  • The school invited its alumni for Founders' Day. alumnus = a former student · alumni = former students
  • Mushrooms are fungi. fungus → fungi
  • Both my brothers-in-law came to the wedding. many brothers, not many laws
Hedgie's trickAsk: “Who is more than one?” In brother-in-law, there are many brothers, not many laws! So the s hugs brother.
Olympiad trap!Brother-in-laws and brothers-in-laws look tempting, but only brothers-in-law is right. Alumnuses, fungis, bacterias and bacteriums are wrong too.
Fun factAxes is the plural of both axe (a chopping tool) and axis (an imaginary line). Two words, one plural!
🧐 Quick check
Choose the correct plural of mother-in-law.
5

🧑‍⚕️One word for a person

One word substitution means using one word in place of a long group of words. “A person who treats heart problems” → cardiologist.

Look at the word endings: -ist, -er and -or often mean “a person who…”.

A person who…One word
treats heart problemscardiologist
treats teethdentist
treats skindermatologist
sells medicinespharmacist
acts in films and serialsactor
believes in God / does nottheist / atheist
always looks on the bright sideoptimist
always expects bad thingspessimist
is shy and quiet / loves companyintrovert / extrovert
eats only plants / meat / bothherbivore / carnivore / omnivore
does not eat meat or fishvegetarian
  • Grandpa has a weak heart, so he visits a cardiologist. cardio = heart
  • Zoya never gives up on a puzzle. She is tenacious. tenacious = determined, holding on tight
  • Bears eat berries and fish. They are omnivorous (they are omnivores). omni = all · vore = eat
Hedgie's trickOptimist sees the top (bright side); pessimist sees a mess. Introvert goes into their shell like Hedgie 🦔; extrovert steps out to play.
Olympiad trap!Doctor words sound alike! cardio = heart, derma = skin, neuro = brain and nerves, ortho = bones. A pharmacist sells medicine; a physicist studies physics. A director tells actors what to do; the actor acts.
🧐 Quick check
A person who is reserved and shy is called a/an ______.
6

🏞️One word for places, studies and more

Places

  • where fruit trees are grown → orchard
  • where a dog lives → kennel · horses → stable · bees → hive
  • where wild animals like bears and wolves live → lair (or den)
  • where birds are kept → aviary · fish → aquarium

Studies: -ology means “the study of”.

  • rocks and soil → geology · living things → biology
  • animals → zoology · living things and their surroundings → ecology

Describing words

  • works by itself → automatic · eats all kinds of food → omnivorous
  • late or slow → tardy · always on time → punctual
  • determined, never gives up → tenacious
  • We picked apples in Kabir's uncle's orchard. orchard = fruit trees growing together
  • Anaya loves collecting stones. She wants to study geology. geo = earth
  • The doors of the mall open by themselves. They are automatic. auto = self
Hedgie's trickGeo = earth (geography, geology). Bio = life (biology). Zoo = animals (you see them at the zoo!). Auto = self (automatic, autobiography).
Olympiad trap!Tardy (late) and punctual (on time) are opposites. A stable is for horses, a kennel for dogs, a lair for wild animals. Don't let them swap homes!
🧐 Quick check
The study of animals is called ______.
🗺️ Mind map

The whole chapter on one page

Tap a branch to focus on it. Can you explain each bubble to someone at home?

🃏 Flashcards

Flip & remember

Say the answer in your head before you flip. Be honest — "not yet" cards go to your Review Burrow for later.

📘 Book mission

Now practise in your workbook

Use a pencil. Do each set, then check with the answer key and tick it off here.

📗 Open the answer key
🎁 Wrap-up

Remember these

  1. Most nouns add -s; add -es after s, sh, ch, x, z; consonant + y becomes -ies (rally → rallies).
  2. Many -f/-fe words become -ves (leaf → leaves, life → lives); -o words take -es (potatoes) or -s (photos).
  3. Rebels change inside: teeth, geese, women, mice. Same-form words stay put: deer, sheep, species.
  4. Latin plurals: alumni, fungi, bacteria. Hyphen words pluralise the person: brothers-in-law.
  5. One word substitution swaps a long phrase for one word: cardiologist, pharmacist, optimist, orchard, geology.

🦔 Teach Hedgie!

Hedgie wrote “two gooses and five leafs”. Explain to him in your own words why both are wrong, and give him one more rebel plural to remember.

Explaining something in your own words is the best way to make it stick.

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