54 / PART ONE: THE BASICS If a noun ends in ‘y’, and there is a consonant before it, a plural is formed by changing the ‘y’ into an ‘i’ and adding ‘-es’: If the ‘y’ is preceded by another vowel, an ‘s’ only is added: If a noun ends in ‘o’ and a consonant precedes the ‘o’, ‘-es’ is added to form a plural: If there is a vowel before the ‘o’, an ‘s’ only is added: It would be difficult to add an ‘s’ only to some words because it would be impossible to pronounce them. These are words that end in ‘ch’, ‘sh’, ‘s’, ‘x’ and ‘z’. In this case an ‘e’ has to be added before the ‘s’: patio – patios studio – studios zoo – zoos hero – heroes potato – potatoes tomato – tomatoes covey – coveys monkey – monkeys donkey – donkeys berry – berries company – companies lady – ladies nappy – nappies Changing ‘y’ to ‘i’ Adding ‘es’ or ‘s’