English · Making a singular noun plural
Plural Forge
One bench is on the anvil. Choose the stamp that makes more than one, strike it, and read what the forge gives you before you commit.
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Why this works
The plural of "bench" is "benches", because this word already ends in a hissing sound, so an s on its own could not be heard and it takes es instead. The ending of a word is what decides which rule applies, so the first thing to do with any new noun is look at its last letter or two. The other stamps on this anvil are the ways this goes wrong: "bench's" uses an apostrophe, which shows belonging rather than more than one; "benchs" adds an s without making the spelling change the word needs; "bench" leaves the word exactly as it was, so it still names only one. An apostrophe never makes a plural, whatever a shop sign says: it shows belonging, not more than one.
Helping a child through Plural Forge
Hints, least revealing first
- Say it out loud first: one bench, two what? Your ear usually knows the answer before the spelling does.
- Look at how "bench" ENDS. The last letter or two is what every one of these stamps is arguing about.
- For "bench", this word already ends in a hissing sound, so an s on its own could not be heard and it takes es instead.
When they finish it: “One bench, plenty of benches!”
11+ skill this exercise practises
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Plural Forge practises one skill. English has 41 of them
A free diagnostic covers every english skill and the other three subjects, and comes back with a shortlist rather than a list.