Plurals

[Shosht]

What are the simplest ways to teach plurals?

 

[emsr2d2]

What are the simplest ways to teach plurals?

The question might be better moved to: Teaching English - UsingEnglish.com ESL Forum where the teachers answer each other's questions.

However, I found no better way with irregular plurals than to just get them to learn them, one to three new ones a week (depending on their level).

Obviously, simple pluralisation doesn't really need to be taught - "add an s" doesn't take much learning! "Y" becomes "ies" also doesn't take too long to sink in.

Maybe someone else found a better way but I just told my students that they would simply have to learn that it's "mice" not "mouses" - we used example sentences or experiences from their own lives that they could tie the words in to.

 

[Shosht]

Thank you for the reply. I am not sure how I could ask someone?

 

[emsr2d2]

Thank you for the reply. I am not sure how I could ask someone?

I'm not sure what you mean by that. I just meant that if you're a teacher asking for info or advice from other teachers, then another part of this forum is a bit more appropriate. This section is mainly for students to ask for help with English. The link I posted will take you to the "Teaching English" section.

 

[bhaisahab]

I'm moving the thread to the appropriate forum.

 

[Tdol]

The mechanics are simple adding -s, some minor variations according to spelling (box -> boxes, when to change -y to -ies), and a few exceptions (women, children, oxen).

I wouldn't try to cover all of the issues at once- if you threw one sheep/two sheep and cattle (plural verb, usually no number) at a beginner from a language with plural form, you might see their brain overheat. Especially if you threw in collective nouns with the differences between AmE and BrE.

Singular and plural is one of the most complex things in English grammar IMO, but getting learners started has never been much of a problem in my experience.