Irregular Plurals Prove a Point

sight-words-clipart-sight_dolch_wordsHave you ever heard someone say, “Why doesn’t she just learn to speak English!”? Every time I hear or read that, I’m tempted to ask that person how easy they think it would be to learn another language if they hadn’t grown up with it . . .

I would also love to ask them to do one “simple” thing — correctly form the plurals of these simple, everyday English words: hoof, roof, goose, moose, tooth, booth, mouse, house, foot, root, shrimp, sheep, trout.

And this is not about putting anyone down; it’s about helping each of us see the world from someone else’s reality. Some things we take for granted are tough for others . . . and even us.

Ready? Try it yourself before you see the answers below. You might be surprised.

one hoof — many hooves (some dictionaries do support hoofs)
one roof — many roofs

one goose — many geese
one moose — many moose

one tooth — many teeth
one booth — many booths

one mouse — many mice
one house — many houses

one foot — many feet
one root — many roots

One shrimp / sheep / trout — many shrimp / sheep / trout.

Still think learning English is so easy?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *