Year 6 - English
Forming irregular plural nouns
Homophones and tense
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Study Guides
This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
In this unit, pupils build and review a range of spelling patterns with a focus on homonyms, homophones and a wide range of suffixes, including -ed, -ing, -er, -est, -s, -ies, -es, -ves, -le, -el, -il, -al, -cian, -tion, -sion, -ssion, -ous, -tious, -cious, -cial and -tial.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to spell common irregular plural nouns that do not follow clear rules.
Key Notes
- Regular plurals follow spelling rules.
- There are no rules for irregular plurals; you just have to learn them.
- Examples of irregular plural nouns include: formula - formulae, woman - women, tooth - teeth, index - indices.
- We can look for naughty letters to help us to remember tricky spellings.
- How to spell the curriculum words: equip and equipment.
Vocabulary To Learn
- suffix: a letter or group of letters added to the end of a word to change its meaning
- root word: the base word from which other words are formed often by adding prefixes or suffixes
- singular: only one
- plural: more than one
- irregular: means not conforming to a regular or predictable pattern
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Pupils will apply common plural rules to singular nouns that have irregular plural patterns.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain this English learning goal in two key points.
Regular plurals follow spelling rules. There are no rules for irregular plurals; you just have to learn them.
2. Define this language term and use it in a sentence. 'suffix'
a letter or group of letters added to the end of a word to change its meaning.
3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.
Mistake: Pupils will apply common plural rules to singular nouns that have irregular plural patterns. Correction: Use spelling strategies such as 'big letters' or 'colour blocks' to help pick out the tricky elements of irregular plural spellings and embed them in the memory.
More Lessons In This Unit
- Forming plural nouns using the suffix -es and -ves Study Guide
- Forming plural nouns using the suffix -s and -ies Study Guide
- Spelling further homophones Study Guide
- Spelling further near-homophones and homophones Study Guide
- Spelling homonyms Study Guide
- Spelling more homophones Study Guide
- Spelling words including the suffix -al Study Guide
- Spelling words with the comparative suffix -er Study Guide
- Spelling words with the spellings -le, -el and -il Study Guide
- Spelling words with the suffix -ous and -cious Study Guide
- Spelling words with the suffix -ous and -tious Study Guide
- Spelling words with the suffixes -cial and -tial Study Guide
- Spelling words with the suffixes -sion and -ssion Study Guide
- Spelling words with the suffixes -tion and -cian Study Guide
- Spelling words with the superlative suffix -est Study Guide
- Using and applying the suffixes -cial and -tial Study Guide
- Using the suffix -ed to form the past tense Study Guide
- Using the suffix -ing to form the progressive tense Study Guide
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