Pluralization

z
of Irregular
Nouns
A. Read the paragraph below and
write the nouns that you will come
across. Write them only once.
MAYA THE BIRD AND TAHONG THE
MUSSEL

z
Tahong, the mussel, was opening
its shell to bask in the sun when
Maya, the bird, pecked at it.
Tahong, the mussel, was quick. It
clamped down Maya’s beak and
held it fast.
 “If it doesn’t rain today or
tomorrow,” said Maya, “there will
be a dead mussel lying here.” “If
you can’t pry loose today or
tomorrow,”
z
retorted Tahong, “there
will be a dead bird here, too.” As
neither of them would give way, a
passing fisherman caught them
both.
 You should have
spotted the following
nouns.
z
Maya shell
Bird beak
Tahong sun
Mussel fisherman
 FUNNY LANGUAGE

We’ll begin with box, the plural is

boxes But the plural of ox should
be oxen
z not oxes One fowl is a
goose, but two are called geese
Yet the plural of moose could
never be meese.
You may find a lone mouse, or a
whole rest of mice But the plural
of house is houses, not hice If the
pluralzof man should always be
men Why is the plural of pan,
pans and not pen?
 The cow in the plural maybe called
cows or kine But the plural of vow is
vows never vine If I speak at a foot
and you show your two feet When I
give you a boot, will a pair be called
beet? zIf one is a tooth and a whole
set are teeth Why is the plural of
booth called booths not beeth? We
speak of brother, make it two
becomes brethren But though we say
mother, we never say methren.
 Is it true that English can
confuse you and me? I would
love to discover the farther side
of thee Learning the language
would be fun, you will see We’ll
z
deal with English as funny as can
be.
 Now you may group the nouns
you see in the poem according to
how they form their plural. The
first one is done for you.
A B
z–s or –es
by adding by changing spelling
1. box - boxes 1. Ox - oxen
1. box – boxes 1. ox – oxen
2. moose – mooses 2. goose – geese
3. house – houses 3. mouse – mice
4. pan – pans 4. man – men
5. vow – vows 5. cow – cows, kine
6. boot – zboots 6. foot – feet
7. booth – booths 7. tooth – teeth
8. mother – mothers 8. brother –
brethren
Try to relate yourself in the
following story. Answer the
questions that follow.
THE BOY WHO WOULDN’T GO
z TO SCHOOL

“But I don’t want to go to

school” Hans cried. “I like
everything just the way it is.”
 Young Hans was blessed with
loving parents. Although his
parents were poor – a shoemaker
and a washerwoman – they did the
best that they could for their son.
They zspent long hours telling him
stories and even saved to take him
to theater. Hans dreamt of
becoming a famous actor. That
was all he could think of.
One day, off to school he went.
 On the first day of school, Hans
was fascinated by the clock. He
watched it all day. Finally the
teacher came cross with him. That
night Hans said, “I don’t like that
school.
z Don’t send me back!”

So his parents found him another

school then another, and another,
but none of them pleased him so
he decided never to go to school
anymore.
 About that time, Hans’ father died.
He needed to work to help his
mother make a living.
Hans worked in a factory where
people came to like him because he
wouldzalways sing and tell them
stories. He sang for the rich men in
their place too.
Soon, they arranged for him to
meet the king hoping that the king
would send Hans to a good school to
be a better singer.
 But Hans still wanted nothing to do
with school. He just wanted to be
famous. He acted for the king but the
king wasn’t pleased with his acting.
The king told Hans that he should go
back to
z his job.
About that time, he didn’t want to
go back to his job nor to school. He
decided to make himself famous in
the big city. So off to the city, he
went.
 He thought he knew how to
become famous “First you suffer
terrible things,” he said. “Then you
get to be famous.”
For years, he did suffer terrible
things.zHe tried to act, dance and
write poems to become famous but
success was no where to be found.
Finally, some friends told him that he
should go back to school
 . Back to school? Now that he’s
seventeen? Why should he go back
to school and be laughed at in
second grade? Surely he was too
smart for that.
Well,
z right then and there, Hans
proved that he really was smart by
going to school! It wasn’t easy. He
was taller than his teacher. Every
one made fun of him. But at last he
passed his university examination.
 . And if you’ve ever read “The Ugly
Duckling”, “The Little Mermaid”, or
“The Emperor’s New Clothes”, you
know that Hans Christian Andersen
did learn to write. And he had
becomez famous, too, just as he had
hoped.

Adapted and Condensed Across Borders

Through Reading pp. 4 – 5
 1. Whose life is talked about in the
story?
2. What difficulties did he suffer as a
child?
3. What was Hans’ goal in his life?
4. Howz did he try to reach his goal?
What traits helped him?
5. Do you also have a goal in life?
How do you intend to reach your
goal? What character traits do you
need to succeed in your goal?
 Identify yourself with Hans by
making a Venn diagram to compare
your similarities and differences

S
Hans I Myself
M

z I
L
A
R
I
T
I
E
S

If you were Hans, would you also follow your

friends’ advice to go back to school? Why?
 • Irregular nouns form their
plural by changing their
spelling
• We can identify ourselves
z
with a character in the story
by finding how we are similar
and different from the
character.
 A. Study the picture below.
Complete the paragraph by
filling in the blank with the
correct form of plural nouns.
z
Make a list of the nouns in
your notebook
From the Castle’s Tower

z
 An eleven-year old prince is looking down from the
castle’s tower. He would love to go down and join the
festivities at the carnival but the queen said he must
stay inside the castle. He envies the _____ holding
colorful balloons. He watches eagerly as the clown
bends and touches his _____ from behind. A group of
_____ are playing cards near the candy store. He
delights at the sight of animals he rarely sees in cages.
z
He sees four white _____. A magician holds a cage
with three little _____ in it. Fenced at the right side are
five red _____ dressed and adorned with colored
paper. The prince smiled with all his _____ out. “Oh, if
only the queen didn’t tell me to stay,” he sighs
excitedly. The prince dreams that someday he’ll be a
part of the merry-making at the carnival.
1. children 5. mice
2. feet 6. oxen
3. men
z 7. teeth
4. geese.
 B. Answer the questions below. Write your answers
in your notebook.
1. What positive trait does the prince display in the
story?
2. Can you relate yourself to the prince’s condition?
How?
3. If you were the prince, would you go down to the
z the queen’s order to stay inside the
carnival despite
castle? Why and why not?
4. Do you also possess the positive trait that is
displayed by the prince in the story? Sight an instance
to prove your answer.
5. Do you think the prince did the right thing? Why?
Why not?