Writing Skills (for making screenshots to put on GC)

​Capitalizing Nouns

​Quick Tip:
Capitalize names and words you're using like a name.
Examples:
  • El Dorado High School = name
    our school = not a name
  • President Trump = used like a name/title
    the president = not used like a name
  • Hey, Dad... = used like a name
    my dad = not used like a name

Regular Plurals

Quick Tip:
Add -s or -es to make words plural (more than one).
Longer ​​​Explanation:
  • Most words just use -s.
    computer ➔ computers
  • Ending with -e
    phone ➔ phones
  • Ending with ch, s, sh, x, or z
    church ➔ churches
    fox ➔ foxes​
  • ​NEVER use an apostrophe to make a word plural!  NEVER EVER!!  DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!!!

Plurals Ending with -f

Quick Tip:
To decide between -s and -ves, say it out loud and see if you hear a v or an f.
Picture
[Click to enlarge.]
Longer ​​​Explanation:
  • For most nouns that end with -f or -fe, make them plural (more than one) by changing the ending to -ves.
    wolf ➔ wolves
    life ➔ lives
  • But sometimes you just add -s instead.
    chief ➔ chiefs
    roof ➔ roofs
  • NEVER use an apostrophe to make a word plural!  NEVER EVER!!  DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!!!
Click on the button to do the exercise.  It doesn't count until you get 90%, so keep trying until you do.  Be sure to get a screenshot of the results.

Plurals Ending with -y

Quick Tip:
For words that end with -y, you use either -ies or just -s.
Picture
[Click to enlarge.]
Longer ​​​Explanation:
  • For most nouns that end with -y, make them plural (more than one) by changing the ending to -ies.
    baby ➔ babies 
    French fry ➔ French fries
  • If there’s a vowel (a, e, i, o, or u) before the -y, just add -s. 
    key ➔ keys 
    day ➔ days    ​
  • NEVER use an apostrophe to make a word plural!  NEVER EVER!!  DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!!!
Click on the button to do the exercise.  It doesn't count until you get 90%, so keep trying until you do.  Be sure to get a screenshot of the results.

Irregular Plurals

Quick Tip:
There isn't a rule for these, but they're not hard to remember.
Picture
[Click to enlarge.]
Longer ​​​Explanation:
  • Some nouns don't follow the regular patterns for making words plural, so they're called "irregular plurals." 
  • Here are some basic patterns that sometimes work:
    • -sis ➔ ses  crisis ➔ crises
    • -an ➔ -en  man ➔ men
    • -us ➔ -i  cactus ➔ cacti
    • -o ➔ -oes  potato ➔ potatoes
    • -on ➔ -a  criterion ➔ criteria
    • -ee-  ➔ [no change]  deer ➔ deer
  • There are a few things you can do:
    • Just remember them.
    • Go with what sounds right (but you still have to spell it right).
    • Look it up online.
  • If you look it up, it will usually tell you how to spell the plural.  If it doesn't then you probably just add -s or -es.
Picture
After the word "plural," it tells you how to spell it.
Click on the button to do the exercise.  It doesn't count until you get 90%, so keep trying until you do.  Be sure to get a screenshot of the results.

Plurals Review

Quick Tip:
This is a review of the last four exercises, so you can look back at those explanations and/or use the picture to the right. ➔
Picture
[Click to enlarge.]
Longer ​​​Explanation:
  • We've practiced several patterns for making words plural, so this is a review of all of them combined.

Click on the button to do the exercise.  It doesn't count until you get 90%, so keep trying until you do.  Be sure to get a screenshot of the results.