PRIMARY SPELLING & PHONICS • GRADE 2–3 GRAMMAR • PLURAL FORMS • MORPHOPHONOLOGY STUDENT WORKSHEET • PAGE 1 OF 2

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Plural Formation • Multisyllables • Epenthetic Syllables

“Write the plural form of the following words. Notice that when a word ends in a soft sound like -ge, adding -s adds a whole new syllable: or•ange → or•an•ges (/ɪz/).”

Wheeler's 12 Core Words:
home • sister • carpet • friend • table • window • letter • cloud • scholar • basket • apple • orange

1 12 Singular → Plural Transformation Matrix

Write the plural form of each singular noun on the guidelines by appending suffix -s:

home → homes
sister → sisters
carpet → carpets

friend → friends
table → tables
window → windows

letter → letters
cloud → clouds
scholar → scholars

basket → baskets
apple → apples
orange → oranges

2 Syllable Count Audit • Orange vs. Oranges

Count the syllables in the singular and plural forms below. Notice which word gains an extra syllable:

apple → apples:
2 syllables → 2 syllables

carpet → carpets:
2 syllables → 2 syllables

orange → oranges:
2 syllables → 3 syllables (/ɪz/)

3 Plural Context Sentence Composition

Fill in the blanks using plural nouns from this lesson (apples, oranges, baskets):

Sweet red ________________ and ripe yellow ________________ filled the woven ________________ on the table.

The good scholars wrote cheerful letters to their dear friends.

Wheeler's Grammar Rules • Plural Morphophonology

1. 1. Sibilant Syllable Law: When a singular word ends in a sibilant sound like soft -ge (/dʒ/), adding -s creates a new syllable: orange → or-an-ges (/ɪz/).

2. 2. Spelling of Scholar: Scholar contains Greek digraph ch sounding as /k/ and ends in unaccented -ar (plural: scholars).

3. 3. Consonant Blend in Friend: Friend uses digraph ie pronounced as short ĕ (/frɛnd/). The plural adds -s sounding as voiced /z/ (friends).