2nd Grade Plural Nouns Worksheet (-s and -es)

Most add -s, some add -es

Making nouns plural is mostly easy — just add -s. The rule students need to learn is the exception: words ending in s, x, ch, or sh add -es (box → boxes, dish → dishes). The reliable clue is your ear: boxes has an extra syllable you can hear, and that extra sound is the -es.

The plural rules

The ear test

Say each plural out loud:

• cat → cats — one smooth beat, just add -s.
• bus → buses — an extra beat appears at the end, that’s the -es.
• baby → babies — you hear the ee vowel, so the y changed to i.

Worked example

“The ___ (dish) are in the sink.” dish ends in sh → add -es → dishes.

How to solve each item

Have students say each plural out loud. If they hear an extra beat (bus → bus-es), it takes -es; if it slides on smoothly (cat → cats), it’s just -s. Sorting the words into two piles — “+s” and “+es” — makes the pattern concrete.

Guided practice (try before the worksheet)

1. one kiss, two ___ → kisses
2. one bird, three ___ → birds
3. one cherry, many ___ → cherries
4. one lunch, two ___ → lunches

Why it matters

Plural spelling matters on every writing page. Getting the -es and -ies endings right is one of the most common (and most fixable) spelling errors in elementary writing.

Next steps

Builds on identifying nouns.