---
title: Ascertain the correct plural form of a noun terminating in a consona… — Spelling plurals: -s, -es, -ies, -ves… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the correct plural form of a noun terminating in a consonant followed by the letter y. Exam question 1 of lesson 6 «Spelling plurals: -s, -es, -ies, -ves and odd ones» of the English course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option
---

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# Exam question 1 · Spelling plurals: -s, -es, -ies, -ves and odd ones

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the correct plural form of a noun terminating in a consonant followed by the letter y.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, noun · **What happens:** ascertain, terminate, follow, form · **To what, where:** correct plural form, consonant, noun

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 6 «Spelling plurals: -s, -es, -ies, -ves and odd ones» of the English course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. The page gives the question's syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause, then the 4 options as the student saw them, each with its tree and pragmatics. Every text is parsed by Mova itself. How the student answered it, with the score of every option and why: [the test at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/english/6-spelling-plurals/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:6-spelling-plurals:e1:1
# text = Ascertain the correct plural form of a noun terminating in a consonant followed by the letter y.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
3	correct	correct	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
4	plural	plural	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	form	form	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	noun	noun	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
9	terminating	terminate	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	8	acl	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	consonant	consonant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
13	followed	follow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	12	acl	_	_
14	by	by	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
16	letter	letter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	compound	_	_
17	y	y	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the correct plural form of a noun |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent form=Topic |
| 2 | **terminate** | gerund | a noun *not said here* |  |  | a consonant |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |
| 3 | **follow** | participle |  | a consonant *not said here* |  |  |  | by the letter y | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme by y=Location |
| 4 | **form** |  |  | a noun |  |  |  |  | nom form «communication transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The y is doubled before the ending -es is appended

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:6-spelling-plurals:e1:o1:1
# text = The y is doubled before the ending -es is appended
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	y	y	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	doubled	double	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	ending	ending	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj:pass	_	_
8	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	es	e	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	conj	_	_
10	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux:pass	_	_
11	appended	append	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **double** | present · passive |  | the y |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: subject=Patient |
| 2 | **append** | present · passive |  | the ending and es |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The ending -s is appended without alteration of the word

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:6-spelling-plurals:e1:o2:1
# text = The ending -s is appended without alteration of the word
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	ending	ending	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	-s	-s	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	appended	append	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	without	without	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	alteration	alteration	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **append** | present · passive |  | the ending -s |  |  |  | without alteration of the word | tree rules |
| 2 | **alter** |  |  | the word |  |  |  |  | nom alteration «event transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The y is replaced by i and the ending -es is appended

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:6-spelling-plurals:e1:o3:1
# text = The y is replaced by i and the ending -es is appended
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	y	y	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	replaced	replace	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	i	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	4	obl	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	ending	ending	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj:pass	_	_
10	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	es	e	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	conj	_	_
12	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	aux:pass	_	_
13	appended	append	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **replace** | present · passive | i | the y |  |  |  |  | vn substitute-13.6.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme subject=Co-Theme |
| 2 | **append** | present · passive |  | the ending and es |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The word remains unaltered in the plural

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:6-spelling-plurals:e1:o4:1
# text = The word remains unaltered in the plural
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	remains	remain	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	unaltered	unaltered	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	plural	plural	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **remain** | present | the word |  |  | the plural |  | unaltered *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in plural=Location |

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**Text:** the tests of Mova's primary school, written for Mova (`world/data/school/`), as the course runner gave them to the student. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each text read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

<!-- /div -->

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- next →: [Spelling plurals: -s, -es, -ies, -ves…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/6-spelling-plurals/e2/)
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