Free Year 5 Less common plurals Practice | Skillo
Year 5 students preparing for NAPLAN need to be confident with less common plurals. Less common plurals include irregular forms (knives, leaves, mice, geese, children) and require knowledge of word origin. Skillo has targeted practice questions for this exact skill, mapped to the Australian Curriculum v9.0, free and ready to go.
Start Free Practice →What is tested: Less common plurals
- ✓Less common plurals include irregular forms (knives, leaves, mice, geese, children) and require knowledge of word origin.
- ✓Questions present words in sentence context
- ✓Australian English spelling conventions apply throughout
Sample questions
Question 1 — Easy
Priya spotted a family of field mice hiding under the old shed.
Answer: The word 'mice' is the irregular plural of 'mouse' — it does not follow the regular rule of adding -s or -es. 'Mouses' is an over-regularised form that applies the standard plural rule incorrectly. 'Mices' adds an extra -s to an already plural word, and 'mousies' is a phonetic invention with no basis in English spelling.
Question 2 — Medium
The park ranger counted twelve ___ grazing near the billabong at dawn.
Answer: The word 'sheep' is an irregular plural that does not change form — both the singular and plural are 'sheep'. 'Sheeps' is the most common over-regularised error. 'Sheepes' and 'sheepies' are invented forms that do not exist in English.
Question 3 — Hard
The farmer counted over two hundred sheep grazing on the hillside at dawn.
Answer: The word 'sheep' is a zero-plural noun — its singular and plural forms are identical, so no suffix is added. 'Sheeps' incorrectly applies the regular -s plural rule, 'sheepes' adds an unnecessary -es ending, and 'sheepen' imitates the pattern of 'children' or 'oxen' but does not apply to 'sheep'.
How to use Skillo for Year 5 Spelling
- Select Year 5 and Spelling on the home screen
- Use Quick Practice — questions on less common plurals will appear as part of the session
- Check the Skill Breakdown on your profile to track your accuracy on less common plurals specifically
- Review explanations after each question to understand the reasoning behind correct answers
Skillo is free, requires no email or account details, and is built specifically for Australian students. Every question is mapped to the Australian Curriculum v9.0 and filtered by skill so your child practises exactly what they need.
No account needed. No email. No credit card.