Question

Fill in the blank using the plural form of the noun given in the bracket:
In the Himalayas, pilgrims use horses and _ _ _ _ to carry their clothes and gear. (pony)
a)Ponies
b)Ponys’
c)Ponys
d)None of the above.

Answer 1

Hint: Pony is a horse of small breed. The word pony ends with -y and y is preceded by a consonant.

Complete step by step answer:

For words that end with -y and y is preceded by a consonant, we remove -y and add the suffix -ies to make it plural. Thus, the plural form of pony would be pony - y + ies i.e. option a, ponies. Option b ponys’ is incorrect.

The correct way to write is pony’s which is used to refer to a pony. For e.g. He was trying to match the pony’s pace. But this is not the plural form of pony. Thus, option b is incorrect.

Option c ponys is incorrect too. As explained above the words ending with -y preceded by a consonant change to plural with elimination of -y and addition of suffix -ies. Option d none of the above is invalid as we have already found the solution in the above options.

Note: do not confuse ponys and ponies. Though both these words are pronounced similar but the correct spelling is ponies.