The plural of belly is bellies, not bellys. When you make a noun ending in a consonant plus y plural, you usually change the y to i and add -es. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary and Cambridge Dictionary both confirm the standard spelling and meaning of belly.
This guide explains the rule, shows how to use the word in sentences, and gives you short exercises to help you remember the correct form.
What “Belly” Means
Belly is a noun that commonly means the front part of a person’s or animal’s body below the chest. It can also describe the rounded or curved part of an object, such as the underside of an aircraft.
For example: “The fish had a pale belly.”
At a glance: Part of speech: noun; pronunciation: BEL-ee (/ˈbeli/); syllables: 2.
The Answer in Brief
The plural of belly is bellies. Use belly when referring to one, and bellies when referring to more than one. The spelling follows the standard consonant-plus-y plural rule.
| Form | What It Means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Belly | One belly; singular | The baby has a small belly. |
| Bellies | More than one belly; plural | The puppies rested on their bellies. |
| Belly’s | Something belonging to one belly, or a contraction in context | The animal’s belly was wet. |
| Bellies’ | Something belonging to multiple bellies | The animals’ bellies were covered in mud. |
All the Forms, Side by Side
The different forms become easier to understand when you compare their meanings and sentence uses.
| Grammatical Form | Example |
|---|---|
| Singular: belly | The cat lay on its belly. |
| Plural: bellies | The cats lay on their bellies. |
| Singular possessive: belly’s | The belly’s shape changed as the animal moved. |
| Plural possessive: bellies’ | The animals’ bellies were visible as they rolled over. |
A possessive shows ownership or association. An apostrophe doesn’t make a noun plural; it shows possession or, in some contexts, a contraction.
The Rule: Change Y to IES
When a regular noun ends in a consonant followed by y, change the y to i and add -es to form the plural. Because belly ends in l followed by y, its plural is bellies.
Cambridge Dictionary’s grammar guidance confirms this pattern. However, when a noun ends in a vowel followed by y, you usually keep the y and add -s.
| Singular | Plural | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Belly | Bellies | Consonant + y → ies |
| Baby | Babies | Consonant + y → ies |
| City | Cities | Consonant + y → ies |
| Story | Stories | Consonant + y → ies |
| Valley | Valleys | Vowel + y → s |
| Monkey | Monkeys | Vowel + y → s |
| Toy | Toys | Vowel + y → s |
A useful exception involves proper names: common nouns such as baby become babies, but a family name such as Kennedy normally becomes Kennedys, not Kennedies.
What the Dictionaries Say
Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary lists bellies as the plural of belly. Cambridge Dictionary confirms the word’s meaning as the front part of the body between the chest and legs and also records its use for a curved part of an object.
Cambridge’s English Grammar Today explains that nouns ending in a consonant plus y usually change that ending to -ies. It contrasts this with words such as monkey, which take -s because a vowel comes before the final y.
Why This One Trips People Up
The mistake usually comes from applying the most familiar plural rule to every noun. Many English nouns form their plurals by adding -s, so a learner may write bellys without considering the final two letters.
The key is to look at the letter immediately before the y. In belly, that letter is l, a consonant. In valley, the letter before the y is e, a vowel, so the plural is valleys.
Examples in Real Sentences
- The baby has a round belly.
- The puppies slept on their bellies.
- The doctor examined the patient’s belly.
- The fish had silver scales and pale bellies.
- The children laughed as the puppies rolled onto their bellies.
- The aircraft’s bellies were painted a different color for the demonstration.
Common errors to avoid:
- ✗ Two bellys were visible in the drawing.
- ✓ Two bellies were visible in the drawing.
- ✗ The babies rested on their belly.
- ✓ The babies rested on their bellies.
- ✗ The valley’s were green after the rain.
- ✓ The valleys were green after the rain.
The last correction matters because an apostrophe is not used to make an ordinary noun plural.
Other Words That Work the Same Way
These words follow the same consonant-plus-y pattern as belly:
- Jelly → jellies
- Tummy → tummies
- Cherry → cherries
- Library → libraries
- Country → countries
- Activity → activities
Compare them with day → days and journey → journeys. In those words, a vowel comes immediately before the final y, so the y stays in place.
How to Remember It
Think of the final letters in belly: L + Y. Since L is a consonant, change the y to i and add -es: belly → bellies.
Remember the contrast belly → bellies but valley → valleys. This pair helps you apply the rule to other nouns instead of memorizing only one word.
Practice
1. What is the plural of belly?
Answer: Bellies. Change y to i and add -es.
2. Choose the correct sentence:
- A. The puppies lay on their bellys.
- B. The puppies lay on their bellies.
Answer: B. Bellies is the standard plural spelling.
3. Complete the sentence: The two babies had full ____ after lunch.
Answer: Bellies. The sentence refers to more than one belly.
4. Choose the correct plural of valley:
- A. Vallies
- B. Valleys
Answer: B. Valleys. The vowel e before the final y means you normally add -s without changing the y.
5. Which form shows that something belongs to more than one belly?
Answer: Bellies’. For example, “The animals’ bellies were covered in mud” uses the plural possessive of animals. To make belly possessive in the plural, write bellies’.
The Final Talk
The plural of belly is bellies, not bellys. The rule is straightforward: when a regular noun ends in a consonant plus y, change y to i and add -es.
Remember that vowel-plus-y nouns, such as valley, usually take only -s. For more practice, explore our related lesson on plural forms and word forms.
FAQs
The plural is bellies. You use it when referring to more than one person’s or animal’s belly, or to multiple curved parts of objects. For example: “The puppies rolled onto their bellies.”
Bellies is the plural of belly. It can refer to the abdominal area of several people or animals, or to rounded parts of objects. The exact meaning depends on the sentence.
Yes. Belly can also be a verb meaning to swell or bulge outward, as when wind fills a sail. Its verb forms include bellies, bellied, and bellying. The meaning and grammar of the sentence determine whether bellies is a plural noun or a verb form.
Bellies is the correct standard plural spelling. Bellys does not follow the usual plural rule for common nouns ending in a consonant plus y. Change the y to i and add -es.
The plural form of belly is bellies. When referring to more than one belly, change the -y to -ies. For example: “The babies had round bellies.”
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