The Plural of Nouns
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The plural of nouns I. General Rule English countable nouns have two numbers – the Singular and the Plural. The plural of English nouns is formed by adding the ending –s/ – es to the Singular. N+ – s /– es II. Ways of Pronunciation The ending – s/ – es may be pronounced as [s] after voiceless consonants (other than sibilants). E.g. lamp – lamps [s] book – books [s] [z] after voiced consonants (other than sibilants) and vowels. E.g. bed – beds [z] bee – bees [z] [ız] after sibilants (s, z, S, Z, C,G) E.g. rose – roses [ız] bridge – bridges [ız] III. Particular Cases of Spelling The ending – es is added to nouns ending in: 1. sibilants E.g. bush – bushes box – boxes horse – horses class – classes watch – watches bridge – bridges 2. – “y” preceded by a consonant + “y” changes into “i” E.g. city – cities Cf.: boy – boys family – families day – days monkey – monkeys 3. – “o” preceded by a consonant E.g. hero – heroes Cf.: cuckoo – cokoos potato – potatoes zoo – zoos tomato – tomatoes studio – studios video – videos radio – radios portfolio – portfolios 1 But ! photo – photos piano – pianos solo – solos metro – metros zero – zeros auto – autos kilo – kilos tobacco – tobaccos Note: There are a few nouns which have both forms: cargoes volcanoes E.g. cargo < volcano < cargos volcanos 4. – “f”/ – “fe” in the following nouns: + “f” changes into “v” knife – knives leaf – leaves calf – calves thief – thieves wife – wives wolf – wolves shelf – shelves half – halves life – lives self – selves loaf – loaves elf – elves But ! Other nouns ending in – “f”/ – “fe” add “s” E.g. roof – roofs gulf – gulfs proof – proofs cliff – cliffs belief – beliefs reef – reefs relief – reliefs safe – safes chief – chiefs handkerchief – handkerchiefs Note: There are a few nouns which have both forms hoofs scarfs wharfs E.g. hoof< scarf< wharf< hooves scarves wharves IV. Plural of Compound Nouns 1. As a rule, they change the singular of the head-word E.g. stepmother – stepmothers passer–by – passers–by hotel-keeper – hotel-keepers son-in-law – sons-in-law editor-in-chief – editors-in-chief field-mouse – field-mice 2 а) If there is no head-word, the final element takes the plural: E.g. lady-bird – lady-birds b) If there is no noun in the compound, –s/ – es is added to the last element: E.g. forget-me-not – forget-me-nots merry-go-round – merry-go-rounds break-down – breakdowns pick-up – pick-ups go-between – go-betweens drop-out – drop-outs sit-in – sit-ins 2. If the first word of the compound is “man”/”woman”, both the words in the compound are used in the plural: E.g. man-servant – men-servants woman-doctor – women-doctors V. Irregular Ways of Forming Plural 1. man – men child – children foot – feet mouse – mice woman – women ox – oxen tooth – teeth louse – lice goose – geese 2. Some nouns of foreign origin (mostly borrowed from Latin and Greek) keep their native plural forms (they are given in a dictionary). E.g. phenomenon – phenomena (Greek) crisis – crises (Greek) formula – formul ae (Latin) Note: Some of them have 2 plural forms formulae indices E.g. formula< index< formulas indexes 3. In some nouns the plural form does not differ from the singular: а) always unchanged: deer – deer swine – swine cod – cod sheep – sheep grouse – grouse salmon – salmon b) usually unchanged: trout – trout carp – carp pike – pike moose – moose c) have both regular and unchanged plural: Antelope – antelope(s) flounder – flounder(s) reindeer – reindeer(s) herring – herring(s) fish – fish(es) 3 4. In some nouns the singular form does not differ from the plural: means – a means species – a species headquarters – a headquarters series – a series works – a works 5. Some nouns ending in –s(-ics) are usually singular ( and uncountable). а) – “s” news measles billiards mumps draughts rickets + some other games + some other diseases b) – “ics” mathematics (or maths) athletics physics gymnastics electronics + some other economics activities optics politics phonetics + some other sciences c) some geographical names: countries: Wales towns: Athens the Bahamas Brussels the Philippines Naples the Netherlands the United States VI. Nouns With No Singular (=Always Plural) 1. One thing has two parts: trousers glasses pyjamas scissors Cf.: a glove - gloves jeans spectacles shears a sock - socks tights goggles (top and bottom) tongs a stocking – stockings shorts binoculars pants breeches (two eyes) scales leggings (two legs) Note: To make them singular we use “a pair of” E.g. Those are nice jeans . → That’s a nice pair of jeans. 4 2. Some other nouns: goods clothes wages sweets contents people (Note: a people = “народ, нация”– peoples ) VII. Nouns With No Plural (=Always Singular) 1. uncountable nouns: money (much money, little money, a little money) advice (a piece of advice) furniture (an item of furniture, a piece of furniture) knowledge information progress work (a piece of work, a job, jobs) experience ( “an experience”, “experiences” when countable in the meaning of “приключение”) hair (a hair, 2 hairs when countable) weather 2. nouns of material: gold silver bread (a loaf of bread, a slice of bread) sugar (but different kinds (sorts) are wine called ”sugars”, “wines”) tea ( but thinking about helpings coffee we say: “2 teas”, “4 coffees ice-cream and 6 ice-creams”) paper (“a paper, papers” when countable) 2. abstract nouns: strength friendship noise ( but “a noise”, “noises”; “a light”, will music light “lights” when countable) love VIII. More Things to Remember 1. a) house – houses [hаus] – [hаuzız] 5 b) Nouns ending in –“th” = [θ] change it into [ð] in pronunciation after long vowels and diphthongs: E.g. [bа:θ] bath – baths [bа:ðz] [ouθ] oath – oaths [ouðz] Note: Nothing happens to [θ] after consonants (including “r”) and short vowels: [mAnθ] month – months [mAnθs] [mıθ] myth – myths [mıθs] [bə:θ ] birth – births [bə:θs] [helθ] health – healths [helθs] 2. The Smiths live next to us. The Smirnovs are nice people. 3. а) Some nouns singular in form are often (but not always) plural in their meaning: cattle youth army government these nouns ( the so-called “collective nouns”) staff are all groups of people ( but cattle ). We often team think of them as a number of people ( = they) family not as one thing ( = it). So we often use a plural audience verb. commettee company firm E.g. The government ( = they) want to increase taxes. The staff ( = they) look after the children. Scotland (a sports team = they) are playing France next week. Shell (a company = they) have increased the price of petrol. b) “police” always requires a plural verb. E.g. The police have arrested a friend of mine. Do you think the police are well-paid? Note: a person in the police is “a policeman”, “a policewoman”, “a police-officer”, not “a police”. 4. We often think of – a sum of money – a period of time – a distance – etc. as one thing. So we use a singular verb. E.g. Twenty thousand pounds ( = it) was stolen in the robbery. Three years ( = it) is a long time to be without a job. Six miles ( = it) is a long way to walk every day. Thirty degrees ( = it) is too hot for me. 6.