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