Irregular Plural

1. Root change (man – men, woman – women, foot – feet, tooth – teeth, goose – geese, mouse – mice, louse – lice)

2. Suffix –en (ox – oxen, child – children, brother – brethren not by blood but by religious beliefs)

The same form for the singular and the plural

A sheep – sheep a fish – fish a grouse – grouse a salmon – salmon NB. Fish, wine may be used if we mean different kinds e.g. We saw a lot of fishes.

A swine – swine a craft – craft a mackerel – mackerel an aircraft – aircraft

A deer – deer a counsel – counsel a plaice – plaice a wine – wine

A moose – moose a carp – carp a trout – trout a fruit – fruit

• hundred, thousand, million, dozen, pair, score, brace, head don’t change if they have a numeral :e.g. three score of years, two dozen of eggs

• When used by themselves –s is added to them: e.g. in dozens, scores of people, in pairs, thousands of people

*Nationalities: Vietnamese, Portuguese, Swiss, Japanese,

*These nouns ending in –s remain unchanged in the plural: barracks, bellows, gallows, works, golf links, headquarters, innings, kennels, series, species, means, corps

NB! Gate – gates, sledge – sledges, watch – watches, export – exports, import - imports may be plural in English. In Russian they are only plural: ворота, санки, часы.

Borrowed Nouns

Greek: [is  iz]: analysis – analyses, axis – axes, basis – bases, crisis – crises, diagnosis – diagnoses, ellipsis – ellipses, hypothesis – hypotheses, oasis – oases, thesis –

theses, BUT: metropolis – metropolises

(on  a) : criterion – criteria, phenomenon – phenomena, BUT: demon – demons, electron – electrons, neutrons, protons, ganglions

Latin: (us  i) : alumnus – alumni, bacillus – bacilli, nucleus – nuclei, radius – radii

(a  ae): antenna – antennae, larva – larvae, nebula – nebulae, vertebra – vertebrae, formula – formulae

(ex,ix  ices): codex – codices, apex – apices, index – indices (мат.), vortex – vortices, matrix – matrices

(um  a): addendum – addenda, aquarium – aquaria, bacterium – bacteria, medium – media, curriculum – curricula, stratum – strata, memorandum - memoranda

Usual Plural: bonus, campus, chorus, circus, virus, area, arena, dilemma, diploma, drama, album, chrysanthemum, museum, stadium, forum, ultimatum, symposeum.

data (is / are), cactus, nebula, antenna, vertebra, indexes(в книге), curriculums, aqauriums.

French: eau[ou]  eaux [ouz]: tableau – tableaux, adieu – adieux, bureau – bureaux

[z] is pronounced in plural: chamois, chassis, corps, faux pas, patois.

Hebrew: cherub – cherubs, seraph – seraphs, kibbutz – kibbutzim

COMPOUNDS

1. Plural in the last element: bookcases, toothbrushes, handfuls, mouthfuls, spoonfuls, postmen, woman-haters, grown-ups, forget-me-nots, gin & tonics, Englishmen,

assistant directors, boyfriends, fountain pens, breakdowns, sit-ins, take-offs, Germans, Romans, Normans.

2. First component is made plural: passers-by, mothers-in-law, men-of-war, grant-in-aids.

NB! If the firs component is “man” or “woman” denoting professions both parts are made plural:

e.g. a man-servant – men-servants, a woman doctor – women doctors, a gentleman farmer – gentlemen farmers.IV.-y preceded by a consonant  ies (stories, fly – flies, countries)

-y preceded by a vowel  s (play – plays, key – keys)

V.- f (- fe)  ves (calf, elf, half, knife, leaf, thief, wolf, life, loaf,

self, sheaf, shelf, wife e.g. wife – wives)

- f (- fe) + s (beliefs, chiefs, handkerchiefs, cliffs, proofs, roofs,

muffs, safes, gulf, griefs, cuffs)

- fs or ves (dwarf, handkerchief, hoof, scarf, wharf e.g. hoofs,hooves) Spelling

I. - es after s,ss,sh,tch,x,z (glasses, boxes, watches)

II.– es after o (potatoes, tomatoes, heroes, Negroes, echoes, mottoes)

III.-os:

1. o preceded by a vowel (radios, studios, zoos, kangaroos, embryos)

2. abbreviations ( kilos, memos, pros, photos)

3. musical terms and instruments (concertos, pianos, solos, sopranos)

4. in proper names (Romeos, Eskimos, Filipinos)

NB! -os or –oes : buffalo(e)s, commando(e)s, tornado(e)s, cargo(e)s, mosquito(e)s, volcano(e)s Formation

[z] after vowels & voiced consonants (days, dogs, birds)

[s] after voiceless consonants (books, coats)

[iz] after s,ss,sh,tch,x,z + mute “e” preceded by s,c,z,g,t,d (classes, dishes, prizes) NB. house – houses [haus – hauziz]

[ ]  [ z] - (baths*, oaths*, sheaths*, truths*, wreaths*, youths*, mouths*, paths*) But ([ s] - (cloths, deaths, faiths, months, moths, truths, youths, baths)The Number of Nouns