The plural of nouns. I. General Rule

Transcription

1 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). lamp lamps [s] book books [s] [z] after voiced consonants (other than sibilants) and vowels. bed beds [z] bee bees [z] [ız] after sibilants (s, z, S, Z, C,G) rose roses [ız] bridge bridges [ız] III. Particular Cases of Spelling The ending es is added to nouns ending in: 1. sibilants bush bushes box boxes horse horses class classes watch watches bridge bridges 2. y preceded by a consonant + y changes into i city cities family families Cf.: boy boys day days monkey monkeys 3. o preceded by a consonant hero heroes potato potatoes tomato tomatoes Cf.: cuckoo cokoos zoo zoos studio studios video videos radio radios portfolio portfolios 1

2 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: cargo < cargoes cargos volcano < volcanoes volcanos 4. f / fe in the following nouns: + f changes into v knife knives wife wives life lives leaf leaves wolf wolves self selves calf calves shelf shelves loaf loaves thief thieves half halves elf elves But! Other nouns ending in f / fe add s roof roofs proof proofs belief beliefs relief reliefs chief chiefs gulf gulfs cliff cliffs reef reefs safe safes handkerchief handkerchiefs Note: There are a few nouns which have both forms hoof< hoofs hooves scarf< scarfs scarves wharf< wharfs wharves IV. Plural of Compound Nouns 1. As a rule, they change the singular of the head-word 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

3 а) If there is no head-word, the final element takes the plural: lady-bird lady-birds b) If there is no noun in the compound, s/ es is added to the last element: 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: man-servant men-servants woman-doctor women-doctors 1. man men woman women V. Irregular Ways of Forming Plural child children ox oxen foot feet tooth teeth goose geese mouse mice louse lice 2. Some nouns of foreign origin (mostly borrowed from Latin and Greek) keep their native plural forms (they are given in a dictionary). phenomenon phenomena (Greek) crisis crises (Greek) formula formulae (Latin) Note: Some of them have 2 plural forms formula< formulae formulas index< indices indexes 3. In some nouns the plural form does not differ from the singular: а) always unchanged: deer deer sheep sheep b) usually unchanged: trout trout pike pike swine swine grouse grouse carp carp moose moose cod cod salmon salmon c) have both regular and unchanged plural: Antelope antelope(s) flounder flounder(s) reindeer reindeer(s) herring herring(s) fish fish(es) 3

4 4. In some nouns the singular form does not differ from the plural: means a means series a series species a species works a works headquarters a headquarters 5. Some nouns ending in s(-ics) are usually singular ( and uncountable). а) s news billiards draughts + some other games measles mumps rickets + some other diseases b) ics mathematics (or maths) physics electronics economics optics politics phonetics + some other sciences athletics gymnastics + some other activities c) some geographical names: countries: Wales the Bahamas the Philippines the Netherlands the United States towns: Athens Brussels Naples 1. One thing has two parts: VI. Nouns With No Singular (=Always Plural) trousers jeans tights shorts pants breeches leggings glasses spectacles goggles binoculars (two eyes) pyjamas (top and bottom) scissors shears tongs scales Cf.: a glove - gloves a sock - socks a stocking stockings (two legs) Note: To make them singular we use a pair of Those are nice jeans. That s a nice pair of jeans. 4

5 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 will love friendship music noise light ( but a noise, noises ; a light, lights when countable) VIII. More Things to Remember 1. a) house houses [hаus] [hаuzız] 5

6 b) Nouns ending in th = [θ] change it into [ð] in pronunciation after long vowels and diphthongs: [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] [bə:θ ] birth births [bə:θs] [mıθ] myth myths [mıθs] [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 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. 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. 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