Lots of nouns. Nouns of Latin origin that form an irregular plural ending

In general, the plural of nouns in English is formed according to strict and simple rules. However, there are some nuances and exceptions here, which it will be useful for you to know.

Basic Rules for Plural Formation

The plural of most nouns is formed by adding the ending to the word - s. For example:

  • cup - cup s
  • pen-pen s
  • page - page s
  • daughter-daughter s

However, if the word ends with -ch, -x, -s, -sh, the ending is added to it -es.

  • ben ch-bench es
  • fo x fox es
  • cla ss class es
  • bru sh- brush es

Most nouns ending in a consonant +o, also form the plural with the ending -es.

  • he ro— hero es
  • pota to- potato es
  • toma to- tomato es

However, words of Spanish or Italian origin that end in -o, just added -s.

  • photo o— photo s
  • pian o— piano s
  • tang o— tango s
  • study o studio s

For nouns that end in -z, added -zes.

In nouns that end in a consonant +y, discarded y and added -ies. For example:

  • co py- cop ies
  • hob by— hobb ies
  • s ky— sk ies

Most nouns of Latin origin that end in -is, discarded -is and added -es. For example:

  • bass is- bass es
  • Cris is— cris es
  • oas is— oas es

Most nouns that end in -f or -fe, discarded f and added -ves. For example:

  • wi fe— wi weight
  • shell f shel weight
  • lea f— lea weight

But this is not a strict rule:

  • belief - beliefs (believes is a verb)
  • chief-chiefs
  • reef - reefs
  • proof - proofs
  • cliff - cliffs
  • safe - safes (saves is a verb)

Exceptions to the rules

There are many common nouns that have an irregular plural form: the plural of such nouns is formed in a non-standard way.

These include most nouns denoting people. For example:

  • woman-women
  • child - children
  • brother - brethren (meaning "brothers")

Other exception nouns:

  • foot - feet
  • teeth
  • goose—geese
  • mouse-mice

Some nouns have the same singular and plural form. For example:

  • sheep-sheep
  • fruit - fruit
  • aircraft - aircraft
  • series - series

In the plural, they require the appropriate form of the verb (are / were):

  • There is a fruit in the vase. — There are some fruits in the vase.
  • There was a sheep in the field. — There were a lot of sheep in the field.

In turn, uncountable nouns (money, news, advice, information) do not have a plural form and agree with the singular verb ( is/was):

  • There is a lot of news in your letter.
  • There was some money on the table.

Some nouns (scissors, glasses, trousers, tweezers, pajamas, etc.) are only plural and require the appropriate form of the verb ( are / were). For example:

  • Where are my new trousers? they were on the chair.

Nouns that come from obsolete forms of English words or are of foreign origin often have a non-standard plural form:

  • ox-oxen
  • index - indices or indexes

In compound nouns, the plural ending is usually added to the main component. For example:

  • mother-in-law s-in law
  • hotel-keeper s

Words ending in -us

Linguists can argue for hours about plural nouns that end in -us. Many of these words are borrowed from Latin and retain the Latin plural form, where the -us ending is changed to -i (pronounced [-ʌɪ] or [-iː]). However, not all such words are of Latin origin, and not all Latin words end in -i in the plural, hence the controversy. For example:

  • The plural of virus is virus. es, not viri.

Some take the regular English ending -es: campus - campus es; bonus - bonus es.

Some Latin borrowings take the ending -i: radius - radi i, stimulus - stimulus i.

Today we will learn everything about the formation of the plural in English. It would seem that it is enough to add -s to the end of the word, and the plural form of the noun is ready! But not everything is so simple. Let's figure it out.

A noun is a part of speech that denotes an object (a chair - a chair), a person (a child - a child), an animal (a cat - a cat), a substance (milk - milk), a phenomenon (rain - rain) or an abstract concept (happiness - happiness).

It is important to remember that the plural or singular form of a noun is also important for agreeing the subject (who?/what?) with the predicate (what does he do?). With countable nouns, we use the singular or plural form of the verb. And with uncountable nouns, we use the verb only in the singular.

Kids are curious. - Children curious.
My kid is curious. - My child curious.
The milk is too hot for me. - Milk too hot for me.

So that the rules for the formation of the plural are not forgotten, but firmly settled in the head, they need to be practiced in practice. To do this, sign up for.

Basic rules for plural formation in English

There are several ways to form the plural of countable nouns in English:

  1. The most common rule is to add the ending -s to a noun in the singular:

    an apple - apples (apple - apples)
    a pen - pens (pen - pens)
    a problem - problems (problem - problems)

    We pronounce the -s ending as /z/ after voiced consonants or vowels. For example: dogs /dɒɡz/ (dogs), hands /hændz/ (hands), keys /kiːz/ (keys).

    If the word ends in a voiceless consonant, then the ending -s is pronounced as /s/. For example: lamps /læmps/ (lamps), myths /mɪθs/ (myths), skirts /skɜːts/ (skirts).

  2. If the word ends in -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, or -x, then the -es ending must be added to form the plural.

    a bus - buses (bus - buses)
    a dress - dresses (dress - dresses)
    a brush - brushes (brush - brushes)
    a watch - watches (hours - several hours)
    a box - boxes (box - boxes)

    In this case, we pronounce the ending -es as /iz/. For example: glasses /ɡlɑːsiz/ (glasses), boxes /bɒksiz/ (boxes).

    Let's listen to blogger Rachel's pronunciation:

  3. If the word ends in -o, then the ending can be -es or -s. To choose the right one, it is better to consult a dictionary.

    Ending -es:

    a tomato - tomatoes (tomato - tomatoes)
    a hero - heroes (hero - heroes).

    Ending -s:

    a kilo - kilos (kilogram - kilograms)
    a photo - photos (photo - photos)

  4. If a word ends in -y preceded by a consonant, the plural ending is -ies.

    a cherry - cherries (cherry - cherries)
    a lady - ladies (lady - several ladies)
    a puppy - puppies (puppy - puppies)

    But if the -y is preceded by a vowel, then nothing needs to be changed - just add the ending -s.

    a boy - boys (boy - boys)
    a day - days (day - days)
    a monkey - monkeys (monkey - monkeys)

  5. There are a number of nouns that change the plural from -f/-fe to -ves. These exceptions include the following words:

    a calf - calves (calves of the legs - calves of the legs)
    an elf - elves (elf - elves)
    a shelf - shelves (shelf - shelves)
    a half - halves (half - halves)
    a knife - knives (knife - knives)
    a thief - thieves (thief - thieves)
    a leaf - leaves (leaf - leaves)
    a life - lives (life - lives)
    a loaf - loaves (loaf - loaves)
    a wife - wives (wife - wives)
    a wolf - wolves (wolf - wolves).

    And words such as a dwarf (dwarf, dwarf), a hoof (hoof), a scarf (scarf), a wharf (pier) in the plural can have both -fs and -ves endings.

  6. There are a number of nouns whose plural form is easy to memorize.

    a person - people (person - people)
    a man - men (man - men)
    a woman - women (woman - women)
    a child - children (child - children)
    a foot - feet (foot - feet)
    a tooth - teeth (tooth - teeth)
    a goose - geese (goose - geese)
    a mouse - mice (mouse - mice)
    a louse - lice (louse - lice)
    an ox - oxen (bull - bulls)

  7. And one more group - nouns, the forms of which in the singular and plural are the same. Here are some of them:

    a sheep - sheep (sheep - sheep)
    a swine - swine (pig - pigs)
    an aircraft - aircraft (aircraft - aircraft)
    a means - means (means - means)
    a crossroads - crossroads (crossroads - intersections)
    a series - series (series - series)

Special cases of plural formation in English

  1. Uncountable nouns in English

    What if we still need to indicate the plurality of something uncountable? In this case, before the noun itself, it is necessary to put words indicating its quantity:

    • Capacity, container:

      two cartons of juice - two boxes of juice
      three bottles of wine - three bottles of wine
      four cups of tea - four cups of tea
      five glasses of water - five glasses of water
      six jars of jam - six jars of jam
      seven boxes of cereal - seven boxes of cereal
      eight cans of coke - eight cans of cola
      nine tins of tuna - nine tins of tuna
      ten tubes of toothpaste - ten tubes of toothpaste

    • Unit of measurement:

      two kilos of sugar - two kilograms of sugar
      three liters of petrol - three liters of gasoline
      four pounds of butter - four pounds of butter
      five meters of cable - five meters of cable

    • Unit (of products, goods):

      three loaves of bread - three slices of bread
      four bars of chocolate - four bars of chocolate
      five slices of cheese - five slices of cheese

    If you can't find a unit for an uncountable noun, use the piece of construction.

    He gave me three pieces of advice. - He gave me three tips.

    Pay attention to nouns where the -s ending does not indicate the plural, as these are uncountable nouns.

    gymnastics - gymnastics
    billiards - billiards
    measles - measles
    maths - mathematics

    Measles is an infectious disease. - Measles- infection.
    Gymnastics is my favorite sport. - Gymnastics- My favorite sport.

  2. Nouns that are used only in the plural. Accordingly, these words are used with the verb in the plural.

    police - police
    cattle - cattle
    clothes - clothes
    stairs

    The police are looking for the robbers. - The police are looking for robbers.

    Also, nouns that are used only in the plural include objects consisting of two parts - paired. Most often these are tools, clothes and accessories.

    jeans - jeans
    trousers - trousers
    pajamas (BrE), pajamas (AmE) - pajamas
    tights - pantyhose
    pliers - pliers
    pincers - tongs
    shears - secateurs

    To form the plural of paired nouns, use the phrase pairs of (pairs).

    She wants to try on a few more pairs of sunglasses before the purchase. - Before buying, she wants to try on more several pairs of sunglasses.
    You should have at least two pairs of binoculars for birdwatching. - You must have at least two pairs of binoculars for bird watching.

  3. Collective nouns

    Collective nouns denote a group of people or things that are considered as a whole. With such nouns, we can use the verb in both the singular and the plural.

    staff - staff
    a team - team
    a crew - crew
    a family - family
    a company - company

    Most of the time it doesn't matter which number you choose, but sometimes one of the forms is more appropriate for the context. It all depends on whether you are talking about the group as a whole (singular) or considering each member of the group separately (plural).

    The team was playing well. - Team played well.
    The team were playing well. - Everyone on the team played well.

    My family is very important to me. - My family very important to me.
    My family are going away next weekend. - All members of my family leaving next weekend.

We hope you remember everything about the formation of the plural of nouns in English. And if in doubt about choosing the right form, refer to. You will find more topics in our series of articles "" and "".

We invite you to pass our test to consolidate the material.

Test on the topic "Plural of nouns in English"

There are a lot of mans and womens in our team.

Ay-ay! Did you also find two errors in this sentence? Even adults often make mistakes when an exception is suddenly thrown.

But not everything is so scary.

Let me be optimistic that English is not French after all. It would seem, what is optimistic about this? The fact is that in French you have to change the form of everything: nouns, verbs, adjectives, and even articles. BUTEnglish pluralshows with only one noun. If the word "cat"singular in English- cat, then the plural is cats.

Plural: English and french

See how many things change in French to show that there are many things? Why is there French, and in Italian, and in Spanish the same situation. Therefore, we will rejoice once again that we are learning the language of Shakespeare and John Lennon.

Plural Formation in English

Ending -s

In the table above to the wordshouse and floweronly one letter addeds:

house - house s
Flower - flower s

And it turned out: houses, flowers.

In 90% of cases, this is how the plural is formed.


Secrets of pronunciation

There is one caveat to this seemingly simple situation. Depending on what sound the word ends with,Scan also sound like [s], And How [ z] (further square brackets are used to denote sounds). If you know and use this, it is quite possible to improve your listening comprehension, not to mention the fact that it will allow others to understand you better.

General rule: if final consonantdeaf, then S reads like [ s].

What are voiced/voiced consonants?

Imagine two brothers. One of them is modest and quiet. His name is Peter. If he does something, no one notices. He is thin and short. He speaks softly, with only his lips, as if he lacks strength. Or maybe you don't have enough confidence to make yourself known.

P-p-piter
p-pain
p-lease

Try also to pronounce the sound [p] after Peter, without using the power of your voice. Approximately with such a sound, the lid on the pan rises if the porridge in it boils and will soon run away. Still so hedgehog puffs.

When [p] or a similar consonant is at the very end of a word, we pronounce it like that - without a voice, just close our lips:

Lip, hip.

But Bill, Peter's brother, is very "vociferous". He sings, plays the guitar and in general, the first guy in the village. It seems that he has nothing sensible on his mind, but when he says something, everyone hears whether they want it or not:

b-reak
b-ring
b-ad
b-ill

Pronounce the sound [b], placing your fingers on your neck under the jaw - you will feel the vibration. It is a voiced consonant, pronounced with a good flow of air. If you remove this stream, lower the power of your voice, you get the modest Peter. Compare:

Bad - pad
bark-park

If [b] or similar voiced consonants are at the end of a word in the singular, then the plural S is also voiced and pronounced like [z]:

Pad - pads
Lad-

Also [s] turns into [z] after vowels, as well as after a combinationvowel + r:

doors

Ending -es

-esadded to nouns that end in-sh, -ch, -s, -z, and -x:

Pronunciation rules

  • Letter eat the end of words likecakes, clothing, lakes, eyesnot pronounced:

clothing
cakes [keɪks]

We pronounce the final -es, as [- iz] after the following sounds: [z], [ dʒ], [ s], [ ʃ ], [ tʃ], [ ks]

Words starting with -y

Nouns ending inconsonant + y, type lady, candy, family, city, plural discardedyand assign the endingies.


In fact, this rule only applies to spelling. 'Cause it's the same soundsplaced at the end of a word. By the way, if you remember, the same spelling rules are also relevant for verbs in the third person singular ending in y:

I cry (first person) - he cries(third person)

Note: This rule does not apply to proper nouns.

The Kennedy family = the Kenned ys

If the word ends iny, but it is preceded by a vowel, then just adds, as in most words:

Irregular nouns

English wouldn't be English if it didn't have "wrong" words. You have probably heard about irregular verbs. By analogy with them, someplural nouns in Englishchange differently than most. They don't joins, and who is transformed into what much:

The English themselves laugh at the illogicality of their language. Here is the verse they wrote:

We'll begin with box, and the plural is boxes;
But the plural of ox should be oxen, not oxes.
You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice,
Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.
If the plural of man is always called men,
Why shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?
So our English, I think, you will agree,
Is the craziest language you ever did see.

Our free translation:

One box and more boxes,
Why ox not oxes?
One mouse, lot mice,
well and house than not hice?
Man one and men- people.
Hello tree, New Year.

Nouns ending in -o

  • o add - esin the plural.

echo - echoes
hero - heroes
potatoes - potatoes
tomato - tomatoes
And some add only s:

auto - autos
kangaroo - kangaroos
kilo - kilos
memo - memos
photo - photos
piano - pianos
radio - radios
solo - solos
soprano - sopranos
studio - studios
tattoo - tattoos
video - videos
zoo - zoos Well, some nouns on -aboutin general, they can afford both, depending on their mood. But still, the ending is considered more standard-es.

memento - mementoes, mementos
mosquito - mosquitoes, mosquitos
tornado - tornadoes, tornadoes
volcano - volcanoes, volcanoes
zero - zeroes, zeros

Words starting with -f and -fe

  • Some nouns ending in -f or - fe, change the ending to -weight:
life lives
wolf - wolves
calf - calves
half - halves
knife - knives
leaf - leaves
shelf - shelves
thief - thieves
  • And some words on -f, -fejust adds.

For example, the word proof pluralforms in the standard way: by addings. They take an example from him and these words:

belief - beliefs
chief - chiefs
cliff - cliffs
roof - roofs

Plural Forms Matching Singular Forms

The words deer, fish, means, offspring, series, sheep, shrimp, species are written and pronounced the same - regardless of the quantitative value:

deer - deer, deer
fish - fish, fish
means - way, ways
offspring - offspring, offspring
series - series, series
sheep - sheep, sheep
shrimp - shrimp, shrimps
species - species, species

Coincidence? We don't think. This phenomenon has several explanations. The most popular theory is that these words came into English from other languages, and for themplural englishborrowed from there. For example, the wordspeciescame from Latin, and in Latin there is a fifth mood of nouns, in which the plural does not differ from the singular.

Blue Whale is an endangeredspecies

The blue whale is an endangered species.

How many endangeredspecies are there in Russia?

How many endangered species are in Russia?

Borrowed words

They need to be said separately - too many ridiculous mistakes are made out of ignorance. Some borrowed words have left the plural form of the original language. Although these words moved to English a long time ago, changing habits, apparently, was not part of their plans.

Meanwhile, they are very commonly used. They are especially useful for those who write scientific work. “Thesis” and “brackets”, “phenomenon” and “formula” - all this in English has such an unusual look that it is imperative to focus on this.

Uncountable nouns

And here English, pluralwhich you now know how to use, prepared another surprise.

Uncountable nouns are nouns that we cannot count. We cannot put a number in front of them indicating the quantity. You can't ask for three oils, we don't say "oils" either. Oil is an uncountable noun. Food products are often uncountable: bread (bread), sugar (sugar), salt (salt), soup (soup), abstract concepts - beauty (beauty), confidence (confidence), honesty (honesty), things without a specific form - cotton (cotton), air (air), toothpaste (toothpaste).

Accordingly, the plural forms (honesties, sugars, airs) do not exist.On the other hand, when-never, but such forms do occur, but the meaning changes. For example, when you ask the waiter:

- Two waters, please.- Two waters please

then it means "two bottles of water". In other words, we mean not the incalculable substances themselves, but the countable containers containing them.

Possessive and plural

S is used to express belonging.

daddy's little monster- Daddy's little monster.

The teacher's salary- Teacher salary.

But the plural uses the same letter! And how do they coexist if something belongs to someone, and this someone is in the plural? Is it really necessary to hiss two soundss?

No, of course not. In English, the superfluous always disappears. The letter S wins, which denotes the amount, and only the tail remains from the possessive S - an apostrophe:

Teachers' salaries - Salaries of teachers.
Students' council - Student Council.

Okay, but what if S is part of the root? As in the words boss, goddess or some names?

If the singular noun ends in s, there are two options: 1. Apostrophe and s: Thomas's book
2. Only the apostrophe Thomas’ book

And if, for example, there are several bosses, then there is no choice - we only put an apostrophe:

Mybosses' new cars are expensive

My bosses new cars are expensive

Goddesses' outfits were stunning

The goddess outfits were amazing

As for irregular nouns, nothing special happens to them in the possessive case, they just add an apostrophe and S:

The men's cars are black.

These men's cars are black.

Only singular or only plural

Glasses, scissors, trousers, shorts - take a closer look at these words and you will understand that they are in the plural. They cannot be used in any other way - one cannot say "one scissors", "one trousers" simply because of the paired nature of these items. Trousers have two legs, glasses have two glasses.

In English, the same picture is observed:

headphones - headphones
glasses
scissors - scissors
jeans - jeans
surroundings - surroundings
clothes - clothes

These and similar words are used only in the plural. That is, no matter how great the temptation to say “my clothes IS warm” (my clothes are warm) by analogy with Russian (in Russianclothesalthough a collective noun, but in the singular form), one must step on the throat of one's own song and say:

My clothes are warm.

And finally, nouns that are used in the singular, even if they end withs. These are the names of the subjects:

Economics (economics), mathematics (mathematics), physics (physics),

sport names:

Gymnastics (gymnastics), aerobics (aerobics),

diseases:

Measles (measles), mumps (mumps)

and word news(news).

Here he is English: plural nounsreplete with a variety of forms. But that's why we love him.

It is, of course, impossible to master a language without distinguishing between singular and plural. Fortunately, distinguishing and correctly using the plural in English is not as difficult as, for example, in French. Let's consider in more detail. Ready?

The plural in English is formed according to certain rules, which, of course, have their exceptions. It would seem that everything is not so complicated, but when learning a language, beginners often have difficulties, since the rules have their own characteristics. Let's start simple.

Plural Nouns

  • There was a fruit on the plate. /there were some fruit on the plate.

It is also worth considering that there are uncountable nouns. In this case, we use only the singular form of the verb to be.

  • There is some money in the valley.

Some nouns, on the contrary, can only be used in the plural: scissors, glasses, trousers, tweezers,pajamas etc. For example:

  • Where are my favorite jeans? They must be on the chair.

Words in the singular

Uncountable nouns are used only in the singular. Pronouns each, either, neither, another and all compound words with a component - one, -body or - thing, always refer to the only number.

Everybody was surprised when they saw him.

There is a lot of controversy about the plural form of words ending in - us. Historically, words ending in -us are of Latin origin. In the plural, they acquire the ending - i instead of -us. However, not all such words are of Latin origin, hence the controversy. For example:

The plural of virus is viruses viruses, not viri.

Some Latin borrowings take on a regular English ending - es: campus - campus es; bonus - bonus es.

Some Latin borrowings take the ending -i: radius - radii, stimulus- stimuli.

English plural rules

Summing up, we can safely say that in order to be well versed in the singular and plural nouns in English, it is necessary first of all to study the main exceptions. There are not many such words. You can use everyone's favorite way with stickers - stick these with a list of words in the places that catch your eye, and from time to time return to repetition. Also, the table will help to study the plural in English.

After examining the exceptions, return to the rules on which everything is built. There are not many. The main thing is to feel it, and you will be able to apply them intuitively on the subconscious, as if English is your native language. If you doubt that you can handle it on your own, you can always contact a teacher who will advise and test you. There is nothing complicated and impossible, the main thing is faith and desire.

Conclusion

The formation of the plural in English is the basics with which they begin at school, so this topic should be given special attention. It doesn't matter how old you are, this topic should always be among the starting topics to study. Whether you use structured, high-quality teaching materials for learning English, or study individually with a teacher, you will definitely be oriented in the right direction. If you are doing it yourself, be sure to take care not to bypass this topic.

Happy and productive learning!

Big and friendly family EnglishDom

Names of people, names of objects, cities, countries, various institutions; names of breeds of plants and animals; designation of the process of actions - all this cannot be expressed without nouns. It would not be an exaggeration to say that, perhaps, 90% of sentences cannot do without this part of speech, if we exclude the simplest constructions with pronouns and adjectives. Today we will analyze this most important category of English grammar. We will learn how it is used, what varieties it has, and how the plural of nouns is formed in English. The topic is simple and beginners usually master quickly, you just have to learn a few exceptions and consolidate the theory by completing a practical task.

This part of speech refers to persons or objects, answering questions what?who?(what/who?). In a sentence, such words can play the role of subject, object, circumstance, and even definition, provided that the noun is used in the possessive case. By the way, this is the only case of changing the ending of this part of speech, with the exception of the formation of the plural form.

This category is divided into the same sections as in Russian: common nouns, proper, collective, concrete, abstract, countable and uncountable nouns. For our topic, it is important to note that abstract and uncountable representatives of this category cannot have plural constructions. At the same time, there are words that are used exclusively in a collective form: police,clothing,glasses,scissors,people,trousers etc. All other types of words will be discussed in detail in the next section.

The English language, and in this it is similar to Russian, endowed the noun with two numerical categories: singular and plural. And, if everything is clear in principle with a single number, since this is a dictionary form of a word, then the formation of multiple meanings requires knowledge of certain grammatical laws. Let's analyze them in more detail.

Endings –s/-es

The simplest and most widely used way of obtaining the plural form of nouns is to add letters to the stem of the word s.

  • I bought a magazine for my mother yesterday - YesterdayIboughtforhismothersmagazine.
  • I bought magazine s for my mother yesterday - YesterdayIboughtmagazinesforhismothers.

Note that the indefinite article can only accompany the singular, while the definite article appears with nouns of both categories.

  • Usually, I read the newspaper in the morning - Usually, II readthisnewspaperin the morning.
  • Usually, I read the newspaper s in the morning s - Usually, II readthesenewspapersonin the morning.

Some nouns in English take this rule in a peculiar way. The table below will help us consider special cases of joining the ending.

Situation Example Translation
If the word ends in letter combinations — sh, ch, ss, tch, as well as letters – s, x, z , it gets the ending es . There are many buses es in the street s of this city.

She bought several antique pocket watches es when she was in Italy.

 There are many buses on the streets of this city.

She bought some antique pocket watches when she was in Italy.
English nouns ending in – o , take the ending es . Words of foreign origin, as well as abbreviations with an ending about and words in which the letter about preceded by a vowel, attach only the ending s . My grandparent s grow potat oes and tomato oes at their dacha.

I have a lot of photos os and vide os in the SD card of my smartphone.

There are four pianos s in the music school.

 My grandparents grow potatoes and tomatoes in their dacha.

I have a lot of photos and videos on my smartphone's memory card.

This music school has four pianos.
Words with an ending y the plural is formed by transforming this letter and adding the ending.

y ⟶ i + es

But if in a word y preceded by vowels a, e, oh, then add the usual s .

 Granny told me many interesting things ries about her childhood.

The last lesson our teacher brought 20 dictiona ries .

Jack lost his k eyes .

My daughter has two favorite t oys : a small horse and a gray dog.

 My grandmother told me many interesting stories about her childhood.

Our teacher brought 20 dictionaries to the last lesson.

Jack has lost his keys.

My daughter has two favorite toys: a small horse and a gray dog.
Noun ending in f/ fe , can, when switching to the plural form, change these letters to v/ ve .

f/ fe ⟶ weight.

There are exceptions in this group: cliffs,roofs,chiefs,cuffs.

 There are many different kni weight in the kitchen drawer.

The lea weight of the tree are red and yellow.

I like to walk on the roo fs of buildings.

 There are many different knives in the kitchen drawer.

The leaves of this tree are red and yellow.

I like to walk on the roofs of buildings.

These rules must be carefully worked out and remembered, because it is according to them that the plural of nouns in English is made up in the vast majority of cases. It remains to add notes on how these endings are pronounced.

End pronunciation s depends on the letter that precedes it. If there is a deaf vowel at the end of the word, then the ending sounds like [s] (Russian С). And when a word ends in a vowel or voiced consonant, the ending s pronounce as [z] (Russian З). Extra ending - es , with transcription , is pronounced as IZ in all words.

Ending en and vowel alternation

English is a dynamic language and constantly strives to simplify its system. But some forms of words are so firmly included in everyday speech that subsequently they no longer obey the rules adopted in modern grammar. Therefore, the formation of the plural of certain nouns in English has retained its construction since ancient times.

The singular becomes plural by alternating vowels in the following words: foot,goose,louse,mouse,teeth. In this case, the root letter combinations turn into one letter: oo ⟶ ee , ou ⟶ i .

  • My elder sister is afraid of mice - Myseniorsisterfearsmice.
  • last night the geese flew to the south - Pastat nightthesegeeseflew awayon thesouth.

Attaching an ending en for the construction of the plural in English is typical for words such as child,man,woman,ox. In some of these examples, not adding, but replacing the root vowel to get en.

  • The child was afraid of oxen - Child scaredbulls.
  • Women read fairy tales for them children more often than men do – Womenreadfairy tales for children more oftenhow, howThisdomen.

This group of words is very small, so it is quickly and easily remembered.

Matching Shapes

There are situations when in English both forms of a noun will sound the same. In such cases, the noun receives absolutely no changes, and the number can only be determined from the context of the sentence. Words in this category are deer,swine,series,sheep,fish.

  • Yesterday I saw a deer in the forest - YesterdayIsawinforestdeer.
  • Yesterday I saw 8 deers in the forest - YesterdayIsawinforest8 deer.
  • The fish is tasty - fishdelicious.
  • There are many fish in this lakethislakelotfish.

In this category, it is important to note that this way of getting the plural in English is used when referring to representatives of nationalities whose names end in - es/ese.

  • Iknowthatthis Swiss lives inNorway – I know that this Swiss lives in Norway..
  • These Swiss live inmyflat – These Swiss live in my apartment.
  • Five Japanese and five Chinese play football in the yard - 5 Japaneseand5 Chineseplayinfootballinyard.
  • Jessicasawa lot of Portuguese inSpain - Jessica has seen many Portuguese people in Spain.

In this grammatical subgroup there are also lexical examples that have the same types of stems in the singular and in plural. But they are used extremely rarely, so it makes no sense to memorize them at the initial stage of training.

Compound bases

In complex combinations that connect two or more stems, the construction of the plural in English can be done by different methods. The choice of method depends on the initial construction of the expression and the meaning of the statement.

The most numerous group of compound nouns builds the plural in the traditional way - by adding a letter s to the end of the word, i.e. to the last base.

  • There are many different merry-go-rounds for children in this parkthisparklotvariouscarouselsforchildren.
  • I picked many forget-me-nots for you in the field - Icollectedinfieldlotforget-me-notforyou.

There are compound constructions in which each noun is used in the plural. This method should be used when an expression starts with words woman or man.

  • Usuallywomen- drivers cannotrepairtheircars - Usually, female drivers do not know how to repair their cars.
  • Behind her stood the parents, the friends, the guests and the menservants - Behindherstoodparents, friends, guests and servants.

In some phrases, changes are made to the basis in which the main meaning of the word is laid.

  • Many husbands hate their mothers-in-law – Manyhusbandshatetheirmother-in-law.
  • Thosepassers- by gavemetheEnglishtextbook - Those passers-by gave me this English textbook.

archaic forms

It is worth mentioning that some words that came from Latin or Greek still retain their original forms in English. Consequently, the plural meanings of such expressions are not formed according to general rules.

The most common examples of this group are: crisis ⟶ crises, species ⟶ species, thesis ⟶ theses, formula ⟶ formulae etc. As you can see, these are mostly scientific terms that are unlikely to ever flash in colloquial speech. Therefore, if you do not plan to engage in scientific activities, you can safely not memorize these forms. It is enough just to keep in mind that such a category exists and, if necessary, use a dictionary.

So, we have completed the study of the topic and learned how to pluralize almost any noun in English. It remains to fix the mentioned rules by practical work, i.e. perform strengthening exercises. Good luck with your studies and see you soon!

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