Item can be one or there can be many. In most languages, this means that the noun will change its form at least slightly, and English is no exception.
Plural and singular
As a rule, there is a difference in how to name one or more items. Moreover, the need to do this arises so often that it is not even always realized. Nevertheless, when studying foreign dialects, one of the first and main topics is the formation of the plural. In English, this is usually not too difficult to do, but there are various nuances, subtleties and exceptions to be aware of. Without it, it's easy to hit the sky with your finger.
Number forms in English are called Singular and Plural. Some nouns do not have one of these forms at all, while others simply form them in a special way. So, you need to figure out what kind of nouns we are talking about, what are their features.
Nouns: general rule
To form a shapePlural, the ending -s is added to the initial form of the word. This is the most general and simple rule, for example:
- a truck - trucks (trucks);
- a cup - cups (cups);
- a flag - flags (flags).
It should be taken into account that after deaf sounds the ending is read as [s], while in other cases - [z] or [iz].
However, this is not always the case. If the noun ends with s, ch, x, sh, tch, z, then the ending will be already -es, since it is much more convenient to pronounce it:
- a box - boxes (boxes);
- a boss - bosses (bosses).
Words ending in o also add -es in the plural:
a tomato - tomatoes (tomatoes)
Those words that in the singular contained f or fe at the end, in the plural they will change it to v:
- a wolf - wolves (wolves);
- a leaf - leaves (leaves).
It should be noted that this is not always the case, but in most cases. If in doubt, it is better to refer to dictionaries or reference books.
In addition, there is a special rule for nouns ending in y. If the penultimate letter is not a vowel, but the word itself is a proper name, then y changes to i:
- a pony - ponies (ponies);
- a lady - ladies (lady).
But:
- a monkey - monkeys(monkeys);
- Mary - Marys (Mary, Mary).
These are the simplest examples of how nouns are pluralized in English. Further, we will talk about more complex examples, in which various subtleties will have to be taken into account.
Compound nouns
Another kind of word invariably causes difficulty. We are talking about compound nouns, such as daughter-in-law, good-for-nothing, etc. Many simply add the ending -s to the whole construction, but this is not correct. In this case, it is necessary to highlight the main word and work with it. That is, the correct options would be daughters-in-law (daughters-in-law), but, for example, good-for-nothings (loafers), since there is no nominal part here. As you can see, forming the Plural form is not so difficult even for compound words. The main thing is to know about this rule and be able to apply it.
Borrowed words
The stumbling block in the topic of plural form is concepts that came fromfrom Latin, Greek, etc. It can be difficult to remember them, but almost all of them belong to special scientific vocabulary, so to meet them in a regular text, most likely, will not work. Examples might be:
- a criterion - criteria (criteria);
- an index - indexes (indices).
As you can see, in this case, the formation of the plural of nouns in English coincides with how this form looked in the original source. In case of doubtit is better to look into the dictionary, especially since the same words in different subjects will behave differently. For example, the noun antenna in electronics forms antennae, and in biology - antennas.
Exceptions
Unfortunately, the plural of nouns in English does not always fall under one of the above rules. There are also exceptions. The most famous and most used in the general vocabulary are the following:
- a tooth - teeth (teeth);
- a foot - feet (feet);
- a child - children (child - children);
- a (wo)man - (wo)men (woman/man);
- a mouse - mice (mice);
- a penny - pence (penny);
- a sheep - sheep (sheep);
- a goose - geese (geese);
- a swine - swine (pigs);
- a deer - deer (deer);
- an ox - oxen (bulls).
There are a number of other words that also have a special form, but they are used much less frequently. Since the list is rather small, it's easier to just memorize it. And then you don't have to think about what form the plural forms in English in this or that case.
Also, names of nationalities ending in -se or -ss can also be placed in the same category. Examples might be:
- a Japanese - Japanese (Japanese);
- a Swiss - Swiss (Swiss);
- a Portuguese - Portuguese (Portuguese);
- a Chinese - Chinese(Chinese).
Features of collective nouns
Another special category has no nuances in the formation of the Plural form itself. But grammatically, it can appear in situations of different meanings both in Singular and in Plural. By the way, the nationality of the interlocutor has an even greater influence on this.
The fact is that in the UK and the US the perception of collective nouns is seriously different: the British are rather individualists, while the Americans are more prone to collectivism. In grammar, this is expressed in the agreement of the predicate with the subject.
The category of collective includes words such as crew, committee, family, team, class, company, corporation, etc. In the event that it is understood that the noun expresses a single policy or action of the team, then Singular is used. If we are talking about a lot of people who are part of a family, team, etc., then the plural is used. In English, as already mentioned, there are a lot of nuances and subtleties that are not always easy to remember so as not to make mistakes.
If you don't want to make mistakes at all, it's easier to replace collective nouns with constructions that are close in meaning. Instead of class, students will do, and team can be converted to players. In other cases, just members or participants will do. The agreement of verbs with these words should not cause problems.
Only the only thing
Often uncountable nouns and generally abstract concepts become a stumbling block. If everything is more or less clear with the real ones, then not so much with the rest.
This variety includes hair (not in the sense of "individual hairs"), money, information, water, progress, relationship, advice, knowledge, etc. Separately, it is worth mentioning those that end in - s: news, mathematics, physics, politics, statistics, etc. In this case, the plural in English is not formed at all, and agreement occurs in the singular:
- You information is quite interesting.
- Physics is an important science.
Words such as fruit and fish, which were mentioned earlier, will either form a plural in different cases or not, depending on the semantics. In the sense of "different kinds", they will add -s at the end, but if it's just a quantity of more than one, then no.
Since there are quite a few examples that fall under this rule, if you suspect that a particular word is non-standard plural in English or does not, it is better to double-check yourself. After all, even experienced translators and native speakers sometimes make mistakes. What can we say about those who are just starting to learn a language, but practice will help.
Plural only
This category also has a fairly large number of examples, includingincluding and among collective nouns: military, police, people, clothes, goods, etc. In addition, this also includes items that can be called paired: scissors (scissors), braces (braces), trousers (trousers) and some others. Obviously, it makes no sense to talk about how the plural is formed in English using these examples, because they are already in it. It is important to keep these examples in mind and correctly coordinate the verbs with them.
Language is a living substance that is constantly changing. Some rules disappear, but others appear to replace them. It is quite possible that the plural of nouns in English in a few decades will follow completely different principles.
