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
class – classes
box – boxes
watch – watches
horse – horses
bridge – bridges
2. – “y” preceded by a consonant
+ “y” changes into “i”
E.g.
city – cities
family – families
Cf.:
boy – boys
day – days
monkey – monkeys
Cf.:
cuckoo – cokoos
zoo – zoos
studio – studios
video – videos
radio – radios
portfolio – portfolios
3. – “o” preceded by a consonant
E.g.
hero – heroes
potato – potatoes
tomato – tomatoes
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But !
Note:
photo – photos
piano – pianos
solo – solos
metro – metros
zero – zeros
auto – autos
kilo – kilos
tobacco – tobaccos
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
wife – wives
life – lives
But !
roof – roofs
proof – proofs
belief – beliefs
relief – reliefs
chief – chiefs
thief – thieves
half – halves
elf – elves
gulf – gulfs
cliff – cliffs
reef – reefs
safe – safes
handkerchief – handkerchiefs
There are a few nouns which have both forms
hoofs
E.g. hoof<
scarfs
wharfs
scarf<
hooves
wharf<
scarves
IV.
1.
calf – calves
shelf – shelves
loaf – loaves
Other nouns ending in – “f”/ – “fe” add “s”
E.g.
Note:
leaf – leaves
wolf – wolves
self – selves
wharves
Plural of Compound Nouns
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
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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
woman – women
2.
child – children
ox – oxen
foot – feet
tooth – teeth
goose – geese
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 – formulae (Latin)
Note:
Some of them have 2 plural forms
formulae
E.g.
indices
formula<
index<
formulas
indexes
3.
In some nouns the plural form does not differ from the singular:
а)
always unchanged:
deer – deer
sheep – sheep
b)
c)
mouse – mice
louse – lice
usually unchanged:
trout – trout
pike – pike
swine – swine
grouse – grouse
cod – cod
salmon – salmon
carp – carp
moose – moose
have both regular and unchanged plural:
Antelope – antelope(s)
flounder – flounder(s)
reindeer – reindeer(s)
herring – herring(s)
fish – fish(es)
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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
billiards
draughts
+ some other games
measles
mumps
rickets
+ some other diseases
mathematics (or maths)
physics
electronics
economics
optics
politics
phonetics
+ some other sciences
athletics
gymnastics
+ some other
activities
b) – “ics”
c) some geographical names:
countries:
Wales
the Bahamas
the Philippines
the Netherlands
the United States
VI.
1.
towns:
Athens
Brussels
Naples
Nouns With No Singular (=Always Plural)
One thing has two parts:
trousers
jeans
tights
shorts
pants
breeches
leggings
glasses
spectacles
goggles
binoculars
pyjamas
(top and bottom)
(two eyes)
scissors
shears
tongs
scales
(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.
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Cf.: a glove - gloves
a sock - socks
a stocking – stockings
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]
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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]
[bə:θ ] birth – births [bə:θs]
2.
The Smiths live next to us.
3. а)
[mıθ] myth – myths [mıθs]
[helθ] health – healths [helθs]
The Smirnovs are nice people.
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.
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