Singular and Plural Nouns 76 To form the
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Singular and Plural Nouns #76
To form the plural of most nouns, add -s: ski guru miser banana menu encyclopedia breakfast skis gurus misers bananas menus encyclopedias breakfasts To form the plural of a noun ending in –y preceded by vowel, add only an –s. key ploy birthday jersey keys ploys birthdays jerseys
To form the plural of a noun ending in –y preceded by a consonant, change the –y to –i and add –es. country spy dictionary countries spies dictionaries EXCEPTION: To form the plural of proper nouns ending in –y preceded by a consonant, just add an –s. the Kennedys the Bradys the Cosbys two hot Julys
To form the plural of a noun ending in –s, -sh, -ch, -z, or x, add –es: faxes bonuses atlases leashes watches taxes Double the final consonant of one-syllable words ending in a single –s or –z preceded by vowel: buses or busses quizzes Proper nouns ending in –s, -sh, ch, -z, and –x also form their Plurals with an –es: the Joneses the Harrises the Willises two Gladyses in my class the Hirsches the Martinezes Don’t add –es to a proper noun ending in –s if the additional inflection creates a false pronunciation: two Mercedes, not two Mercedeses.
Dictionaries may differ in their spelling of words ending in –o: tornadoes, tornados mementos, mementoes halos, haloes mosquitoes To form the plural of a noun ending in–o preceded by a vowel, add an –s: stereos rodeos shampoos radios To form the plural of some Nouns ending in –o preceded by a consonant, add –s: tacos photos ghettos embryos pianos To form the plural of some nouns ending in –o preceded by a consonant, add –es: potatoes vetoes
To form the plural of some words ending in –f or –fe, add –s only; to others, change the –f to –v and add –es: beliefs roofs sheriffs tiffs half halves leaf leaves life lives shelf shelves dwarfs or dwarves scarfs or scarves Some nouns form their plurals in irregular ways: ox oxen children man men woman women die dice mouse mice
To form the plural of some compound nouns, change the last element of the compound: a three-year-olds handfuls cease-fires madman madmen With other compound nouns, change the form of the word that’s clearly the most important: statute of limitations statutes of limitations mother-in-law mothers-in-law rule of thumb rules of thumb passer-by passers-by runner-up runners-up bill of sale bills of sale poet laureate poets laureates court martials attorney general attorneys general or attorney generals
Nouns derived from foreign words change their spelling altogether: alumnus alumna crisis analysis nucleus parenthesis medium criterion basis memorandum syllabus bacterium opus alumni alumnae crises analyses nuclei parentheses media criteria bases memorandums or memoranda syllabuses or syllabi bacteria opera
Some nouns don’t change their form: species corps salmon series status hiatus salmon deer sheep means Chinese To form the plural of symbols, letters, and words, add an apostrophe and –s: four S’s in the word Mississippi no if’s, and’s, or but’s