CHAPTER 13. NOUNS: THE FORMATION OF PLURALS
A noun is a word used as the name of a person or a thing. In the following examples, the nouns are underlined.
He opened the parcel.
She is a student.
The weather is warm.
A cat is sitting on the steps.
1. Proper nouns
Names of individual persons or things are referred to as proper nouns. In English, proper nouns must begin with a capital letter. The underlined words in the following sentences are proper nouns.
e.g. The capital of England is London.
My friend, George, is an American.
2. Countable nouns
Countable nouns are nouns which can form a plural, and which can be preceded by a, an, or a number. In the following examples, the countable nouns are underlined.
e.g. A bus is coming.
You may need an umbrella.
Here are two books.
Twenty students are present.
3. The formation of plurals
In general, when a countable noun refers to two or more things, it must be put into the plural. In English, the plural of most countable nouns is formed by adding s. For example:
Singular Plural
hat hats
letter letters
pencil pencils
student students
It has already been explained that a verb must agree with its subject. When the subject of a verb is a singular noun, the verb must be in the third person singular. The third person singular is the form of the verb used with the personal pronouns he, she, and it.
When the subject of a verb is a plural noun, the verb must be in the third person plural. The third person plural is the form of the verb used with the personal pronoun they. In the following examples, the verbs are printed in bold type and their subjects are underlined.
Singular Subject: The book is interesting.
Plural Subject: The books are interesting.
Singular Subject: A duck was flying overhead.
Plural Subject: Two ducks were flying overhead.
Singular Subject: One student lives here.
Plural Subject: Three students live here.
See Exercise 1.
a. Nouns ending in ch, s, sh, x or z
For nouns ending in ch, s, sh, x or z, the plural is formed by adding es. The reason for this is that these words would be difficult to pronounce if only s were added. The ending es is pronounced as a separate syllable. For example:
Singular Plural
branch branches
match matches
bus buses
pass passes
dish dishes
marsh marshes
ax axes
fox foxes
buzz buzzes
It should be noted that when a plural is formed by adding s to words ending in ce, ge, se or ze, the final es is pronounced as a separate syllable. For example:
Singular Plural
place places
voice voices
change changes
page pages
house houses
phrase phrases
size sizes
In each of the preceding examples, the singular noun consists of one syllable, whereas the plural noun consists two syllables.
See Exercise 2.
b. Nouns ending in y
Nouns ending in y preceded by a consonant usually form the plural by changing the y to i and adding es. For example:
Singular Plural
candy candies
city cities
lady ladies
story stories
Nouns ending in y preceded by a vowel usually form the plural simply by adding s. For example:
Singular Plural
boy boys
day days
key keys
toy toys
See Exercise 3.
c. Plurals of proper nouns
Proper nouns form plurals following the rules given above, except that proper nouns ending in y always form the plural simply by adding s, even when the y is preceded by a consonant. For example:
Singular Plural
Jill Jills
Tom Toms
George Georges
Grace Graces
Jones Joneses
Max Maxes
May Mays
Nancy Nancys
Sally Sallys
See Exercise 4.
d. Nouns ending in f or fe
Some English nouns ending in f or fe change the f to v when forming the plural. For instance, the following nouns ending in f form the plural by changing the f to v and adding es:
Singular Plural
calf calves
elf elves
half halves
leaf leaves
loaf loaves
self selves
sheaf sheaves
shelf shelves
thief thieves
wolf wolves
In addition, the following nouns ending in fe form the plural by changing the f to v and adding s:
Singular Plural
knife knives
life lives
wife wives
There are also a few nouns ending in f which can form the plural in two different ways. For example:
Singular Plural
hoof hoofs or hooves
scarf scarfs or scarves
staff staffs or staves
wharf wharfs or wharves
Most other nouns ending in f or fe form the plural simply by adding s.
See Exercise 5.
e. Nouns ending in o
Some English nouns ending in o form the plural by adding s, some form the plural by adding es, and some can form the plural by adding either s or es. The following fairly commonly used nouns form the plural by adding es:
Singular Plural
archipelago archipelagoes
cargo cargoes
echo echoes
hero heroes
innuendo innuendoes
mosquito mosquitoes
potato potatoes
tomato tomatoes
tornado tornadoes
torpedo torpedoes
veto vetoes
volcano volcanoes
Most other nouns ending in o, particularly those of Spanish or Italian origin, can form the plural simply by adding s; however a good dictionary should be consulted in cases of doubt. For example:
Singular Plural
albino albinos
alto altos
casino casinos
piano pianos
radio radios
ratio ratios
silo silos
solo solos
sombrero sombreros
soprano sopranos
studio studios
See Exercise 6.
f. Foreign words
Many words from other languages have been adopted into the English language. Most of these form the plural by adding s or es, but some, particularly Greek and Latin words used for scientific purposes, form the plural in the same way that they do in the original language. For example:
Singular Plural
analysis analyses
axis axes
basis bases
crisis crises
criterion criteria
honorarium honoraria
hypothesis hypotheses
medium media
nebula nebulae
nucleus nuclei
oasis oases
parenthesis parentheses
phenomenon phenomena
spectrum spectra
stimulus stimuli
stratum strata
synopsis synopses
synthesis syntheses
thesis theses
vertebra vertebrae
See Exercise 7.
g. Hyphenated nouns
In the case of nouns formed from two or more words joined by hyphens, usually only the last word forms a plural. However, there are a few cases in which only the first word forms a plural. For example:
Singular Plural
brother-in-law brothers-in-law
daughter-in-law daughters-in-law
father-in-law fathers-in-law
mother-in-law mothers-in-law
runner-up runners-up
sister-in-law sisters-in-law
son-in-law sons-in-law
h. Numbers and letters
Numbers, letters, and other symbols can form plurals by adding ‘s. For example:
Singular Plural
3 3’s
b b’s
% %’s
i. Irregular plurals
The English language has not always used s to form plurals. There are still a few words surviving from Old English, which do not use s to form the plural. For example:
Singular Plural
child children
foot feet
goose geese
tooth teeth
louse lice
mouse mice
ox oxen
man men
woman women
Nouns ending in man usually form the plural by changing man to men. For example:
Singular Plural
gentleman gentlemen
policeman policemen
policewoman policewomen
A few nouns do not change in the plural. For example:
Singular Plural
deer deer
sheep sheep
salmon salmon
See Exercise 8.
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