The subject may be one or there may be many. In most languages, this means that the noun will change its form at least slightly, and English is no exception.
The plural and the only
Typically, 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 always recognized. However, in the study of foreign dialects, one of the first and main topics is plural education. In English, this is usually not too difficult to do, but there are different nuances, subtleties and exceptions that you need to remember. Without this, it’s easy to hit the sky with your finger.
The 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 nouns are in question, what are their features.
Nouns: General Rule
In order to form the Plural form, the ending -s is added to the initial word form . This is the most common and simple rule, for example:
- a truck - trucks;
- a cup - cups
- a flag - flags.
It should be borne in mind that after deaf sounds the ending is read as [s], while in other cases - [z] or [iz].
However, this does not always happen. If the noun ends in s, ch, x, sh, tch, z, then the ending will be -es , since it is much more convenient to say this:
- a box - boxes;
- a boss - bosses (bosses).
Words ending in o in the plural also add -es :
- a tomato - tomatoes (tomatoes).
Those words that in the singular contained at the end of f or fe , in the plural will replace it with v :
- a wolf - wolves (wolves);
- a leaf - leaves.
It should be noted that this does not always happen, but in most cases. If in doubt, it is better to turn to dictionaries or reference books.
In addition, there is still a special rule for nouns ending in y . If the penultimate letter is not a vowel, and the word itself is a proper noun, then y changes to i :
- a pony - ponies (ponies);
- a lady - ladies
But:
- a monkey - monkeys;
- Mary - Marys (Mary, Mary).
These are the simplest examples of how plural nouns are formed 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 difficulties. We are talking about compound nouns, such as daughter-in-law, good-for-nothing, etc. Many just add the -s ending to the whole construct, but this is not true. In this case, it is necessary to highlight the main word and work with it. That is, daughters-in-law ( daughters-in-law ) will be the right options, but, for example, good-for-nothings (loafers), since there is no nominal part. Apparently, 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 the plural form is the concepts that have come
from Latin, Greek, etc. It can be difficult to remember them, but almost all of them relate to special scientific vocabulary, so it is most likely not possible to meet them in a regular text. Examples could be:
- a criterion - criteria
- an index - indeces.
As you can see, in this case, the formation of the plural of nouns in the English language coincides with how this form looked in the original source. In case of doubt, it is better to look into the dictionary, especially since the same words in different topics will behave differently. For example, the noun antenna in electronics forms the form antennae, and in biology forms antennas.
Exceptions
Unfortunately, not always plural nouns in the English language fall under one of the above rules. There are also exceptions. The most famous and most used in general vocabulary are the following:
- a tooth - teeth (teeth);
- a foot - feet
- a 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 words that also have a special form,
but they are used much less frequently. Since the list is pretty 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 any given case.
In addition, the names of nationalities ending in -se or -ss can be assigned to the same category . Examples could 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 different sense contexts both in Singular and in Plural. By the way, the nationality of the interlocutor has even greater influence on this.
The fact is that in Great Britain and the USA, the perception of collective nouns is seriously different: the British are more likely individualists, while the Americans are more inclined towards collectivism. In grammar, this is expressed in matching the predicate with the subject.
The category of collective includes such words as crew, committee, family, team, class, company, corporation, etc. If it is assumed that a noun expresses a single policy or collective action, then Singular is used. If it says a lot of people who are part of a family, team, etc., then the plural is used. In the English language, 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 really do not want to make mistakes, it is easier to replace collective nouns with constructions that are close in meaning. Instead of class, students are suitable, and team can be converted to players. In other cases, just members or participants will do. Matching verbs with these words should not cause problems.
Only one
Often stumbling blocks are uncountable nouns and generally abstract concepts. If with the material everything is more or less clear, then with the rest - not very.
This variety includes hair (not meaning “separate hairs”), money, information, water, progress, relationship, advice, knowledge, etc. It is worth mentioning separately those that end with -s : news, mathematics , physics, politics, statistics, etc. The plural in English in this case does not form at all, and the coordination occurs in the only one:
- You information is quite interesting.
- Physics is an important science.
Words such as fruit and fish, which were mentioned earlier, in different cases will either form the plural or not, depending on the semantics. In the sense of "different species" they will add -s at the end, and if it is just a question of more than one, then no.
Since there are quite a few examples that fall under this rule, if there is a suspicion that a particular word non-standard forms the plural in English or does not, it is better to double-check yourself. In the end, even experienced translators and carriers sometimes make mistakes. What can we say about those who are just starting to learn the language, but practice will help.
Plural only
This category also has a fairly large number of examples, including among collective nouns: military, police, people, clothes, goods, etc. In addition, objects that can be called paired include: scissors (scissors), braces (suspenders), trousers (trousers) and some others. Obviously, talking about how the plural forms in English does not make sense with these examples, because they are already in it. It is important to remember these examples and correctly coordinate verbs with them.
Language is a living substance that is constantly changing. Some rules disappear, but others replace them. It is possible that the plural of nouns in the English language in a few decades will occur according to completely different principles.