Formation of the singular and plural. Plural of nouns in English

Countable nouns in English are countable in order to be put in singular or plural. There are certain rules for this. Most often, the ending -s or -es is used for this - even a schoolboy knows this. But there are other rules that we will consider today. The plural of nouns in English (plural) is used when there are two or more objects.

Plural formations of nouns in English

Plural formation of nouns in English is as follows: -s, which we put at the end of nouns for formation, reads like z if it comes after vowels

The same story - if there is a voiced consonant at the end
pen - pens.

If there is a voiceless consonant at the end of the word, s is read like this:

But if hissing or whistling (s, ss, x, sh, ch) are placed before the end, then some changes in the end occur. Now it takes the following form -es:

bass - basses
match - matches
leash-leashes
box - boxes

If there is a letter -y at the end of the word, we change it to i, and add the traditional -es already familiar to us

lobby - lobbies
sky - skies

Exceptions are proper nouns and compound nouns.

At the same time, in cases where the letter -y is preceded by a vowel, we do not touch -y, we only add the ending s

bay - bays
day - days
way - ways

When a word ends in -o, the ending -es is added to form the plural:

potatoes - potatoes
tomato – tomatoes
hero - heroes

The most difficult thing is when -f or -fe are in the ending. Then you have to learn one rule: replace -f or -fe with -v- and add the ending -es

If the noun ends in the letters -f or -fe, then in the plural they change to -v- and the ending -es is added:

thief-thieves
wolf - wolves
half-halves
wife - wives

An exception in the formation of plurals in English

As with any rule, there are exceptions to the pluralization of English nouns. An exception in the formation of plurals in English occurs in the following cases:

Nouns have their own plural form

man - men
woman-women
tooth-teeth
foot - feet
goose-geese
mouse - mice
louse-lice
child - children
ox-oxen
brother - brethren (brothers, brethren)

The singular looks the same as the plural:

sheep-sheep
swine – swine
deer - deer
grouse – grouse
series-series
species - species
corps - corps

Borrowed words that have retained the features of plural formation according to the rules of their “native” language.

basis - bases
crisis-crises
phenomenon - phenomena
stimulus – stimuli
formula - formulae
datum-data
index-indices
bureau – bureaux

In English, there are two numbers of nouns, as in Russian: singular and plural (in some languages ​​it happens differently). At first glance, it may seem that the plural of nouns in English is formed according to some difficult, incomprehensible rules. In fact, everything is simple, since in most cases the plural is formed according to the basic rule, and the rest of the cases are quickly remembered with practice.

Rules for the formation of plural nouns in English

1. Basic rule

In most cases, the plural of nouns in English (plural) is formed using the ending -s. Pay attention to how this ending is pronounced:

• After vowels and voiced consonants - like [z],
• After deaf consonants - like [s].

However, if you get confused in the pronunciation of -s at the end of a word, you will surely be understood.

2. Nouns with -s, -sh, -ch, -x, -z, -ss

What if the word ends with – s? In this case (for greater harmony and ease of pronunciation), you need to add -es. The same goes for the words -ss,-sh, – ch, – x, -z.

The ending -es helps to pronounce combinations of sounds that would be difficult to pronounce without it. Let me remind you -es added at the end of words -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, -z. Imagine what it would be like without -es:

watchs, matches, boxes, buss (!), classes (!!!)

Agree, it is much easier to pronounce the words:

watches, matches, boxes, buses, classes.

3. Nouns with a consonant + y

consonant + ending -y, then -y changes to -ies .

If the noun ends in vowel + ending -y, then to -y added -s. In other words, the plural is formed according to the basic rule.

4. Nouns ending in -o

If the noun ends in -o, you need to add -es.

Exceptions:

• photo - photos (photo),
• memo - memos (reminder).
• piano - pianos (piano),

5. Nouns ending in -f, -fe

In nouns ending in -f or - fe, need to replace -f or - fe on the -ves.

6. Table: plural nouns in English

This image is a summary of the rules for pluralizing a noun.

Special cases of plural formation in English

English has exceptions to the plural rules. Most of them concern rather rare words, it is most important to remember the cases from the first paragraph (man - men, woman - women, etc.), since they are the most frequent.

1. Main exceptions: the plural is not formed according to the general rules

A number of nouns form the plural in a non-standard way:

Note: the word women is read as [ˈwɪmɪn].

2. Plural and singular forms match

Some nouns have the same plural and singular forms. These include:

3. Nouns used only in the singular

As in Russian, some nouns in English are used only in the singular or plural. These include:

1. Abstract, uncountable nouns

• Knowledge - knowledge,
• Love - love,
• Friendship - friendship,
• Information - information,

2. Names of sciences, academic disciplines on -ics

Although they end in -s, these words are used in the singular.

• Econics - economics,
• Physics - physics,
• Aerobics - aerobics,
• Classics - classical literature.

3. And others

• Money - money,
• Hair - hair.

3. Nouns used only in the plural

As in Russian, many names of paired objects do not have a singular

• Pants - trousers,
• Scissors - scissors,
• Glasses - glasses (for the eyes, not glasses in the game),

Some words that are used in English only in the plural are used in Russian in the plural and singular:

• Goods - goods, goods.
• Clothes - clothes.

Note: clothes is or clothes are?

Difficulty with words often clothes - clothes. Should it be used as singular or plural? How to write correctly: clothes is or clothes are?

We are used to the fact that “clothes” is the singular in Russian, so we strive to use the English clothes in the Russian manner, as if it were a noun in the singular, but this is a mistake. In English, this word is plural and is used accordingly:

• Not properly: Your clothes are so dirty. Your clothes are so dirty.
• Correctly: Your clothes are so dirty. Your clothes are so dirty.

4. Plural of compound nouns

Compound nouns are made up of more than one word and can be written:

1. Separately or through a hyphen: mother-in-law(mother-in-law), assistant headmaster(Assistant School Principal).
2. Slitno: post man(postman), school boy(schoolboy).

In separate compound nouns, as a rule, the plural form is taken by the word that has the main meaning:

There may be one item 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.

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. It's easy without it

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

In order to form the Plural form, the ending is added to the initial -s. This is the most general and simple rule, for example:

• a truck - trucks (trucks);
• a cup - cups (cups);
• a flag - flags (flags).

In this case, it must be borne in mind that after deaf sounds, the ending is read as [s], while in other cases it is [z] or.

However, this does not always happen. If the noun ends in s, ch, x, sh, tch, z, then the end will be -es, since it is much more convenient to pronounce:

• a box - boxes (boxes);
• a boss - bosses (chiefs).

Words ending in o in the plural also add -es:

• a tomato - tomatoes (tomatoes).

Those words that in the singular contained at the end f or fe, in the plural will change it to v:

• a wolf - wolves (wolves);
• a leaf - leaves (leaves).

It should be noted that this does not always happen, 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).

• a monkey - monkeys (monkeys);
• Mary - Marys (Mary, Mary).

These are the simplest examples of how 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 words invariably causes difficulties. We are talking about compound nouns, such as daughter-in-law, good-for-nothing, etc. Many simply add the ending -s to the whole structure, but this is not true. In this case, it is necessary to highlight the main word and work with it. That is, the correct options are daughters-in-law(daughter-in-law), but, for example, good-for-nothings(loafers), because there is no nominal part. 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 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 belong to special scientific vocabulary, so it will most likely not work to meet them in a regular text. 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 doubt, it 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.

In addition, the names of nationalities ending in -se or -ss. 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 USA 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 collective category includes such words 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

Often become uncountable nouns and generally abstract concepts. If with real things everything is more or less clear, then with the rest - not so much.

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. "various kinds" they will add at the end -s, 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 there is a suspicion 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, including among collective nouns: military, police, people, clothes, goods, etc. In addition, this also includes items that can be called paired: scissors (scissors), braces (suspenders), 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 remember these examples 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 occur according to completely different principles.

The English language, like Russian, is built on the interaction of different parts of speech, each of which has its own individuality. One of the brightest signs of a noun is the category of number. Many of you know that the plural form is formed by adding the ending -s. But it's not so simple. In this case, there are more exceptions than the rule itself.

Studying the plural in English (the plural number), you will have to strain and remember more than a dozen words and cases of their use. The ending -s in nouns does not always indicate plurality. How to know how to put it correctly, how to say it correctly? We will divide all nouns into two large groups: mutable (variable) and immutable (invariable).

variable nouns

• regular nouns. Nouns that we can refer to as "correct" form the plural form in English with the help of endings - s: question-questions, group-groups. But, when adding - s, there are writing features.

1. if the word ends with - s, ss, sh, ch, x, z, then add es: box-boxes, bush-bushes, branch-branches.
2. if the word ends with acc + y, then instead of "y" spelled "i+es" : city-cities, story-stories, lady-ladies. But if there is a structure vowel + y then at the end of the word is added only -s without any changes: boy-boys, toy-toys, day-days.
3. if the word in the singular ends with acc + o, then add es : tomatoes, potatoes, heroes. But in the words: vowel + o - s: zoos, radios.

Exceptions:

1. photos- Photo, kilos- kilograms, autos– cars, memos- memorandum, directive, note, logos— logos, torsos- torsos, sopranos- soprano, solos- solo, concertos- concerts, commandos- special forces units Eskimos- eskimos, piano- pianos (piano), video- videos (video).

2. two options: buffalo- buffaloes (buffalo), buffalos; volcano- volcanoes, volcanos (volcano); mosquito- mosquitoes, mosquitos (mosquito); zero- zeroes, zeros (zero); tornado- tornadoes, tornados (tornadoes), flamingos- flamigos, flamigoes (flamingos).

4. another ending puts a spoke in the wheel: f (or fe) is changed to -v (or ve) and -s is added. English plural words with this ending look like this: wife-wives, wolf-wolves, knife-knives, life-lives, half-halves, thief-thieves.

Exceptions:

1. belief- beliefs (faith), chef- chefs (cook), head- chiefs (head, leader), proof - proofs (proof), roof- roofs (roof), safe- safes (safe), cliff- cliffs (cliff, cliff), cuff- cuffs (cuff).

2. have two correct options: scarfs- scarves (scarf), dwarfs- dwarves (dwarf, dwarf), handkerchiefs- handkerchieves (handkerchief), hoofs- hooves (hoof), wharfs- wharves (pier), turfs- turves (turf).

• Irregular nouns. We can refer to irregular nouns those whose plural formation does not lend itself to any rule. So, everything depends on your will, memory and desire.

1. The plural of nouns is formed by vowel changes :

man- men - men; woman- women - women; goose- geese - geese; teeth- teeth - teeth; foot- feet - feet, legs; mouse- mice - mice; lose- lice - lice

2. The plural is formed with the help of the ending -en :

child— child r en - children; ox-oxen - bulls; brother- bretheren - brothers, brotherhoods

3. Words that have the same shape both in the singular and in the plural.

a sheep- sheep (sheep); a swine- swine (pig); a deer- deer (deer); a fish- fish (fish - but: different types of fish: fishes); a craft- craft (ship); a salmon- salmon (salmon); a trout- trout (trout).

4. FROMfishing-foreigners , who came from Latin or Greek, but have already become full-fledged residents of the "English world". If the word ends with:

- us - i : stimulus - stimuli - stimulus

- a - ae : vertebra - vertebrae - vertebra, spine

-um-a: datum - data - data

- is - es: basis - bases - basis, foundation, base

- on - a : phenomenon - phenomena - phenomenon

- ex, ix - ices: appendix - appendices - application

- eau - eaux: bureau - bureaux - bureau

invariable nouns

1. There is a group of nouns that are used only in singular , which means that they require after themselves and the verb in the same number.

• uncountable: sand, gold, water
• abstract: love, music, homework, advice
• some diseases: diabetes, mumps, measles, rabies, rickets, shingles
• some games despite the -s ending: bowls, billiards, drawghts, darts, skittes
• word news
• item names ending in ics: aerobics, classics, genetics, linguistics, mathematics, phonetics, statistics
• some proper names: Athes, Brussels, Wales, the United States, The United Nations
• collective nouns: money, information, jewelery, fruit(but fruits in pl.: several kinds of fruits)
• in a separate group, we will single out nouns that sound in Russian in the plural, and in English - in the singular:

applause (applause), cream (cream), debate (debate), fightings (battles), gossip (gossip, rumors), hair (hair), ink (ink), knowledge (knowledge), gate (gate), watch (watch ),vacation (vacation)

2. There is a similar situation with other nouns that can be used only in the plural (Plurals).

• Nouns denoting a couple: braces, shorts, glasses, trousers, binoculars, jeans, leggins, tights, scissors, scales. But, if we still need to mark the singular, then we will put the phrase before these nouns: a pair of (jeans), and then we use the verb in the singular.

• Substantivized adjectives denoting people: the rich (rich), the poor (poor), the old (old), the young (youth), the English (English).
• Some proper names: the Netherlands, the Midlands, the Hebriedes, the East Indies
• A couple of nouns that are singular in Russian and plural in English:

wages (wages), sweepings (garbage), the contents of the book (content), arms (weapons), greens (greens), looks (view), stairs (ladder), manners (manners), minutes (protocol), outskirts (outskirts), riches (wealth), thanks (gratitude), The Middle Ages (Middle Ages).

Plural of compound nouns

• The plural number of such nouns is usually formed with -s added to the last element: housewife - housewives, shoe-shop - shoe-shops.
• If the composition contains the words "woman, man", then two words take the form of the plural: woman-doctor - women-doctors, man - driver - men - drivers(But, if the word is spelled together, then only men, woman: policemen change)
• If there are prepositions in the composition, then the first element takes the plural form: mothers-in-law, men-of-war, editors-in-chief. If the word consists of: noun + preposition, then add only to the noun: passers-by, lookers-on. But if there is a union, then to the second word: gin and tonics.
• But if there is no noun in the word, but it has such a meaning, then the ending -s is added to the whole phrase: forget-me-nots (forget-me-nots), merry-go-rounds (carousels), stand-bys (followers), grown-ups (adults), pick-ups (casual acquaintances), drop-outs (deserters).

As you can see, the rule "Plural in English" is a complete exception. But do not grab your head or think that you cannot remember it. Millions already know this by heart, so you can too. A little patience, diligence and practice is all you need to absorb all the information.

According to the basic rule, the plural of nouns in English is formed by adding the ending to the end of the word -s or –es(if the noun ends in -s, -sh, -ch, -x, and also for a number of nouns of Spanish origin ending in -o, like tomato, mosquito, potato, hero, veto: tomato - tomatoes).

In nouns ending in a letter -y with a preceding consonant, y changes to i and adds -es: lady - ladies, party - parties. If the letter -y is preceded by a vowel, then just -s is added: boy - boys.

In the words calf, half, knife, leaf, life, loaf, self, sheaf, shelf, thief, wife, wolf, plural f changes to v+(e)s: shelf - shelves.

Some nouns, due to historical reasons, have other ways of constructing the plural: man - men, woman - women, tooth - teeth, foot - feet, goose - geese, mouse - mice, louse - lice, child - children, ox - oxen, brother - brethren(brethren).

Now let's look at some special cases. You can practice using them and learn more during individual lessons with your teacher.

1. Collective nouns. They can be viewed as a single indivisible whole or as a collection of individuals, objects. These include words such as class, team, crew, staff, group, army, team, committee, audience, family etc. If collective nouns designate a group as a single collective, then the verb-predicate is used in the singular form, for example: His family was large. If collective nouns denote individual representatives that make up a group, then the verb-predicate is used in the plural form, for example: My family are early risers. (Members of my family get up early).

Among the collective nouns there are words that are always perceived as a set - nouns of multitude. It: people, police, militia, clothes, cattle, poultry. They are used with plural verbs ( e.g. The police were on duty).

Noun people in the meaning of "people" has the meaning of a plural person: People are so mean here. However, in the meaning of "people" it can be used both in the singular and in the plural: UNO helps all people of the world.

2. Uncountable nouns agree with the predicate in the singular. These are nouns: meat, tea, butter, bread, juice, weather, accommodation, advice, permission, behavior, chaos, damage, furniture, luggage, baggage, news, knowledge, scenery, traffic, work, luck, research, progress, information etc.

3. Nouns that have the same singular and plural form. Some of them end in -s: species, series, means (e.g. That species is rare. those species are common). The other part never ends in -s: sheep, deer, fish (e.g. That deer is young. Those deer are old).

4. Nouns that do not have a plural form. It:
- names of sciences and sports: mathematics, physics, economics, statistics, ethics, gymnastics ( e.g. Physics was his favorite subject);
- some abstract nouns: news, politics ( e.g. What is the news?);
- name of diseases: measles, mumps, herpes.

5. In compound nouns only the second element usually takes the plural form: housewives, schoolchildren.
In compound nouns with the first element man/woman in the plural, both parts change: women-writers, gentlemen-farmers.
In words with the component -man, it changes to -men: policeman - policemen.
If parts of a compound word are written with a hyphen, then the key component is put in the plural form: man-of-war - men-of-war; hotel-keeper – hotel-keepers.
If there is no noun element in the compound word, then to form the plural, you need to add -s to the last element: forget-me-nots, drop-outs.

6. Nouns denoting objects, bipartite, are used only in the plural form, for example: scissors, trousers, jeans, shorts, pajamas, spectacles, scales. Similar words are often used in the phrase a pair of -s, for example: a pair of scissors, a pair of trousers, etc..

7. The nouns hair, money, knowledge, information, progress are used only in the singular form ( e.g. His hair was grey. The money is on the table).

8. Expression a number of agrees with the plural verb, and the number of requires a singular verb ( e.g. The number of people we need to hire is thirteen. A number of people have written about this subject).

9. Nouns Latin and Greek origin:

Is > -es (Greek) basis, crisis, hypothesis, analysis, thesis, axis ( e.g. The hypothesis were supported by the data)
-on > -a (Greek) criterion, phenomenon ( e.g. These phenomena follow the Newton Law)
-us > -i (lat.) radius, alumnus, nucleus, genius
-a > -ae (lat.) formula, vita
-um > -a (lat.) datum, medium, bacterium
-ix /-ex > -ices (lat.) index, appendix

10. Words like dozen, score (ten), couple, pair, stone (stone weight measure), head (cattle head) have both forms of the number, but if they are used together with a specific numeral, they remain in the singular: e.g. four dozen eggs, two score tables. If they are used in the meaning of "many", then they take the form of the plural: e.g. scores of people, dozens of boxes.