Module IV the nouns the noun. Plural of nouns

The noun is a word expressing substance in the widest sense of the word. In the concept of substance we include not only names of living beings (eg. boy, girl) and lifeless things (eg. chair, table), but also names of abstract notions, i.e. qualities, states, actions (kindness, strength, fear, conversation, fight), abstracted from their bearers.

Nouns that can be counted have two numbers: singular and plural. The main types of the plural forms of English nouns are as follows:

1. The plural form is marked by the inflexion -s. It’s pronounced as:

a) [z] after vowels and voiced consonants: bee – bees; dog – dogs;

b) [s] after voiceless consonants: book – books.

2. Nouns ending in -s, -sh, -ch, -x, -z have the ending -es that is pronounced as [iz]:

actress - actresses; bush - bushes; watch - watches; box - boxes.

3. If the noun ends in –o preceded by a consonant, the plural is generally formed by adding –es:

hero – heroes, potato – potatoes ,tomato – tomatoes, echo – echoes.

But a few nouns ending in –o preceded by a consonant form the plural in –s:

photo - photos, piano - pianos, solo - solos.

All noun ending in –o preceded by a vowel form the plural in –s:

kangaroos, radios, studios.

There are a few nouns ending in –o which form the plural both in –s and –es:

mosquito – mosquitos or mosquitoes; banjo – banjos or banjoes.

In proper names the ending -s is used:

Romeos; Filipinos.

4. The letter -y is changed into -i if it is preceded by a consonant and the ending -es is added:

sky - skies.

But -y remains unchanged and the ending -s is added:

1. after vowels: day - days;

2. in proper names: Do you know the Kennedys; I hate Februarys.

3. in compounds: stand-by - stand-bys.

5. Thirteen nouns ending in –f(e) form their plural changing –f(e) into –v(e):

calf – calves; elf – elves; half – halves; knife – knives; leaf – leaves; life – lives; loaf – loaves; self – selves; sheaf – sheaves; shelf – shelves; thief – thieves; wife – wives; wolf – wolves.

Other noun ending in – f(e) have the plural inflexion –s in the regular way:

proof – proofs; chief – chiefs; safe – safes; cliff – cliffs; gulf – gulfs, kerchief – kerchiefs, etc.

There are some nouns which have two forms in the plural:

scarf – scarfs/scarves; dwarf – dwarfs/dwarves; hoof – hoofs/hooves.

6. Nouns ending in –th take the ending -s. It is pronounced as [ðz] after long vowels or diphthongs and as [өs] after short vowels and consonants:

bath [ba:ө] – baths [ba:ðz]; path [pa:ө] – paths [pa: ðz]; oath [ǝuө] – oaths[ǝuðz];

month [mʌnө] – months [mʌnөs ]; myth [mIө] – myths [mIөs]; health [helө] – healths [helөs].

7. For historical reasons some nouns form their plural differently. Seven nouns form the plural by changing the root vowel:

man – men; woman – women; tooth – teeth; foot – feet; goose – geese; mouse – mice; louse – lice, person – persons (off.)/people, peoples = народы.

Two nouns form the plural in –en:

Ox – oxen; child – children.

8. With some nouns the plural is identical with the singular form:

sheep – sheep; swine – swine; deer – deer.

This sheep looks small. All those sheep are good.

There are some animal names that have two plurals:

fish – fish/fishes; pike – pike/pikes; salmon – salmon/salmons.

The zero plural denotes hunting quarries (We caught only a few fish. We caught five salmon.). The regular plural is used to denote different individuals, kinds of animal.

9. Nouns indicating number also have identical forms for singular and plural: pair, couple, dozen, score, etc.

Five dozen of eggs.

10. A number of foreign (particularly Latin and Greek) nouns have retained their original plural endings:

basis – bases; crisis – crises; analysis – analyses; thesis – theses; criterion – criteria; phenomenon – phenomena; stimulus – stimuli; nucleus – nuclei; formula – formulae; datum – data; index – indices.

Some nouns may have two plural forms: the English plural and the Original foreign one:

formula – formulae/formulas; index – indices/ indexes.

12. As a rule in compound nouns the second component takes the plural form:

toothbrush – toothbrushes; boy-scout – boy-scouts.

Compounds in which the first component is man or woman have plurals in both components:

woman-doctor – women-doctors; man-servant – men-servants.

In compounds originating from a prepositional noun phrase only the first noun takes the plural form:

mother-in-law – mothers-in-law; editor-in-chief – editors-in-chief.

In compound nouns formed by a noun plus a preposition, an adverb, or an adjective the first element takes the plural:

passer-by - passers-by.

When a compound is a substantivized phrase which does not contain a noun, the last element takes the ending –s:

forget-me-not – forget-me-nots; grown-up – grown-ups.

12. Some nouns cannot change their number, they are always singular in meaning or they denote plurality.

Singular nouns:

1. non-count nouns (material nouns and abstract nouns):

tea, sugar, gold, music, anger.

2. proper names:

Wales, Henry, the Thames.

3. some nouns ending in –s:

news, means, measles, advice.

4. nouns ending in –ics:

classics, linguistics, politics, athletics.

Plural nouns:

1. names of tools and articles consisting of two equal parts which are joined:

glasses, scissors, shorts, trousers, pyjamas [pɪ’ʤɑːməz], clothes [kləuðz].

2. some proper nouns:

the Netherlands, the Highlands.

3. other nouns:

goods, stairs, thanks, contents, holidays.