Nouns with foreign plurals

1. Nouns of foreign origin with anglicized plurals: album – albums, apparatus – apparatuses, genius – geniuses. I’ve bought two wonderful albums.

2. Nouns with both foreign and anglicized plurals:

• -us: cactus – cacti (cactuses), genius – genii (geniuses);

• -a: antenna – antennae (antennas), formula – formulae (formulas), miasma – miasmas (miasmata);

• -ex/ix: index – indices (indexes), appendix – appendices (appendixes), matrix – matrices (matrixes);

• -um: medium – media (mediums), curriculum – curricula (curriculums), memorandum – memoranda (memorandums);

• -eu/eau: adieu – adieux (adieus), plateau – plateaux (plateaus).

Alternative plurals can have different meanings: e.g. antennae is a biological term; antennas can describe e.g. radio aerials; indexes – list of contents of books, indices – a mathematical term (показатель); genii – fabulous spirits guarding a place, geniuses – men of talent.

3. Nouns with foreign plurals only.

• -us: alumnus – alumni, radius – radii, stimulus – stimulai, nucleus – nuclei, corpus – corpora, genus – genera;

• -a: alumna – alumnae, alga – algae, vertebra – vertebrae;

• -um: stratum – strata, datum – data, erratum – errata;

• -is: analysis – analyses, basis – bases, crisis – crises, axis – axes, thesis – theses, parenthesis – parentheses, hypothesis – hypotheses, diagnosis – diagnoses;

• -on: criterion – criteria, phenomenon – phenomena.

Exercise 15. Fill in the blanks with the proper form of the verb to be.

1. Alumni of the university … invited to the graduation ceremony. (Pres.) 2. Supernatural phenomena … of great interest to many people. (Past) 3. These bacteria … being studied by our scientists. (Past) 4. The appendices … usually found at the back of a book. (Pres.) 5. English … heard all over the world. (Pres.) 6. The Portuguese … fortunate to have such a beautiful coastline. (Past) 7. The criteria for promotion … clearly started. (Past) 8. The results of the experiment are still uncertain: there … not enough data yet. (Pres.) 9. The oasis … really beautiful. (Past) 10. The formulae … rather difficult. (Pres.)

Note the agreement between subject and verb in the following sentences:

Everyone is here. Every girl and boy in the class is going to the cinema now. Each student and teacher has this book. Neither of the two girls is here. Either of the two books is interesting to me. It was the dogs, which frightened him.

Exercise 16. Fill in the blanks with the proper form of the verb to be.

1. In World War II, it … the men who served in the navy. (Past) 2. Neither of the reporters … allowed to interview the players before the match. (Past) 3. Everyone … allowed to sit here. (Pres.) 4. Every man, woman and child … examined by the doctors. (Past) 5. Everything in the house … in order. (Pres.) 6. Each vegetable and fruit … tested in the laboratory. (Pres.) 7. Everyone … to arrive at 8:40 in the morning. (Pres.) 8. It … the children, who made so much noise. (Past) 9. Everything in this room … for sale. (Pres.) 10. Either of the two apples … good for me. (Pres.) 11. Nobody … there, when I came in. (Past) 12. Anybody … clever enough to solve this problem. (Pres.)

Note the following sentences with such prepositional phrases as: together with, along with, as well as, except, in addition to, etc.

Pay attention to the agreement between subject and verb: The man, together with his daughters and wife, is arriving soon. The cat, along with its kittens, is sleeping in the box. Tom’s father, as well as his mother-in-law, is watching a film. Everyone, except her, has a pen. One of the most enjoyable parties was given by Olga. But: The boys, together with their father, are watching TV. There is a book and two pens on the table. There are two vases and a book on the table. Here is your pen. Here are the results of the tests.

Exercise 17. Open the brackets:

1. Wallpaper, in addition to new furniture, (to have) been ordered. 2. There (to have) been no new discoveries in that field. 3. Libya, as well as other countries, (to have) sent students to the USA. 4. Where (to have) everyone gone? 5. Olga, but not Anna, (to have) left for Minsk lately. 6. There (to have) never been so many runners in the race. 7. A box of sweets, as well as two oranges, (to be) on the table. 8. The teacher, together with his students, (to have) gone to the museum. 9. Here (to be) the books, as well as the notebooks, you need. 10. Everyone in the two groups (to have) these books. 11. Everyone, except Mike, (to be) here. 12. The girls, together with their brother, (to be) sitting on a bench.

Note the agreement between subject and verb in sentences:

1. with and or both … and: A red car and a blue one are parked outside. Both red and blue cars are parked outside.

2. with neither … nor, either … or, not only … but: Neither the students nor the teacher has this book. Neither the teacher nor the students have this book. Either the teacher or the students have these books. Not only the teachers but also the dean is coming here.

3. with all, some, any, majority, most, etc.: All of the book has been destroyed. All of the boxes have been thrown out. But: All of the money is in bank. Some of the bread is stale. Any of the oranges is good for me. Any of the oranges are good for me.

4. with a number of and the number of: A number of students were present at the meeting. The number of women in the government is small.

Exercise 18. Supply the correct present tense form of the verb:

1. Neither the students nor the teacher … the key. (to have) 2. Neither the teacher nor the students … the key. (to have) 3. Not only the students but also the teacher … the key. (to have) 4. Not only the teacher but also the students … the key. (to have) 5. Both the teacher and the student … the key. (to have) 6. Neither Alan nor Carol … skiing this weekend. (to be) 7. Both John and Ted … going to ski. (to be) 8. Either Jack or Alice … the information you need. (to have) 9. Neither my parents nor my brother … going to agree with my decision. (to be) 10. Both intelligence and skill … essential to good teaching. (to be) 11. Neither my classmates nor my teacher … aware of the fact that I have no idea what’s going on in class. (to be) 12. Not only Laura’s husband but also her children … aware of the fact that she should return to school and finish her graduate degree. (to be)

Exercise 19. Fill in the blanks with the verb to be:

1. Both the girl and the boy … training together. (Pres.) 2. Neither Kate nor her friends … here. (Pres.) 3. The number of teachers in the city … very large. (Pres.) 4. The girls and their parents … at the theatre. (Past) 5. All of the students in this group … very good. (Pres.) 6. All of the medicine … here. (Pres.) 7. Some of the milk … sour. (Pres.) 8. Not only the jewels but also the money … locked up in the safe. (Pres.) 9. Neither the gun nor the mask … mine. (Past) 10. All of the apples … eaten. (Past) 11. Half of the equipment … in the next room. (Pres.) 12. Any of the cakes … tasty. (Pres.) 13. A number of my friends … planning a holiday together. (Pres.) 14. All of the information … neither important nor interesting. (Pres.)