Noun. Number.

English nouns that are inflected for number have singular and plural forms. S. denotes one, plural denotes more than one. Most count nouns are variable and can occur with either singular or plural number. The plural form is marked by the inflexion - (e) s.

Regular plurals:

1. N. ending in vowels and voiced consonants have the plural ending pronounced as [z]: bee - bees, dog - dogs.

2. N. ending in voiceless consonants have a voiceless ending: book - books.

3. N. ending in -s, -sh, -ss, -ch, -x, -z have the ending [iz]: actress -actresses, bush - bushes, watch - watches, box - boxes.

4. N. ending in -o have the ending [z]: hero -heroes, potato – potatoes. The regular plural inflexion of nouns in -o has two spellings; -os occurs in the following cases: a) after a vowel — bamboos, embryos, folios, kangaroos, radios, studios, zoos; b) in proper names - Romeos, Eskimos, Filipinos; c) in abbreviations, kilos, photos; In other cases the spelling is -oes: tomatoes, dominoes, heroes, potatoes.

5. The letter -y after a consonant usually changes into -i: sky – skies But the letter -y remains unchanged -ys: a) after vowels: days. b) in proper names: the two Germanys.

6. Thirteen nouns ending-in -f (e) form their plural changing -f (e) into -v (e): the ending in this case is pronounced (z]:calf –calves, life - lives, thief - thieves, elf - elves, loaf-loaves, wife – wives, half – halves, self - selves, wolf - wolves, knife – knives, sheaf - sheaves (снопы), leaf –leaves, shelf – shelves. Other nouns ending in -f(e) have the plural inflexion -s in the regular way: proof -proofs, chief- chiefs, safe - safes, cliff- cliffs.

7. The plural of nouns ending in “th” – the plural ending in this case is – s: month – months, heart – hearts.

Irregular plurals. 1. Seven nouns distinguish plural from singular by vowel change: man-men, woman-women, louse-lice, tooth-teeth, foot-feet, goose-geese, mouse-mice.

2. two nouns have –en to mark the plural: ox-oxen, child-children.

3. with some nouns the plural is identical with the singular form: a) sheep-sheep, swine-swine, deer-deer. There are some animal names that have 2 plurals: fish-fish(es), carp-carp(s), salmon-salmon(s). b) identical singular and plural forms are also typical of nationality nouns in –ese, -ss: Chinese, Swiss, Japanese. c) names, indicating number: pair, couple, dozen, score, stone, head.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-02