(1) Formation of Plural Forms (Specific Cases)

(1) Formation of Plural Forms (Specific Cases)

1. Simple (one-stem) nouns:

a) ending in sibilants -es

box – boxes, voice – voices, glass – glasses, bridge – bridges,

watch – watches, bush – bushes, fish – fishes

b) ending in –y -ys

day – days, journey – journeys, key – keys, boy – boys

-ies

city – cities, country – countries, penny – pennies, fly – flies,

army – armies, lady – ladies

c) ending in –o -os

cuckoo – cuckoos, piano – pianos, photo – photos,

solo – solos, zero – zeros, portfolio – portfolios,

soprano – sopranos, ratio – ratios, dynamo – dynamos

-oes

hero – heroes, echo – echoes, embargo – embargoes,

Negro – Negroes, potato – potatoes, tomato – tomatoes,

veto – vetoes

d) ending in –f, -fe -fs, -fes

cliff – cliffs, belief – beliefs, chief – chiefs,

proof – proofs, roof – roofs, safe – safes

-ves

calf – calves, half – halves, knife – knives, leaf – leaves,

life – lives, loaf – loaves, self – selves, sheaf – sheaves,

shelf – shelves, thief – thieves, wife – wives, wolf – wolves

e) -en

child – children, ox – oxen

f) vowel interchange

man – men, foot – feet, tooth – teeth, goose – geese,

louse – lice, mouse – mice, woman – women

g) homonymous forms

sheep – sheep, deer – deer, grouse – grouse, plaice – plaice,

salmon – salmon, pike – pike, trout – trout, carp – carp,

moose – moose, fish – fish, cod – cod, series – series,

species – species, means – means, (gas)works – (gas)works,

barracks – barracks, headquarters – headquarters

h) ending in –us -i

stimulus – stimuli, nucleus – nuclei, syllabus – syllabi,

focus – foci, bacillus – bacilli, terminus – termini

i) ending in –a -ae

formula – formulae, antenna – antennae, vertebra – vertebrae

j) ending in –um -a

curriculum – curricula, memorandum – memoranda, stratum – strata,

addendum – addenda, bacterium – bacteria, medium – media,

aquarium – aquaria, symposium – symposia, datum – data

k) ending in –is -es

crisis – crises, analysis – analyses, axis – axes, diagnosis – diagnoses,

ellipsis – ellipses, hypothesis – hypotheses, oasis – oases,

parenthesis – parentheses, synopsis – synopses, thesis – theses,

basis – bases

l) ending in –ex/-ix -ices

codex – codices, index – indices, appendix – appendices,

matrix – matrices

1. Compound nouns

a) plural in the last element

boy-friend – boy-friends, fountain pen – fountain pens,

grown-up – grown-ups, assistant director – assistant directors,

attorney general – attorney generals, mouthful – mouthfuls,

spoonful – spoonfuls, room-mate – room-mates, woman-hater –

woman-haters, breakdown – breakdowns, overall – overalls,

sit-in – sit-ins, stand-by – stand-bys, take-off – take-offs,

forget-me-not – forget-me-nots, merry-go-round – merry-go-rounds,

postman – postmen, Englishman – Englishmen, writing table –

writing tables

b) plural in the first element

notary public – notaries public, passer-by – passers-by, mother-in-law – mothers-in-law, man-of-war – men-of-war, coat-of-mail – coats-of-mail,

court-martial – courts-martial, commander-in-chief –

commanders-in-chief

(2) Uncountable Nouns

1. Singularia Tantum:

a) common concrete “mass” nouns

bread, butter, sugar, tea, copper, honey, water, milk, wine, snow, air, etc.

b) common abstract nouns

friendship, kindness, weather, news, advice, information,

announcement, success, work, progress, excitement, fun,

generosity, curiosity, anger, poetry, sculpture, gallows,

summons, classics, linguistics, phonetics, measles, billiards,

dominoes

1. Pluralia Tantum:

a) common concrete collective nouns

clothes, greens, savings, scissors, glasses, shorts, suspenders,

tights, trousers, archives, arms (“weapons”), earnings, fireworks,

funds (“money”), goods, holidays, lodgings, looks, outskirts,

premises, remains, stairs, valuables, wages, customs (“taxes”),

colours (“flag”)

b) common abstract collective nouns

tactics, politics, manners, brains (“intellect”), contents,

pains (“to take pains”), spirits (“mood”), thanks, wits,

gymnastics, athletics

(3) Common Collective Nouns Agree with the Predicate Verb:

a) in the singular or in the plural

family, crew, group, committee, delegation, government, team,

board, staff

b) in the plural

public, police, clergy, gentry, people, jury, cattle, youth, folk

c) in the singular

the proletariat, the bourgeoisie, the aristocracy, the peasantry

Дата добавления: 2015-11-04