PLURALS FORMS

PLURALS WITH DIFFERENT MEANINGS

 Some Nouns have same meaning in singular form but have different
meanings in plural form.
 A few are listed here.

Colours:

 Hues
 Regiment (unit of army)

Compasses:

 Magnetic compasses mused for navigation Instruments used in

geometry

Customs:

 duties or taxes levied on imports (You have to pay heavy customs duty
if you import diamonds).

Draughts:

 A checker game Currents of air Effects:

 Results
 Goods or personal property.

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Forces:

 powers (e.g. The forces of nature)

 Organised group of men (e.g. police forces, forces.)

Glasses:

 Glasses (vessels) for drinking water Spectacles

Grounds:

 land (e.g. play ground)

 reasons (e.g. You have no moral grounds to complain.)

Letters:

 alphabets literature, epistles

Manners:

 methods, ways, customs

 behaviour

Minutes:

 Spaces of time

Spirits:

 souls
 liquor
 moral attitude (e.g. in high spirits).

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The first word of each pair denotes one thing, the second word of each pair
denotes more than one.

 A Noun that denotes one person or thing, is said to be in the Singular

Number; as,

Boy, girl, cow, bird, tree, book, pen.

 A Noun that denotes more than one person or thing, is said to be in

the Plural Number; as,

Boys, girls, cows, birds, trees, books, pens.

Thus there are two Numbers in English-the Singular and the Plural.

i)The Plural of nouns is generally formed by adding -s to the singular ; as

boy, boys; pen, pens; girl, girls; desk,

desks; book, books; cow, cows.

(ii) But Nouns ending in -s, -sh, -ch (soft), or -x form the plural by
adding -es to the singular; as,
class, classes; kiss, kisses; dish, dishes; brush, brushes; match,
matches; watch, watches; branch, branches; tax, taxes; box, boxes.

(iii) Most Nouns ending in -o also form the plural by adding -es to the
singular ; as, buffalo, buffaloes;
mango, mangoes; hero, heroes; potato, potatoes; cargo, cargoes, echo,
echoes; negro, negroes; volcano, volcanoes.

(iv) A few nouns ending in -o merely add -s; as,

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dynamo, dynamos; solo, solos; ratio, ratios; canto, cantos; memento,
mementos; quarto, quartos; piano, pianos; photo, photos; stereo, stereos.
kilo, kilos; logo, logos;commando, commandos

(v) Nouns ending in -y, preceded by a consonant, form their plural by

changing -y into -i and adding -es; as,

baby, babies; lady, ladies; city, cities; army, armies; story, stories; pony,
ponies.

(vi) The following nouns ending in -f or -fe form their plural by changing -for
-fe into v and adding -es ; as,

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

The nouns dwarf, hoof, scarf and wharf take either -s or -ves in the
plural.

dwarfs or dwarves; hoofs or hooves;

scarfs or scarves; wharfs or wharves

Other words ending in -for -fe add -s; as,chief, chiefs; safe,
safes; proof, proofs gulf, gulfs; cliff, cliffs;handkerchief,
handkerchiefs

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A few nouns form their plural by changing the inside vowel of the
singlar; as, man, men;

woman, women; foot, feet; tooth, teeth; goose, geese; mouse, mice; louse,
lice.

There are a few nouns that form their plural by adding -en to the singular;
as, ox, oxen; child, children.

The plural offish is fish or fishes. The form fishes is less usual.

Some nouns have the singular and the plural alike; as,

Swine, sheep, deer; cod, trout, salmon; aircraft, spacecraft, series, species.

Pair, dozen, score, gross, hundred, thousand (when used after numerals),

I bought three dozen oranges.

Some people reach the age of three score and ten.

The sari cost me five thousand rupees.

Stone, hundred weight.

He weighs above nine stone.

Twenty hundredweight make one ton.

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Some nouns are used only in the plural.

1.Names of instruments which have two parts forming a kind of pair; as,

Bellows, scissors, tongs, pincers, spectacles.

2.Names of certain articles of dress; as,

Trousers, drawers, breeches, jeans, tights, shorts, pyjamas.

3.Certain other nouns; as,

Annals, thanks, proceeds (of a sale), tidings, environs, obsequies,

assets, chattels.

4.Some nouns originally singular are now generally used in the plural; as,

Alms, riches, eaves.

Riches do many things.

The following nouns look plural but are in fact singular:

(1)Names of subjects mathematics, physics, electronics, etc.

(2)The word news
(3)Names of some common diseases measles, mumps, rickets
(4)Names of some games billiards, draughts Mathematics is his favourite
study.

 No news is good news.

 India won by an innings and three runs.
 Measles is infectious.
 Billiards is my favourite game.

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  ‘Means’ is used either as singular or plural. But when it has the
meaning of ‘wealth’ it is always plural; as,
 He succeeded by this means (or, by these means) in passing the
examination.
 His means are small, but he has incurred no debt.

1.Certain Collective Nouns, though singular in form, are always used

as plurals; as,

(Poultry, cattle, vermin, people, gentry.)

 These poultry are mine.

 Whose are these cattle?
 Vermin destroy our property and carry disease.
 Who are those people (= persons)?
 There are few gentry in this town.

Note:- As a Common Noun 'people' means a 'nation' and is used in

both singular and plural; as,

Singular -- Plural

 Commander-in-chief -- commanders-in-chief Coat-of-mail -- coats-of-

mail Son-in-Law -- sons-in-law
 Daughter-in-law -- daughters-in-law Step-son -- step-sons Step-
daughter -- step-daughters
 Maid-servant -- maid-servants (but man-servant, plural men-servants)
 Passer-by -- passers-by Looker-on -- lookers-on Man-of-war -- men-
of-war.

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 Many nouns taken from foreign languages keep their original plural
form; as,

Form Latin-

Erratum, errata; -- formula, formulae (or formulas): index, indices; --

memorandum, memoranda; radius, radii; -- terminus, termini (or
terminuses).

From Greek-

Axis, axes; -- parenthesis, parentheses; crisis, crises; -- hypothesis,

hypotheses; basis, bases; -- phenomenon, phenomena; analysis, analyses; -
- criterion, criteria.

From Italian-

Bandit, banditti, (or bandits)

From French-

Madame (madam), monsieur, messieurs.

From Hebrew-

Cherub, cherubim (or cherubs); seraph, seraphim (or seraphs)

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SELECT THE CORRECT PLURAL FORMS

Rule for
Type of Forming
Examples Exceptions
Noun the
Plural

arch/arches, atlas/atlases, ax/axes,

bash/bashes, bench/benches, bias/biases,
botch/botches, box/boxes, brush/brushes,
bunch/bunches, bus/buses, bush/bushes,
canvas/canvases, catch/catches,
church/churches, class/classes,
compass/compasses, crash/crashes,
cross/crosses, dais/daises, dish/dishes,
dress/dresses, equinox/equinoxes,
etch/etches, fetch/fetches, fix/fixes,
Word
Add 'es' fox/foxes, gas/gases, grass/grasses,
ends in s, axis/axes,
to the itch/itches, kiss/kisses, larch/larches,
x, ch, or ox/oxen
end lash/lashes, latch/latches,
sh
mantis/mantises, march/marches,
marsh/marshes, mash/mashes,
mass/masses, match/matches,
moss/mosses, mix/mixes, pass/passes,
patch/patches, pox/poxes, radish/radishes,
sash/sashes, sketch/sketches,
starch/starches, stitch/stitches, tax/taxes,
touch/touches, trash/trashes,
twitch/twitches, vehicle/vehicles,
wish/wishes, witch/witches,

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 wrench/wrenches

Add
Word buzz/buzzes, fizz/fizzes, klutz/klutzes,
'zes' to
ends in z quiz/quizzes, topaz/topazes, waltz/waltzes
the end

Ending in alley/alleys, attorney/attorneys,

essay/essays, boy/boys, delay/delays,
y
Add an guy/guys, jay/jays, key/keys,

preceded 's' osprey/ospreys, play/plays, ray/rays,

by a stray/strays, toy/toys, tray/trays,

vowel turkey/turkeys, valley/valleys, way/ways

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 ally/allies, army/armies, baby/babies,

Ending in
'y' beauty/beauties, berry/berries,
Change
cherry/cherries, city/cities, colony/colonies,
the final
preceded country/countries, dictionary/dictionaries,
'y' to
by a duty/duties, enemy/enemies, fairy/fairies,
'ies'
family/families, ferry/ferries, fly/flies,
consonant
gallery/galleries, history/histories,
injury/injuries, jelly/jellies, kitty/kitties,
lady/ladies, lily/lilies, navy/navies,
history/histories, party/parties,
pony/ponies, reply/replies,
secretary/secretaries, sky/skies, spy/spies,
story/stories, study/studies,
symphony/symphonies, theory/theories,

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 trophy/trophies,
try/tries,
university/universities,
variety/varieties,
victory/victories

calf/calves, elf/elves,
half/halves,
hoof/hooves, belief/beliefs, chef/chefs,
knife/knives, chief/chiefs, dwarf/dwarfs,
leaf/leaves, life/lives, grief/griefs, gulf/gulfs,
Ends with Change
loaf/loaves, handkerchief/handkerchiefs,
'f or 'fe' the 'f or
knife/knives, kerchief/kerchiefs,
(but not 'fe' to
loaf/loaves, mischief/mischiefs, muff/muffs,
'ff or 'ffe') 'ves'
scarf/scarves, oaf/oafs, proof/proofs,
self/selves, roof/roofs, safe/safes,
shelf/shelves, turf/turfs
wife/wives,
wolf/wolves

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 albino/albinos, auto/autos,
armadillo/armadillos,cameo/ca
buffalo/buffaloes,
meos, cello/cellos,
cargo/cargoes,
combo/combos, duo/duos,
echo/echoes,
ego/egos, folio/folios,
embargo/embargoes,
halo/halos, inferno/infernos,
grotto/grottoes,
lasso/lassos,
hero/heroes,
memento/mementos,
Ends with mosquito/mosquitoes,
Add 'es' memo/memos, piano/pianos,
'o' motto/mottoes,
photo/photos,
potato/potatoes,
portfolio/portfolios, pro/pros,
tomato/tomatoes,
silo/silos, solo/solos,
torpedo/torpedoes,
stereo/stereos, studio/studios,
veto/vetoes,
taco/tacos, tattoo/tattoos,
volcano/volcanoes,
zoo/zoos tuxedo/tuxedos,
zero/zeroes
typo/typos, veto/vetoes,
yo/yos, video/videos,

child/children, die/dice,
foot/feet, goose/geese,
louse/lice, man/men,
mouse/mice, ox/oxen,
Irregular Variable
person/people,
that/those, this/these,
tooth/teeth,
woman/women

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 analysis/analyses,
axis/axes, basis/bases,
crisis/crises,
ellipsis/ellipses,
Ends with hypotheses/hypothesis
Change
'is' (from , neurosis/neuroses,
final 'is'
a Greek oasis/oases,
to 'es'
root) paralysis/paralyses,
parenthesis/parenthese
s, synopsis/synopses,
synthesis/syntheses,
thesis/theses

alumnus/alumni,
bacillus/bacilli,
abacus/abacuses,
cactus/cacti, focus/foci,
crocus/crocuses,
Ends with fungus/fungi,
genus/genera,
'us' (if Change locus/loci,
octopus/octopuses (not octopi,
the word final 'us' nucleus/nuclei,
since octopus is from the
is from to 'i' radius/radii,
Greek language),
the Latin) stimulus/stimuli,
rhombus/rhombuses,
syllabus/syllabi,
walrus/walruses
terminus/termini,
torus/tori

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 bacterium/bacteria,
curriculum/curricula,
datum/data,
Change erratum/errata,
Ends with album/albums,
final 'um' gymnasium/gymnasia,
'um' stadium/stadiums
to 'a' medium/media,
memorandum/memora
nda, ovum/ova,
stratum/strata

alga/algae,
alumna/alumnae,
Ends with agenda/agendas,
antenna/antennae,
'a' but alfalfa/alfalfas, aurora/auroras,
Change larva/larvae,
not 'ia' banana/bananas,
final 'a' to nebula/nebulae,
(from a barracuda/barracudas,
'ae' pupa/pupae (or
Latin cornea/corneas, nova/novas,
pupas),
root) phobia/phobias
vertebra/vertebrae,
vita/vitae

Ends with automaton/automata,

'on' (from Change criterion/criteria, balloon/balloons,
a Greek final 'on' phenomenon/phenome carton/cartons and many,
root -- to 'a' na, many others
not 'tion') polyhedron/polyhedra

annex/annexes,
Change
Ends with vertex/vertices, complex/complexes,
final 'ex'
'ex' vortex/vortices duplex/duplexes, hex/hexes,
to 'ices'
index/indexes or indices

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 advice, aircraft, bison,
corn, deer, equipment
, evidence, fish
Singular (sometimes), gold,
Unchangi and plural information, jewellery,
ng are the kin, legislation, luck,
same luggage, moose,
music, offspring,
sheep, silver, swine,
trousers, trout, wheat

barracks, bellows,
cattle, congratulations,
deer, dregs,
eyeglasses, gallows,
headquarters,
Only the
mathematics, means,
Unchangi
plural measles, mumps,
ng
news, oats, pants,
exists
pliers, pajamas’,
scissors, series,
shears, shorts, species,
tongs, tweezers,
vespers

attorney

Compoun general/attorneys
The plural
d general, bill of
ending is
fare/bills of fare, chief
usually
nouns of staff/chiefs of staff,
court-martial/courts-

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martial, daughter-in-
law/daughters-in-law,
father-in-law/fathers-
in-

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