Clothes what number in English. Plural Noun Exceptions in English
In English, nouns change by number, that is, they can have a singular and plural form (as, in fact, in Russian). By general rule in the plural, most nouns in English end in -s. But there are certain nuances. This topic is one of the easiest in grammar, and is studied at the initial stages of mastering the language. So let's get started.
General Rule for Plural Formation with Examples
A general scheme for pluralizing nouns is given in this handy table:
Happening | Education | Examples |
General case | — s | cat-cat s– cat-cats ant-ant s- ant-ants table-table s– table-tables book book s– book-books window-window s– window-windows |
— s, —ss-x, —ch-sh | — es | bus-bus es– bus-buses class - class es– class-classes glass-glass es- glass-glasses box-box es– box-boxes tax-tax es– tax-taxes couch couch es– sofa sofas bush-bush es- bush bushes |
Noun ends in – y and preceded by consonant | -y changes to — ies | ba b y-bab ies– infant-babies ci t y-cit ies– city-city |
Noun ends in — y and preceded by vowel | The ending is added to the singular form – s (general case) | b o y-boy s- boy-boys d a y-day s- day-days |
Noun ends in -o | To the form of units. numbers are added ending — es | tomato-tomato es- tomato-tomatoes hero hero es- hero-heroes Exceptions: radio-radio s– radio photo-photo s– photograph(s) piano-piano s- piano zoo-zoo s– zoo-zoos |
Noun ends in — f, —fe | — f, —fe changes to — weight | wolf wol weight- wolf-wolves thief-thie weight- thief-thieves scarf-scar weight– scarves knife-kni weight– knife-knives wife-wi weight- wife-wives Exceptions: chief-chief s roof-roof s cliff-cliff s handkerchief- handkerchief s safe safe s and some others |
Exception words
The following nouns have a special plural form, without adding the ending -s, that is, they do not follow the general rule:
man-men- man - men
woman-women- woman's woman
foot-feet- foot - feet
tooth-teeth- tooth teeth
goose-geese- goose - geese
mouse - mice– mouse – mice
sheep-sheep– sheep – sheep
deer - deer - deer - deer
fish-fish- fish - fish
ox-oxen- bull - bulls
trout – trout– trout – trout
child - children - children
louse-lice- louse - lice
means - means - way - ways
species -species - kind - kinds
These nouns must be memorized.
Formation of the plural of complex (compound) nouns in English
The plural of compound nouns is formed according to the rules described above, but only one of the parts of the compound word takes on the plural form:
Happening | Education | Examples |
A compound noun is made up of two nouns | Only the second element of the noun takes the plural form | girlfriend - girlfriend s
teapot-teapot s schoolchild-school children gas-mask – gas-mask s Exception: In compound nouns with the first element man/woman in the plural. number, both parts change by numbers: woman-writer - women-writer s |
A compound noun is made up of an adjective and a noun | The plural form only nouns accept numbers | frying pan – frying pan s- frying pan |
A compound noun consists of two nouns with a preposition or one noun with a preposition | The plural form only the first noun accepts numbers | mother-in-law-mother s-in-law - mother-in-law, mother-in-law passer-by-passer s-by - passerby |
There is no noun in the word (for example, a compound word consists of verbs, prepositions, or other parts of speech) | To pluralize, add -s to the last element | drop-out - drop-out s- withdrawn, expelled breakdown - breakdown s- breakdown, accident (the noun consists of the verb break and the adverb down) |
Nouns that are used only in the singular
There are quite a few such nouns, but I will give an example of the most common and common:
- advice- advice, tips
- information- information, information
- money- money
- furniture- furniture
- knowledge– knowledge
- weather– weather
- vacation- holiday
- news- news, news (note that this word has a plural form, but is used in the singular. For example, What is the news today? - What is the news today? The verb to be is in the singular form)
- progress- success, success
- names of school subjects and sciences, for example, maths,Physics, although they have a plural form, are used in the meaning of the singular. For example, Maths is my favorite subject.
Nouns that are used only in the plural
These include items that are paired or have the meaning (meaning) of the plural. For example:
scissors- scissors
glasses- glasses
trousers- trousers, trousers
clothes- clothes
stairs- stairs, stairs
goods- goods, goods
people- people
This group of nouns is used in the meaning of plural. numbers, respectively, requires the use of verbs for the plural form.
For example, His clothes are dirty. His clothes are dirty. The verb to be is used in the plural form. numbers.
Topic exercises
If you want to practice, you can do the following exercises to consolidate the material.
Exercise 1. Form the plural form of the following nouns:
dog, book, table, goose, potato, book,pencilbridge,box,foot, match,rosebus,party, grape, watch,garlic,onion, shop, fish,press, day, fly,goal, lady, key,rate, clock,pet, lorry, zoo,office,owl,city,window,story, tummy, city, country, berry, dictionary, key, party, bay, tray, boy, knife, life, thief, loaf, wolf, dish, dress, glass, match, fox, potato, tax, bus, tomato, piano, woman-doctor
Exercise 2. Form a unit. numbers:
oxen, children, leaves, roses, berries, cities, snails, mother-in-law, cats, rulers, men, photos, roofs, drop-outs, fish, eagles, birds, lice, deer, trees, seas, trout, wives, ties, vases, flats
Exercise 3 Correct the errors in the formation of the plural of nouns, if any:
teeths, dogs, pens, deer, erasers, radioes, potatos, keys, leave, tables, torches, glasses, advices, moneys, scissors, newses, shelves, handkerchieves, oxes, lice
That's all for today. Good luck in learning English.
There are a lot of mans and womens in our team.
Ay-ay! Did you also find two errors in this sentence? Even adults often make mistakes when an exception is suddenly thrown.
But not everything is so scary.
Let me be optimistic that English is not French after all. It would seem, what is optimistic about this? The fact is that in French you have to change the form of everything: nouns, verbs, adjectives, and even articles. BUTEnglish pluralshows with only one noun. If the word "cat"singular in English- cat, then the plural is cats.
Plural: English and french
See how many things change in French to show that there are many things? Why is there French, and in Italian, and in Spanish the same situation. Therefore, we will rejoice once again that we are learning the language of Shakespeare and John Lennon.
Plural Formation in English
Ending -s
In the table above to the wordshouse and floweronly one letter addeds:
house - house s
Flower - flower s
And it turned out: houses, flowers.
In 90% of cases, this is how the plural is formed.
Secrets of pronunciation
There is one caveat to this seemingly simple situation. Depending on what sound the word ends with,Scan also sound like [s], And How [ z] (further square brackets are used to denote sounds). If you know and use this, then it is quite possible to improve your understanding of speech by ear, not to mention the fact that it will allow others to understand you better.
General rule: if final consonantdeaf, then S reads like [ s].
What are voiced/voiced consonants?
Imagine two brothers. One of them is modest and quiet. His name is Peter. If he does something, no one notices. He is thin and short. He speaks softly, with only his lips, as if he lacks strength. Or maybe you don't have enough confidence to make yourself known.
P-p-piter
p-pain
p-lease
Try also to pronounce the sound [p] after Peter, without using the power of your voice. Approximately with such a sound, the lid on the pan rises if the porridge in it boils and will soon run away. Still so hedgehog puffs.
When [p] or a similar consonant is at the very end of a word, we pronounce it like that - without a voice, just close our lips:
Lip, hip.
But Bill, Peter's brother, is very "vociferous". He sings, plays the guitar and in general, the first guy in the village. It seems that he has nothing sensible on his mind, but when he says something, everyone hears whether they want it or not:
b-reak
b-ring
b-ad
b-ill
Pronounce the sound [b], placing your fingers on your neck under the jaw - you will feel the vibration. It is a voiced consonant, pronounced with a good flow of air. If you remove this stream, lower the power of your voice, you get the modest Peter. Compare:
Bad - pad
bark-park
If [b] or similar voiced consonants are at the end of a word in the singular, then the plural S is also voiced and pronounced like [z]:
Pad - pads
Lad-
Also [s] turns into [z] after vowels, as well as after a combinationvowel + r:
doors
Ending -es
-esadded to nouns that end in-sh, -ch, -s, -z, and -x:
Pronunciation rules
- Letter eat the end of words likecakes, clothes, lakes, eyesnot pronounced:
clothes
cakes [keɪks]
We pronounce the final -es, how [- iz] after the following sounds: [z], [ dʒ], [ s], [ ʃ ], [ tʃ], [ ks]
Words starting with -y
Nouns ending inconsonant + y, type lady, candy, family, city, plural discardedyand assign the endingies.
In fact, this rule only applies to spelling. 'Cause it's the same soundsplaced at the end of a word. By the way, if you remember, the same spelling rules are also relevant for verbs in the third person singular ending in y:
I cry (first person) - he cries(third person)
Note: This rule does not apply to proper nouns.
The Kennedy family = the Kenned ys
If the word ends iny, but it is preceded by a vowel, then just adds, as in most words:
Irregular nouns
English wouldn't be English if it didn't have "wrong" words. You have probably heard about irregular verbs. By analogy with them, someplural nouns in Englishchange differently than most. They don't joins, and who is transformed into what much:
The English themselves laugh at the illogicality of their language. Here is the verse they wrote:
We'll begin with box, and the plural is boxes;
But the plural of ox should be oxen, not oxes.
You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice,
Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.
If the plural of man is always called men,
Why shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?
So our English, I think, you will agree,
Is the craziest language you ever did see.
Our free translation:
One box and more boxes,
Why ox not oxes?
One mouse, a lot of mice,
well and house than not hice?
Man one and men- people.
Hello tree, New Year.
Nouns ending in -o
- o add - esin the plural.
echo - echoes
hero - heroes
potatoes - potatoes
tomato - tomatoes
And some add only s:
auto - autos
kangaroo - kangaroos
kilo - kilos
memo - memos
photo - photos
piano - pianos
radio - radios
solo - solos
soprano - sopranos
studio - studios
tattoo - tattoos
video - videos
zoo - zoos Well, some nouns on -aboutin general, they can afford both, depending on their mood. But still, the ending is considered more standard-es.
memento - mementoes, mementos
mosquito - mosquitoes, mosquitos
tornado - tornadoes, tornadoes
volcano - volcanoes, volcanoes
zero - zeroes, zeros
Words starting with -f and -fe
- Some nouns ending in -f or - fe, change the ending to -weight:
wolf - wolves
calf - calves
half - halves
knife - knives
leaf - leaves
shelf - shelves
thief - thieves
- And some words on -f, -fejust adds.
For example, the word proof pluralforms in the standard way: by addings. They take an example from him and these words:
belief - beliefs
chief - chiefs
cliff - cliffs
roof - roofs
Plural Forms Matching Singular Forms
The words deer, fish, means, offspring, series, sheep, shrimp, species are written and pronounced the same - regardless of the quantitative value:
deer - deer, deer
fish - fish, fish
means - way, ways
offspring - offspring, offspring
series - series, series
sheep - sheep, sheep
shrimp - shrimp, shrimps
species - species, species
Coincidence? We don't think. This phenomenon has several explanations. The most popular theory is that these words came into English from other languages, and for themplural englishborrowed from there. For example, the wordspeciescame from Latin, and in Latin there is a fifth mood of nouns in which the plural does not differ from the singular.
Blue Whale is an endangeredspecies
The blue whale is an endangered species.
How many endangeredspecies are there in Russia?
How many endangered species are in Russia?
Borrowed words
They need to be said separately - too many ridiculous mistakes are made out of ignorance. Some borrowed words have left the plural form of the original language. Although these words moved to English a long time ago, changing habits, apparently, was not part of their plans.
Meanwhile, they are very commonly used. They are especially useful for those who write scientific work. “Thesis” and “brackets”, “phenomenon” and “formula” - all this in English has such an unusual look that it is imperative to focus on this.
Uncountable nouns
And here English, pluralwhich you now know how to use, prepared another surprise.
Uncountable nouns are nouns that we cannot count. We cannot put a number in front of them indicating the quantity. You can't ask for three oils, we don't say "oils" either. Oil is an uncountable noun. Food products are often uncountable: bread (bread), sugar (sugar), salt (salt), soup (soup), abstract concepts - beauty (beauty), confidence (confidence), honesty (honesty), things without a specific form - cotton (cotton), air (air), toothpaste (toothpaste).
Accordingly, the plural forms (honesties, sugars, airs) do not exist.On the other hand, when-never, but such forms do occur, but the meaning changes. For example, when you ask the waiter:
- Two waters, please.- Two waters please
then it means "two bottles of water". In other words, we mean not the incalculable substances themselves, but the countable containers containing them.
Possessive and plural
S is used to express belonging.
daddy's little monster- Daddy's little monster.
The teacher's salary- Teacher salary.
But the plural uses the same letter! And how do they coexist if something belongs to someone, and this someone is in the plural? Is it really necessary to hiss two soundss?
No, of course not. In English, the superfluous always disappears. The letter S wins, which denotes the amount, and only the tail remains from the possessive S - an apostrophe:
Teachers' salaries - Salaries of teachers.
Students' council - Student Council.
Okay, but what if S is part of the root? As in the words boss, goddess or some names?
If the singular noun ends in s, there are two options: 1.
Apostrophe and s: Thomas's book
2.
Only the apostrophe Thomas’ book
And if, for example, there are several bosses, then there is no choice - we only put an apostrophe:
Mybosses' new cars are expensive
My bosses new cars are expensive
Goddesses' outfits were stunning
The goddess outfits were amazing
As for irregular nouns, nothing special happens to them in the possessive case, they just add an apostrophe and S:
The men's cars are black.
These men's cars are black.
Only singular or only plural
Glasses, scissors, trousers, shorts - take a closer look at these words and you will understand that they are in the plural. They cannot be used in any other way - one cannot say "one pair of scissors", "one pair of trousers" simply because of the paired nature of these items. Trousers have two legs, glasses have two glasses.
In English, the same picture is observed:
headphones - headphones
glasses
scissors - scissors
jeans - jeans
surroundings - surroundings
clothes - clothes
These and similar words are used only in the plural. That is, no matter how great the temptation to say “my clothes IS warm” (my clothes are warm) by analogy with Russian (in Russianclothesalthough a collective noun, but in the singular form), one must step on the throat of one's own song and say:
My clothes are warm.
And finally, nouns that are used in the singular, even if they end withs. These are the names of the subjects:
Economics (economics), mathematics (mathematics), physics (physics),
sport names:
Gymnastics (gymnastics), aerobics (aerobics),
diseases:
Measles (measles), mumps (mumps)
and word news(news).
Here he is English: plural nounsreplete with a variety of forms. But that's why we love him.
Plural Nouns in English (The Plural) formed according to simple rules: in most cases, the ending is added to the base of the noun -es. For example:
🔊brush es (brushes).
But there are exceptions for words ending in a consonant and -y, the plural form of which is formed by replacing -y on the -i and adding an ending -es. For example:
🔊 fl y— 🔊fl ies (flies).
Summary table of the rules for the formation of the plural of a noun
Noun ends in -s, -sh, -ch, -x, -z | Noun ends in a consonant and -y | Noun ends in a consonant and -o | |
---|---|---|---|
rule | Adding the ending -es | Change the letter y to i and add -es | Adding the ending -es |
Examples | 🔊bu s— 🔊 bus es(buses), 🔊 wat ch— 🔊 watch es(clock), 🔊 bo x— 🔊 box es(boxes) | 🔊 cit y— 🔊 cit ies(cities), 🔊 country - 🔊 countr ies(countries) | 🔊 tomato o— 🔊 tomato es(tomatoes), 🔊 potat o— 🔊 potato es(potatoes), 🔊 her o— 🔊 hero es(heroes) |
Note: If the noun ends in -o , but this word is a proper name, abbreviation or borrowing, then only the letter is added -s :
🔊 Eskimo s
(Eskimos),
🔊kilo — 🔊kilo s
(kilograms) ,
🔊 tango s
(tango).
Pronunciation Rules for Plural Noun Endings
Here, too, there are some nuances. Which? The pronunciation of the plural ending depends on the final sound in the singular form (see Table No. 2 below).
Noun ends in a vowel or voiced consonant | The ending reads like [z] | 🔊 game - 🔊 games , 🔊 tree - 🔊 trees |
---|---|---|
Noun ends in a voiceless consonant | The ending reads like [s] | 🔊 cat - 🔊 cats , 🔊 clock - 🔊 clocks |
Noun ends with [ʤ], [ʧ], [ʃ], [s] or [z] | The ending reads like [ɪz] | 🔊 orange - 🔊 oranges [ˈɒrɪn dʒ— ˈɒrɪn dʒɪz], 🔊 vase - 🔊 vases |
Nouns that do not pluralize according to the rules
The plural of nouns in English may not be formed according to the rules. These nouns are the so-called exceptions. Below in the tables I will introduce you to them in detail.
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|---|
🔊 man (male) | 🔊 men | 🔊 wolf (wolf) | 🔊 wolves |
🔊 woman (woman) | 🔊women | 🔊mouse (mouse) | 🔊 mice |
🔊 child (child) | 🔊 kids | 🔊 louse (louse) | 🔊 lice |
🔊 tooth (tooth) | 🔊 teeth | 🔊 penny (coin to cent) | 🔊 pence |
🔊 foot (foot) | 🔊 feet | 🔊 person (person) | 🔊 people |
🔊 goose (goose) | 🔊 geese | 🔊 sheep (sheep) | 🔊sheep |
🔊 ox (bull) | 🔊 oxen | 🔊 deer (deer) | 🔊 deer |
🔊 leaf (leaf) | 🔊 leaves | 🔊 fish (fish) | 🔊fish |
Nouns of Latin origin that form an irregular plural ending
Nouns that are used only in the plural or only in the singular
Uncountable nouns (both real and abstract) are used only in the singular:
- 🔊 There is no snow on the ground.
- 🔊 The news was very interesting.
Nouns in the singular in Russian, in the plural in English
Nouns denoting paired objects and ending in -s, always used in the plural
Groups of nouns that are used only in the singular
Nouns with different meanings in singular and plural
Singular | Plural |
---|---|
🔊 air (air) | 🔊 airs (arrogant manners) |
🔊 ash (ash) | 🔊ashes (ashes) |
🔊 content (content) | 🔊 contents (content) |
🔊 custom (custom) | 🔊 customs (customs) |
🔊 damage (damage) | 🔊 damages (losses) |
🔊 drawer (drawer) | 🔊 drawers (chest of drawers) |
🔊 fund (reserve) | 🔊 funds |
🔊 glass (glass, glass) | 🔊 glasses (glasses) |
🔊 hair (hair) | 🔊 hairs (wool, individual hairs) |
🔊 look (look) | 🔊 looks (appearance) |
🔊 pain (pain) | 🔊 pains (effort, suffering) |
🔊 scale (scale) | 🔊scales (scales) |
🔊 spectacle (spectacle, view) | 🔊 spectacles (glasses) |
🔊 step (step) | 🔊 steps (trap) |
🔊 work (work) | 🔊 works (factory) |
🔊 saving (thrift) | 🔊 savings (savings) |
- Some more useful articles
The plural in English is formed according to a certain rule. When learning a language, beginners often have difficulties, since this rule has its own peculiarities and exceptions.
In this article you will learn:
- plural rules for nouns
- exception words
- words that do not change in numbers
The rule for the formation of the plural of nouns in English
In English, the plural is formed by adding the ending -s to the word:
cat - cat s
cat - cats
cup - cup s
cup - cups
book - book s
book - books
phone - phone s
phone - phones
pen - pen s
pen - pens
It would seem that everything is extremely simple. However, as in many English rules, there are exceptions here.
In some cases, instead of -s we need to add an ending -es. Let's look at which:
1. If the word ends in -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, -z
kiss - kiss es
kiss - kisses
church-church es
church - churches
bus - bus es
bus - buses
dish - dish es
dish - dishes
tax - tax es
tax - taxes
2. If the word ends with -about
potato - potato es
potatoes - potatoes
zero - zero es
zero - zeros
hero - hero es
hero - heroes
But there are exception words to which, despite the fact that they end in about, we add the ending -s. These are the words to remember:
photo - photo s
photography - photos
video - video s
video - multiple videos
piano - piano s
piano - multiple pianos
kilo - kilo s
kilogram - kilograms
3. If the word ends with -y, then we change y on the i and add an ending -es
secretary - secretary ies
secretary - secretaries
factory-factor ies
factory - factories
theory es
theory - theories
reply-repli es
answer - answers
However, if the word ends in -y and we pronounce the ending like [th], then we do not change it in any way, but simply add -s:
boy - boy s
boy - boys
toy - toy s
toy - toys
way - way s
way - ways
4. If the word ends with -fe, then f change to v and add -es
knife-kni weight
knife - knives
wife - wi weight
wife - wives
life-li weight
life - life
We have considered the basic rules that allow us to make two or more out of one object. But in the English language there are exception words that do not lend themselves to these rules.
Plural Exclusion Words in English
There are words in the English language, the formation of the plural form of which does not follow the rules. These words can be divided into two groups:
1. Words that change their form regardless of the rules
The formation of the plural form of these words defies any logic, it just needs to be remembered.
man - men
man - men
person - people
person people
woman-women
woman's woman
mouse - mice
mouse - mice
foot - feet
leg legs
child - children
children
teeth
tooth teeth
2. Words that never change
There is no need to add an ending to these words or change them, regardless of whether we are talking about one subject or several.
fish - fish
fish - fish
fruit - fruit
fruit - fruits
deer - deer
deer - deer
sheep - sheep
sheep - sheep
aircraft - aircraft
airplane - airplanes
means - means
way - ways
trout - trout
trout - trout
Words that do not change by number in English
Just like in Russian, there are words in English, the number of which cannot be changed at all (glasses, trousers, dishes, honey, etc.). Such words can only be singular or plural.
1. Words that are used only in the singular
We cannot pluralize such words, even if there are several objects. Remember, we also have such words in Russian: video, piano, flamingo, etc. Agree, we cannot say: "There were three pianos in the class." We say: “There were three pianos in the classroom,” although we mean several items.
advice - advice
furniture - furniture
information
money - money
friendship - friendship
love - love
news - news
2. Words that are used only in the plural
We cannot put such words in the singular. For example, we say: “Give me scissors,” although we mean one object. We cannot say, "Give me a scissor."
scissors - scissors
pants
glasses
goods - goods, goods
clothes - clothes
stairs
arms - weapon
So, we have looked at how to correctly change words when we are talking about two or more subjects. Now let's practice doing this.
Do a workout exercise
Put the following words in the plural form:
Tomato, box, sheep, dictionary, flower, day, video, child, plate, fruit, class, key, foot, window, country, brush, photo, fish, woman, party.
Leave your answers in the comments below the article.