Clothes singular or plural in English. How to form the plural in English

In general, the plural form of nouns in English follows strict and simple rules. However, there are some nuances and exceptions here, which it will be useful for you to find out.

Basic rules for the formation of the plural

The plural of most nouns is formed by adding an ending to a word - s... For example:

• cup - cup s
• pen - pen s
• page - page s
• daughter - daughter s

However, if the word ends with -ch, -x, -s, -sh, the ending is added to it -es.

• ben ch- bench es
• fo x- fox es
• cla ss- class es
• bru sh- brush es

Most nouns ending in a consonant + o, also form the plural with the ending -es.

• he ro- hero es
• pota to- potato es
• toma to- tomato es

However, in words of Spanish or Italian origin that end in -o is added simply -s.

• phot o- photo s
• pian o- piano s
• tang o- tango s
• studi o- studio s

To nouns that end in -z is added -zes.

In nouns that end in a consonant + y, discarded y and added -ies... For example:

• co py- cop ies
• hob by- hobb ies
• s ky- sk ies

Most nouns of Latin origin ending in -is, discarded -is and added -es... For example:

• bas is- bas es
• cris is- cris es
• oas is- oas es

Most nouns ending in -f or -fe, discarded f and added -ves... For example:

• wi fe- wi ves
• shel f- shel ves
• lea f- lea ves

But this is not a strict rule:

• belief - beliefs (believes is a verb)
• chief - chiefs
• reef - reefs
• proof - proofs
• cliff - cliffs
• safe - safes (saves is a verb)

Exceptions to the rule

There are many common nouns that have an irregular plural: the plural of such nouns is formed in a non-standard way.

These include most nouns for people. For example:

• woman - women
• child - children
• brother - brethren (meaning "brothers")

Other nouns-exceptions:

• foot - feet
• tooth - teeth
• goose - geese
• mouse - mice

Some nouns have the same singular and plural forms. For example:

• sheep - sheep
• fruit - fruit
• aircraft - aircraft
• series - series

In the plural, they require the corresponding form of the verb (are / were):

• There is a fruit in the vase. - There are some fruit in the vase.
• There was a sheep in the field. - There were a lot of sheep in the field.

In turn, uncountable nouns (money, news, advice, information) do not have a plural form and agree with the singular verb ( is / was):

• There is a lot of news in your letter.
• There was some money on the table.

Some nouns (scissors, glasses, trousers, tweezers, pyjamas, etc.) have only plurals and require the corresponding form of the verb ( are / were). For example:

• Where are my new trousers? They were on the chair.

Nouns that derive from obsolete forms of English words or are of foreign origin often have a non-standard plural form:

• ox - oxen
• index - indices or indexes

In compound nouns, the plural ending is usually added to the main component. For example:

• mother-in-law - mother s-in-law
• hotel-keeper - hotel-keeper s

Words ending in -us

Linguists can argue for hours about the plural of nouns that end in -us... Many of these words are borrowed from Latin and retain the Latin plural, where the -us ending is replaced by -i (pronounced [-ʌɪ] or [-iː]). However, not all such words are of Latin origin, and not all Latin words end in -i in the plural, hence the controversy. For example:

• Plural of virus - virus es rather than viri.

Some take regular English ending -es: campus - campus es; bonus - bonus es.

Some Latin borrowings take the ending -i: radius - radi i stimulus - stimul i.

Names of people, names of objects, cities, countries, various institutions; names of plant and animal breeds; designation of the process of actions - all this cannot be expressed without nouns. It would not be an exaggeration to say that perhaps 90% of sentences cannot do without this part of speech, if we exclude the simplest constructions with pronouns and adjectives. Today we will take a look at this most important category of English grammar. We will learn how it is used, what varieties it has, as well as how the plural of nouns is composed in English. The topic is simple and beginners usually master it quickly, they only have to learn a few exceptions and consolidate the theory by completing a practical task.

This part of speech denotes persons or objects, answering questions what?who?(what / who?). In a sentence, such words can play the role of a subject, object, circumstance and even definition, provided that the noun is used in the possessive case. By the way, this is the only case of changing the end of this part of speech, with the exception of the formation of the plural form.

This category is subdivided into the same sections as in Russian: common nouns, proper, collective, concrete, abstract, countable and uncountable nouns. For our topic, it is important to note that abstract and uncountable representatives of this category cannot have constructs in the plural. At the same time, there are words that are used exclusively in collective form: police,clothes,glasses,scissors,people,trousers etc. All other types of words will be discussed in detail in the next section.

English, and in this it is similar to Russian, endowed the noun with two numerical categories: singular and plural. And, if everything is in principle clear with a single number, since this is a dictionary form of a word, then the formation of multiple meanings requires knowledge of certain grammatical laws. Let's take a closer look at them.

Endings -s / -es

The easiest and most widespread way to get the plural form of nouns is to add a letter to the base of the word s.

• I bought a magazine for my mother yesterday - YesterdayI amboughtforhismothersmagazine.
• I bought magazine s for my mother yesterday - YesterdayI amboughtmagazinesforhismothers.

Note that the indefinite article can be accompanied exclusively by the singular, and the definite appears with nouns of both categories.

• Usually, I read the newspaper in the morning - Usually, I amreadthisnewspaperin the morning.
• Usually, I read the newspaper s in the morning s - Usually, I amreadthesenewspapersonmornings.

Some nouns in English take this rule in a peculiar way. The table below will help us to consider the special cases of joining the ending.

These rules must be carefully worked out and remembered, because it is according to them that plural nouns in English are made up in the overwhelming number of cases. It remains to add notes on how the ending data is pronounced.

Ending pronunciation s depends on the letter preceding it. If there is a voiceless vowel at the end of the word, then the ending sounds like [s] (Russian C). And when a word ends in a vowel or voiced consonant, the ending s pronounced as [z] (Russian З). Additional ending - es , with transcription, in all words pronounced as FROM.

Ending en and alternating vowels

English is a dynamic language and constantly strives to simplify its system. But some forms of words are so firmly included in everyday speech that subsequently they no longer obey the rules adopted in modern grammar. Therefore, the formation of the plural of certain nouns in English has retained its construction since ancient times.

The singular becomes plural by alternating vowels in the following words: foot,goose,louse,mouse,tooth... In this case, the root combinations turn into one letter: oo ⟶ ee , ou ⟶ i .

• My elder sister is afraid of mice - Myoldersisterfearsmice.
• Last night the geese flew to the south - Pastat nightthesegeeseflew awayonsouth.

End attachment ru to construct the plural in English is typical for words such as child,man,woman,ox... In some of these examples, instead of adding, but replacing the vowel root to obtain ru.

• The child was afraid of oxen - Child scaredbulls.
• Women read fairy tales for their children more often than men do – Womenreadfairy tales for children more oftenhow, howthis isdomen.

This group of words is quite small, therefore it is quickly and easily remembered.

Matching shapes

There are situations when in English both forms of a noun sound the same. In such cases, the noun receives absolutely no change, and the number can only be determined by the context of the sentence. This category includes words deer,swine,series,sheep,fish.

• Yesterday I saw a deer in the forest - YesterdayI amsawvforestdeer.
• Yesterday I saw 8 deer in the forest - YesterdayI amsawvforest8 deer.
• The fish is tasty - Fishdelicious.
• There are many fish in this lake - Вthislakemanyfishes.

In this category, it is important to note that this method of obtaining the plural in English is used to designate representatives of nationalities whose names end in - es /ese.

• Iknowthatthis Swiss lives inNorway - I know this Swiss lives in Norway.
• These Swiss live inmyflat – These Swiss live in my apartment.
• Five japanese and five Chinese play football in the yard - 5 Japaneseand5 Chineseare playingvfootballinyard.
• Jessicasawa lot of Portuguese inSpain - Jessica has seen a lot of Portuguese in Spain.

In this grammatical subgroup, there are also lexical examples that have the same types of stems in a single and in plural... But they are used extremely rarely, so it makes no sense to memorize them at the initial stage of learning.

Composite bases

In complex combinations that connect two or more stems, the construction of the plural in English can be done in different ways. The choice of method depends on the initial construction of the expression and the meaning of the statement.

The most numerous group of compound nouns constructs the plural using the traditional method - adding a letter s to the end of the word, i.e. to the last base.

• There are many different merry-go-rounds for children in this park - Вthisparkmanyvariouscarouselsforchildren.
• I picked many forget-me-nots for you in the field - Icollectedvfieldmanyforget-me-notsforyou.

There are compound constructions in which each noun is used in the plural. This method should be used when the expression starts with the words woman or man.

• Usuallywomen- drivers cannotrepairtheircars - Usually, female drivers do not know how to repair their cars.
• Behind her stood the parents, the friends, the guests and the menservants - Behindherstoodparents, friends, guests and servants.

In some phrases, the basis in which the main meaning of the word is laid is subject to changes.

• Many husbands hate their mothers-in-law - Manyhusbandshatetheirmother-in-law.
• Thosepassers- by gavemetheEnglishtextbook - Those passers-by gave me this English textbook.

Archaic forms

It is worth mentioning that some words that came from Latin or Greek still retain their original forms in English. Consequently, the multiple meanings of such expressions are not formed according to general rules.

The most common examples of this group: crisis ⟶ crises, species ⟶ species, thesis ⟶ theses, formula ⟶ formulae etc. As you can see, these are mostly scientific terms that are unlikely to be flashed in colloquial speech. Therefore, if you do not plan to engage in scientific activities, you can safely not memorize these forms. It is enough just to keep in mind that such a category exists, and if necessary, use the dictionary.

So, we have completed the study of the topic and learned how to get the plural of almost any noun in English. It remains to fix the aforementioned rules with practical work, i.e. perform material strengthening exercises. Success in your studies and see you soon!

Knowing a language without distinguishing between singular and plural is, of course, impossible. Fortunately, distinguishing and using the plural correctly in English is not as difficult as, for example, in French. Let's consider in more detail. Ready?

The plural in English is formed according to certain rules, which, of course, have their exceptions. It would seem that not everything is so difficult, but when learning a language, beginners often have difficulties, since the rules have their own peculiarities. Let's start simple.

Plural of nouns

• There was a fruit on the plate. / There were some fruit on the plate.

It should also be borne in mind that there are uncountable nouns. In this case, we use only a single form of the verb to be.

• There is some money in the valley.

Some nouns, on the contrary, can only be used in the plural: scissors, glasses, trousers, tweezers,pyjamas etc. For example:

• Where are my favorite jeans? They must be on the chair.

Singular words

Uncountable nouns are used only in the singular. Pronouns each, either, neither, another and all compound words with a component - one, -body or - thing always refer to the only one number.

Everybody was surprised when they saw him.

There is a lot of controversy about the plural form of words ending in - us... Historically, words ending in -us are of Latin origin. In the plural, they get the ending - i instead of -us. However, not all such words are of Latin origin, hence the controversy. For example:

Plural of virus - viruses rather than viri.

Some Latin loanwords take the regular English ending - es: campus - campus es; bonus - bonus es.

Some Latin borrowings take the ending -i: radius - radii, stimulus - stimuli.

Plural rules in English

Summing up, we can safely say that in order to be well versed in the singular and plural nouns in the English language, it is necessary first of all to study the main exceptions. There are not so many such words. You can use all your favorite method with stickers - paste these with a list of words in the most visible places, and from time to time return to repetition. The table will also help to study the plural in English.

After examining the exceptions, go back to the rules on which everything is built. There are not many of them. The main thing is to feel, and you can use them intuitively on the subconscious, as if English is your native language. If you doubt that you can cope on your own, you can always contact a teacher who will advise and test you. There is nothing difficult and impossible, the main thing is faith and desire.

Conclusion

Plural education in English is the basics from which one starts back in school, so this topic should be given special attention. It doesn't matter how old you are, this topic should always be among the starting topics for study. Whether you are using structured, high-quality study materials to study English, or if you are working with a teacher individually, you will definitely be guided in the right direction. If you are doing it yourself, be sure to take care not to bypass this topic.

Enjoy your learning curve!

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