Number
Making Singular and Plural
A list of some important words:
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a. Singular noun + s. ( cat- cats, book-books, madam-madams / mesdames etc) |
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b. Singular ending ---s / ss/ sh / ch /x / z / + es. (Prince-princes, fox- foxes, bench- benches, bus- buses). Exception: monarchs, stomachs, oxen. |
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c. Singular ending ---f / fe, changes into—ves. ( half- halves, knife- knives, leaf- leaves, grief- grieves,) Exception: chief- chiefs, dwarf- dwarfs, roof- roofs. |
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d. Consonant + y changes into consonant + ies ( army- armies, baby- babies, city- cities) but vowel + y takes only –s ( boy- boys, ray- rays, way- ways). |
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e. Consonant + o takes ‘es’ in plural. ( buffalo- buffaloes, mango- mangoes, hero-heroes ) but vowel + o takes ‘s’ in plural (bamboo-bamboos, studio-studios) Exception: canto- cantos, photo- photos, halo- halos) |
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f. Irregular plural: man- men, foot- feet, mouse- mice, louse- lice, tooth- teeth, goose- geese, ox- oxen. |
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g. Compound nouns: Brother-in-law--- brothers-in-law, Englishman – Englishmen, Fisherman- fishermen, German- Germen, Handful- handfuls, Bookcase- bookcases. |