The Exceptions of ‘-s’ and ‘-es’ Plurals

General rule in modern English for the plural of nouns with the suffixes -S And -es derived from Anglo-Saxon (also known as Old English), a primitive language distantly related to German. That language is also the source of the rule for forming the past tense of verbs by adding -d or -edand many of our more common words, such as irregular verbs (eat, drink, Sleep, run, swim, battle, bring, DO, do, etc) and function words such as articles, prepositions and pronouns. English has a reputation for having many rules—as well as many exceptions, left turns and downright headaches. Although more -S or -es to form the plural sounds simple, there are cases where it is not so simple.

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Tomato. With an ‘-es.’ We will explain why later.

The most basic rule is to pluralize a noun by adding the suffix -S (as in voters); However, if the noun ends in -S, -x, -z, -shor -ch (with exceptions—see, we’ve got an exception—words ending in -ch pronounced with a hard kalike King And stomach), suffixes -es added to create an extra syllable for plural pronunciation—as in goddess, anti-climax, quick, flickerAnd torch. That’s pretty easy to apply in one’s writing, but not all nouns follow the general pattern. For example, there are common singular nouns that are used unchanged in the plural (“caught two fish”), compound words where the first element is sometimes pluralized and sometimes Are not (runner-up, close) and words ending in -y And -o but only take the suffix -S? These exceptions became so common that grammarians were forced to make rules for them.

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The names of many fish, birds and mammals have both a plural formed with a suffix and an identical number with the singular (grouse And partridge is plural and so are reindeer And reindeer). On the other hand, a number has only one or the other: the plural of monkey is only monkey; the plural of fish is called Shade To be Shade. In general, people who hunt, fish or keep animals are most likely to use the unchanged form and -S The form is often used to emphasize the variety of types. So while a fisherman would say “I caught three sea bass,” a scientist would say “I’m studying different types of Atlantic sea bass.”

Most compound words are made up of two nouns—whether they appear as one word, two words, or a hyphenated word—that form their plural by changing only the last part; a word like bookcase as plural as bookcase, book club EQUAL book clubAnd bird watcher EQUAL bird watcher. Nouns made up of words that are not nouns also form their plural in the last element, as in the plural overate And Tip. But you already know that. However, things get a little more complicated than this.

If a compound is made up of a noun with -er suffixes and adverbs, only the noun component is plural. This means that hanger become hangers, viewers become viewersAnd passers become passers. For a compound word consisting of two nouns separated by a preposition, the first noun is pluralized to form the plural, as in lawyer by law, managerAnd based on the ball. And compounds made up of a noun followed by an adjective are usually pluralized by adding -S with nouns, like when obvious heir become obvious heir. But if the adjective tends to be understood as a noun, the compound can have more than one plural form. In this way, both award-winning poet And award-winning poet acceptable.

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The question is whether to use the plural suffix -S or -es sometimes arise in words ending in -y. Basically, if the noun ends with “consonant + ythe -y changed to -I- And -es be added (kid); if the noun ends in “vowel + .” y,” ONE -S be added ( exhibition room). There is an exception in the case of “vowel + y“: words ending in -gui. Vulgarfor example, become Vulgar And soliloquy become monologue. The -S Suffixes only apply to nouns ending in . -ay, -eyor -um (park, deceive, alloy). Another exception is the rule for proper nouns ending in . -ymeans one more -S-from here on, Sunday, Bloody MaryAnd January.

Relatively speaking, the rule for adjusting the plural of nouns ending in -o is simpler. Nouns ending in “consonant + o” take a -es (tomato); words ending in “vowel + .” o” take a -S (ratio). However, the rule has been broken countless times regarding “consonant + o” from. Zero/zero, goods / goods, halo / haloAnd tornado/tornado are all established plurals, and there are many, many more. Nouns formed by shortening, such as combine And rhinoalso break the rule as they tend to have only the plural in -Sas well as many (but by no means all) words of very obvious foreign origin, such as sleeping robe And espresso coffee. If you haven’t decided how to plural a noun that ends in -oWe recommend you consult our dictionary.

We understand that much of this article is for review and you can “automatically” know when to use -S And -es plural suffix, but we hope we’ve helped you understand some of the rules (and exceptions) of the plural. The rules were laid out many years ago by grammarians—some still intact, some modified, and some (ahem, nouns ending in equals. -o) have been broken so many times that they don’t seem to exist.

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Categories: Usage Notes
Source: vothisaucamau.edu.vn

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