The Category of Number

English countable nouns have two numbers: the singular and the plural.

I The plural form of English nouns is formed by adding the ending (inflexion) -s or -es pronounced as /z/, /s/ and /Iz/.

1. /I z/ after sibilants: noses, horses, bridges.

2. /z/ after voiced consonants (other than sibilants) and vowels: flowers, beds, dogs, boys.

3. /s/ after voiceless consonants: caps, cooks, hats, coats.

 

Some nouns in the plural form change the pronunciation of their final consonant (voiceless into voiced consonant)

a) /s/ - /z/ e.g. house – houses

b) nouns ending in - th /T/ after long vowels and diphthongs change it in /D/:

e.g. bath – baths /ba:T/ − /ba:Dz/

path – paths /pa:T/ − /pa:Dz/

c) But /T/ is always retained after consonants (including r) and short vowels:

e.g. S mith –Smiths /smIT/ − /smITs/

myth – myths month – months

birth – births youth – youths

 

II We add -es in the following cases:

1. if the noun ends in

- s bus – buses

- ss glass – glasses

- x box – boxes

- sh brush – brushes

- ch bench – benches

- tch match – matches

2. a) if the noun ends in –y, preceded by a consonant, -y is changed into –i + es

e.g. fly – flies

army – armies

lady – ladies

b) in proper nouns we add only –s

e.g. Mary – two Marys

c) if the final –y is preceded by a vowel we add –s only (except in nouns ending in –quy: soliloquy – soliloquies).

e.g. day – days, monkey – monkeys.

3. a) if the noun ends in –o preceded by a consonant, the plural form is generally formed by adding -es:

e.g. cargo – cargoes hero – heroes

potato – potatoes veto -vetoes

But:

piano – pianos solo – solos photo – photos kilo – kilos

radio – radios soprano – sopranos dynamo – dynamos zero – zeros

tango – tangos concerto – concertos

b) in proper nouns we add only –s.

e.g. Eskimo – Eskimos Romeo - Romeos

c) All nouns ending in –o, preceded by a vowel form the plural in –s.

e.g. portfolio – portfolios

kangaroo – kangaroos

d) But there are a few nouns ending in –o which form the plural both with -s and -es.

e.g. mosquito – mosquito or mosquitoes

halo – halos or haloes

cargo – cargos or cargoes

3. a)The following nouns, ending in –f(-fe) change it into –v in the plural:

e.g. wife – wives knife – knives leaf – leaves thief – thieves

calf – calves life – lives loaf – loaves wolf – wolves

half – halves shelf – shelves sheaf – sheaves self – selves

b) Some nouns take only –s in the plural:

e.g. roof- roofs chief – chiefs belief – beliefs

safe – safes gulf – gulfs proof – proofs

cuff – cuffs handkerchief – handkerchiefs cliff – cliffs reef – reefs

c) There are some nouns ending in -f which have two forms in the plural.

e.g. scarf- scarf or scarves hoof – hoofs/hooves

wharf – wharfs/wharves dwarf – dwarfs/dwarves

 

III The irregular forms

Nouns which form the plural by changing the root vowel:

e.g. man – men woman – women foot – feet

tooth – teeth goose – geese

mouse – mice louse- lice

2. There are a few nouns which form the plural by adding –en:

e.g. ox – oxen

child – children

3. A few nouns have the same form for the singular and the plural:

e.g. a deer – deer a means – means a sheep- sheep a swine – swine

a corps –corps a pike – pike a trout – trout

a headquarters – headquarters a species – species a series – series

Note: There are some nouns that have two plurals: a fish – fish/fishes, a fruit – fruit/fruits. The regular plural is used to denote different species, kinds.

e.g. Try to eat plenty of fresh fruit. But They cultivate different fruits.

They gave us fish for supper. He caught five fish yesterday.

But There are various fishes on sale at this fishmonger’s.

4. Names indicating number, such as: dozen, couple, score, stone, head, hundred, thousand, million and billion have the same form for both the singular and the plural when preceded by a numeral, several and few.

e.g. two dozen of eggs, five hundred pounds but dozens of times, hundreds of books.

5. Some nouns of nationality that end in –sh, -ese, -iss and –ch have identical singular and plural forms.

e.g. an English – the English, a Portuguese – the Portuguese, a Swiss – the Swiss

6. Some words borrowed from Greek and Latin retain their original plural forms.