Unit 2-Rules for the Plural

Rules for the plurals

1- Most of nouns, to form their plural , just need an S

         singular + -s

singular	plural
a car	two cars
a cassette	two cassettes
a lamp	two lamps
a hat	two hats
a cup	two cups

2- A noun finishing in X-CH-S-SS-O we have to add -es to form the plural:

singular	plural
a box	two boxes
a sandwich	two sandwiches
a tomato	two tomatoes
a kiss	two kisses
a bus	two buses

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3- A noun finishing in y preceded by a consonant, to form the plural we need to substitute the  y with -ies:

singular	plural
a city	two cities
a lady	two ladies

Add -s after vowel + y:

singular	plural
a boy	two boys
a day	two days

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4- Nouns finishing in -f or -fe, to form the plural we need to substitute the -f or -fe with -ves:

add -s		substitute with -ves
singular	plural	singular	plural
a roof	two roofs	a thief	two thieves
a cliff	two cliffs	a wife	two wives
a sheriff	two sheriffs	a shelf	two shelves

There are two forms possible:
scarf - scarfs/scarves
hoof - hoofs/hooves
Add -s for words ending in -ff.
Always use a dictionary if you are not sure.


BE CAREFUL WITH SOME NOUNS!!!

Irregular plural forms:

singular	plural
a man	two men
a woman	two women
a child	two children
a mouse	two mice
a tooth	two teeth
a goose	two geese
a foot	two feet
an ox	two oxen

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		CURIOSITIES WITH PLURALS

Check this out...

singular	plural	singular	plural
a disco	two discos	a tomato	two tomatoes
a piano	two pianos	a potato	two potatoes
a photo	two photos	a hero	two heroes

Some nouns can have two plural forms:

buffalo - buffalos/buffaloes
mosquito - mosquitos/mosquitoes
tornado - tornados/tornadoes

There is no rule when to use -s or -es. We often add -s with technical words.

There are two forms of the plural of the word penny:
pennies -> You refer to the coins.
pence -> You refer to the price (how much sth. is).

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