UNUSUAL PLURALS
In most cases to make a word plural (to mean more than one in
number) you just have to add an "s" or "es", there are, however, some
exceptions. Here are a few of the most familiar, if you have other favourites please
send them in to june@hintsandthings.co.uk
Some words are the same in both singular and plural
forms, these I have shown in green.
| SINGULAR |
PLURAL |
|
attorney general
|
attorneys general
Heidi Kroening
|
bacterium
|
bacteria
|
bison
|
bison
Bob Bartels
|
cactus
|
cacti
Heather
|
child
|
children
Katie Barlow
& daughter
|
corps
|
corps
Margarita
Minster
|
cow
|
kine
(old fashioned term)
Gary Engel
|
cod
|
cod
Margarita
Minster
|
criterion
|
criteria
|
cul-de-sac
|
culs-de-sac
Louis Hegedus
|
datum
|
data
|
deer
|
deer
Bob Bartels
|
diagnosis
|
diagnoses
|
die
|
dice
|
elf
|
elves
Bob Bartels
|
fish
|
fish
(or fishes)
Margarita
Minster
|
Focus
|
Foci
Charles Rowan
|
foot
|
feet
Gigi Velazquez
|
formula
|
formulae
Katie Barlow
& daughter
|
fowl
|
fowl
(or fowls)
Margarita
Minster
|
genius
|
geniuses
Richard Hill
or genii
|
goose
|
geese
Katie
Barlow & daughter
|
graffito
|
graffiti
|
halibut
|
halibut
Margarita
Minster
|
|
hippopotamus
|
hippopotami
Heather
More commonly used
hippopotamuses see ***
|
louse
|
lice
|
man
|
men
Katie
Barlow & daughter
|
man-of-war
|
men of war
Heidi
Kroening
|
means
|
means
Margarita
Minster
|
Medium
|
Media
Charles
Rowan
|
mongoose
|
mongooses
|
moose
|
moose
Margarita
Minster
|
mouse
|
mice
|
medium
|
media
|
offspring
|
offspring
Margarita
Minster
|
octopus
|
octopuses ***
Richard
Hill
|
perch
|
perch
(or perches)
Margarita
Minster
|
person
|
people
Katie Barlow
& daughter
|
phenomenon
|
phenomena
|
pike
|
pike
(when referring to fish)
Margarita
Minster
|
polyhedron
|
polyhedra
Heidi
Kroening
polyhedrons*
* alternative form
|
quantum
|
quanta
|
radius
|
radii
Jeremy
Symons
|
salmon
|
salmon
(or salmons)
Margarita
Minster
|
scissors
|
scissors
Margarita
Minster
|
series
|
series
Margarita
Minster
|
sheep
|
sheep
Margarita
Minster
|
species
|
species
Margarita
Minster
|
stratum
|
strata
|
tooth
|
teeth
Katie Barlow
& daughter
|
trout
|
trout
(or trouts)
Margarita
Minster
|
|
tuna
|
tuna
(or tunas)
Margarita
Minster
|
woman
|
women*
Katie Barlow
& daughter
|
*** http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutgrammar/plurals?view=uk
* Mr. Tim
Lynch also points out this is the only English plural where the first
syllable sounds different in addition to the changed ending.
I have recently been asked if the word
"music" can be used in the plural form as "musics" -
my immediate response was "no", but having done some research it
would appear this term is now widely used. If anyone can throw any
light on this particular subject I would be delighted to hear from you (june@hintsandthings.com)
Bree Guerra
comments as follows:-
Just to let you know, in an academic (musicological) setting, the plural word "musics" works the same way as the plural form "peoples"-- it refers to a group of distinct musical practices or styles.
Another query I have had is regarding the plural
form of the word "ginseng" - here again I found confusion.
Ginseng appears to be a species of plant and also a term given to the root
of the plant. Presumably when referring to several roots it would be
termed "ginsengs" - unless anyone knows differently!
Help from English graduates etc.
would be more than welcome.
Now for something a bit different;
I received the following interesting information from Aaron
B Lingwood, a student of Japanese, which I thought would be of interest
to others -
I am not a student of English but a student of Japanese.
I have seen the plural of Ninja written the following ways:
Ninja
Ninjas
Ninjii
Ninji
Ninjaed
I believe the correct plural of Ninja is
Shinobi.
Plurals don't exist in the Japanese language.
In Ancient Japanese, some word forms were created to convey Singularity.
Ninja was derived as the singular of Shinobi in the following way:
In Ancient Japanese, characters have 2 strict readings: the 'on' and the 'kun' readings.
'Kun' reading are those derived from the Chinese pronunciation of the character.
The character for Shinobi (忍) was pronounced as its' 'kun' reading.
The 'on' reading for this character
is NIN with JA being derived from SHA (者)
SHA being the 'on' character for thing or item.
As no ownership is implied, the term NINJA conveys a single
shinobi.
Wow, and they
say English is difficult to learn!
|
