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PLURAL
NOUN FORMS
Thepluralformofmostnounsiscreatedsimplybyaddingtheletters.

morethanonesnake=snakes

morethanoneski=skis

morethanoneBarrymore=Barrymores

Wordsthatendinch,x,sorslikesounds,however,willrequireanesforthe
plural:

morethanonewitch=witches

morethanonebox=boxes

morethanonegas=gases

morethanonebus=buses

morethanonekiss=kisses

morethanoneJones=Joneses

Notethatsomedictionarieslist"busses"asanacceptablepluralfor"bus."Presumably,
thisisbecausetheplural"buses"lookslikeitoughttorhymewiththepluralof"fuse,"
whichis"fuses.""Buses"isstilllistedasthepreferablepluralform."Busses"isthe
plural,ofcourse,for"buss,"aseldomusedwordfor"kiss."
Thereareseveralnounsthathaveirregularpluralforms.Pluralsformedinthis
wayaresometimescalledmutated(ormutating)plurals.

morethanonechild=children

morethanonewoman=women

morethanoneman=men

morethanoneperson=people

morethanonegoose=geese

morethanonemouse=mice

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morethanonebarracks=barracks

morethanonedeer=deer

And,finally,therearenounsthatmaintaintheirLatinorGreekformintheplural.
(Seemediaanddataandalumni,below.)

morethanonenucleus=nuclei

morethanonesyllabus=syllabi

morethanonefocus=foci

morethanonefungus=fungi

morethanonecactus=cacti(cactusesisacceptable)

morethanonethesis=theses

morethanonecrisis=crises*

morethanonephenomenon=phenomena

morethanoneindex=indices(indexesisacceptable)

morethanoneappendix=appendices(appendixesisacceptable)

morethanonecriterion=criteria

*Note the pronunciation of this word, crises: the second syllable sounds like ease. More than one base in
the game of baseball is bases, but more than onebasis for an argument, say, is also bases, and then we
pronounce the word basease.

Ahandfulofnounsappeartobepluralinformbuttakeasingularverb:

Thenewsisbad.

Gymnasticsisfuntowatch.

Economics/mathematics/statisticsissaidtobedifficult.("Economics"can
sometimesbeapluralconcept,asin"Theeconomicsofthesituationdemandthat
....")

Numericalexpressionsareusuallysingular,butcanbepluraliftheindividuals
withinanumericalgroupareactingindividually:

Fiftythousanddollarsisalotofmoney.

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Onehalfofthefacultyisretiringthissummer.

Onehalfofthefacultyhavedoctorates.

Fiftypercentofthestudentshavevotedalready.

Andanotherhandfulofnounsmightseemtobesingularinnaturebuttakeaplural
formandalwaysuseapluralverb:

Mypantsaretorn.(Nowadaysyouwillsometimesseethiswordasasingular
"pant"[meaningonepairofpants]especiallyinclothingads,butmostwriters
wouldregardthatasanaffectation.)

Herscissorswerestolen.

Theglasseshaveslippeddownhisnoseagain.

Whenanounnamesthetitleofsomethingorisawordbeingusedasaword,itis
singularwhetherthewordtakesasingularformornot.

Facesisthenameofthenewrestaurantdowntown.

Okies,whichmostpeopleregardasadisparagingword,wasfirstusedto
describetheresidentsofOklahomaduringthe1930s.

ChelmsleyBrothersisthebestmovingcompanyintown.

Postcardsismyfavoritenovel.

ThetermOkieswasusedtodescribetheresidentsofOklahomaduringthe
1930s.(Inthissentence,thewordOkiesisactuallyanappositiveforthesingular
subject,"term.")

Plural Compound Nouns


Compoundwordscreatespecialproblemswhenweneedtopluralizethem.Asa
generalrule,theelementwithinthecompoundthatwordthatispluralizedwillreceive
theplurals,butit'snotalwaysthatsimple.Daughtersinlawfollowsthegeneralrule,
butcupfulsdoesnot.SeethespecialsectiononCompoundNounsandModifiersor,
betteryet,agooddictionary,foradditionalhelp.

Problem Children
ManycarefulwritersinsistthatthewordsdataandmediaareLatinpluralsand
must,therefore,beusedaspluralwords.ThesingularLatinformsofthesewords,
however,areseldomused:datumasasinglebitofinformationormediumasasingle
meansofcommunication.ManyauthoritiesnowadaysapprovesentenceslikeMy

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dataislost.andThemediaisouttogetthePresident.Eventextbooksincomputer
sciencearebeginningtouse"data"asasingular.
Alumniandalumnaeremainproblematic.Thepluralofmasculine
singularalumnusisalumni;thepluraloffemininesingularalumnaisalumnae.In
traditionalLatin,themasculinepluralform,alumni,couldincludebothgenders.This
doesnotgooverwellwithsomefemalealums.Wenote,furthermore,thatVassar
College,whichnowhasboth,haslistsofalumniandalumnae.HartfordCollegefor
Women,weassume,hasonlyalumnae.Initspublicationstylemanual,Wesleyan
Universityapprovesofalumni/ae.Thegenderlessgraduateandthetruncatedand
informalalumhavemuchtocommendthem.

Special Cases
Withwordsthatendinaconsonantanday,you'llneedtochangetheytoaniand
addes.

morethanonebaby=babies

morethanonegallery=galleries
(Noticethedifferencebetweenthisandgalleys,wherethefinalyisnotpreceded
byaconsonant.)

morethanonereality=realities
Thisruledoesnotapplytopropernouns:

morethanoneKennedy=Kennedys

Wordsthatendinocreatespecialproblems.

morethanonepotato=potatoes

morethanonehero=heroes
...however...

morethanonememo=memos

morethanonecello=cellos
...andforwordswhereanothervowelcomesbeforetheo...

morethanonestereo=stereos

Pluralsofwordsthatendinforfeusuallychangethefsoundtoavsoundand
addsores.

morethanoneknife=knives

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morethanoneleaf=leaves

morethanonehoof=hooves

morethanonelife=lives

morethanoneself=selves

morethanoneelf=elves

Thereare,however,exceptions:

morethanonedwarf=dwarfs

morethanoneroof=roofs

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