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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
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/plurals.htm
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.
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/plurals.htm
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.")
Problem Children
ManycarefulwritersinsistthatthewordsdataandmediaareLatinpluralsand
must,therefore,beusedaspluralwords.ThesingularLatinformsofthesewords,
however,areseldomused:datumasasinglebitofinformationormediumasasingle
meansofcommunication.ManyauthoritiesnowadaysapprovesentenceslikeMy
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/plurals.htm
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
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/plurals.htm
morethanoneleaf=leaves
morethanonehoof=hooves
morethanonelife=lives
morethanoneself=selves
morethanoneelf=elves
Thereare,however,exceptions:
morethanonedwarf=dwarfs
morethanoneroof=roofs