The Number of Nouns

Irregular Plural

   1. Root change (man – men, woman – women, foot – feet, tooth – teeth, goose – geese, mouse – mice, louse – lice)
   2.Suffix –en (ox – oxen, child – children, brother – brethren not by blood but by religious beliefs)

The following nouns have the same form for the singular and the plural

1.  A sheep – sheep, a fish – fish, a grouse – grouse, a salmon – salmon,
A swine – swine, a craft – craft, a mackerel – mackerel, an aircraft – aircraft
A deer – deer, a counsel – counsel, a plaice – plaice, a wine – wine,
A moose – moose, a carp – carp a trout – trout a fruit – fruit
NB. Fish, wine may be used if we mean different kinds e.g. We saw a lot of fishes.

 2.     hundred, thousand, million, dozen, pair, score, brace, head don’t change if they have a numeral :e.g. three score of years, two dozen of eggs
    *When used by themselves s is added to them: e.g. in dozens, scores of people, in pairs, thousands of people

3.Nationalities: Vietnamese, Portuguese, Swiss, Japanese,

*These nouns ending in –s remain unchanged in the plural: barracks, bellows, gallows, works, golf links, headquarters, innings, kennels, series, species, means, corps

NB! Gate – gates, sledge – sledges, watch – watches, export – exports, import - imports may be plural in English. In Russian they are only plural: ворота, санки, часы.

Borrowed Nouns

Greek: (is -es) analysis – analyses, axis – axes, basis – bases, crisis – crises, diagnosis – diagnoses, ellipsis – ellipses, hypothesis – hypotheses, oasis – oases, thesis – theses,
BUT: metropolis – metropolises
(on - a) : criterion – criteria, phenomenon – phenomena,
BUT: demon – demons, electron – electrons, neutrons, protons, ganglions

Latin: (us - i) : alumnus – alumni, bacillus – bacilli, nucleus – nuclei, radius – radii
(a - ae): antenna – antennae, larva – larvae, nebula – nebulae, vertebra – vertebrae, formula – formulae
(ex,ix - ices): codex – codices, apex – apices, index – indices (мат.), vortex – vortices, matrix – matrices
(um - a): addendum – addenda, aquarium – aquaria, bacterium – bacteria, medium – media, curriculum – curricula, stratum – strata, memorandum - memoranda

Usual Plural: bonus, campus, chorus, circus, virus, area, arena, dilemma, diploma, drama, album, chrysanthemum, museum, stadium, forum, ultimatum, symposeum.
data (is / are), cactus, nebula, antenna, vertebra, indexes(в книге), curriculums, aqauriums.

French: eau[ou] - eaux [ouz]: tableau – tableaux, adieu – adieux, bureau – bureaux
[z] is pronounced in plural: chamois, chassis, corps, faux pas, patois.

Hebrew: cherub – cherubs, seraph – seraphs, kibbutz – kibbutzim

COMPOUNDS

   1. Plural in the last element: bookcases, toothbrushes, handfuls, mouthfuls, spoonfuls, postmen, woman-haters, grown-ups, forget-me-nots, gin & tonics, Englishmen,
assistant directors, boyfriends, fountain pens, breakdowns, sit-ins, take-offs, Germans, Romans, Normans.

   2. First component is made plural: passers-by, mothers-in-law, men-of-war, grant-in-aids.
NB! If the firs component is “man” or “woman” denoting professions both parts are made plural: e.g. a man-servant – men-servants, a woman doctor – women doctors, a gentleman farmer – gentlemen farmers.

3.-y preceded by a consonant - ies (stories, fly – flies, countries)
   -y preceded by a vowel - s (play – plays, key – keys)

4.- f (- fe) - ves (calf, elf, half, knife, leaf, thief, wolf, life, loaf, self, sheaf, shelf, wife e.g. wife – wives)
- f (- fe) + s (beliefs, chiefs, handkerchiefs, cliffs, proofs, roofs, muffs, safes, gulf, griefs, cuffs)
- fs or ves (dwarf, handkerchief, hoof, scarf, wharf e.g. hoofs,hooves)

Spelling

I. - es after s,ss,sh,tch,x,z (glasses, boxes, watches)
II.– es after o (potatoes, tomatoes, heroes, Negroes, echoes, mottoes)
III.-os:
   1. o preceded by a vowel (radios, studios, zoos, kangaroos, embryos)
   2. abbreviations ( kilos, memos, pros, photos)
   3. musical terms and instruments (concertos, pianos, solos, sopranos)
   4. in proper names (Romeos, Eskimos, Filipinos)

NB! -os or –oes (possible) : buffalo(e)s, commando(e)s, tornado(e)s, cargo(e)s, mosquito(e)s, volcano(e)s Formation

Pronunciation

[z] after vowels & voiced consonants (days, dogs, birds)
[s] after voiceless consonants (books, coats)
[iz] after s,ss,sh,tch,x,z + mute “e” preceded by s,c,z,g,t,d (classes, dishes, prizes)
NB. house – houses [haus – hauziz]

[/θ/] - [z] - (baths*, oaths*, sheaths*, truths*, wreaths*, youths*, mouths*, paths*)
But ([ s] - (cloths, deaths, faiths, months, moths, truths, youths, baths)