More recently, we have already analyzed the word-exceptions on the topic of "plural". But the English language has surpassed itself here too, since it has a number of nouns that have the same form for the singular and plural. And you may also come across words, the use of which is possible only in one form. Today we will talk about such non-standard cases.
Exception words. Plural not by the rules (English for Advanced)
Let's start with those exclusion words, plural which is the same as the only one. English the language is not very rich in such units. But, nevertheless, they do occur, so it is worth paying attention to them. These words are shown below.
1. deer (deer) - deer (deer)
2. means (way) - means (ways)
3. sheep - sheep
4. swine (pig) - swine (pigs)
5. series (series, cycle) - series (series, cycles)
6. species - species
7. fish (fish) - fish (fish)
8. fruit - fruit
There are some nuances regarding points 7-8. If we are talking about different types of fish and fruits, then the plural of these nouns should be formed in a standard way.
Examples:
There are different fruits on the table: bananas, apples, pine-apples, and peaches.- Various fruits on the table: bananas, apples, pineapples and peaches.
Where are you going? - I would like to buy some fruit.
Where are you going? - I would like to buy some fruits (of the same type).
English singular and plural nouns
Now let's look at english nouns that are only in form the only one the numbers and only plural... Let's start with the first group.
As it turned out in this list "News", because here at the end –S? It's very simple - this word is always used with singular verbs. Pay attention to the next sentence.
Is this news good or bad? - Is this news good or bad?
Words like money and hair also do not fit into the standard rules. It seems that in Russian it turns out to be a plural ( "Money", "hair"), but in English money and hair always used with singular verbs.
Her hair is beautiful but too short.- Her hair is beautiful, but too short.
Is this money yours?- Is this money yours?
There is also such a moment that if we mean a certain number of hairs, then we can say a hair (1 hair), three hairs (3 hairs) etc.
Look! There is a hair in my glass!- Look! There is a hair in my glass!
Now let's learn nouns that only occur in the plural form.
Do not forget about uncountable nouns (concepts that cannot be counted). Such words are usually referred to the singular. What could it be? For example: water (water), sand (sand), patience (patience), love (love), snow (snow) and etc.
The story begins in April 2016, when Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of marketing, gave a short lesson on English to his Twitter followers. He explained why it is impossible to form the plural from the name of "apple" products.
In contact with
The reason for the educational program was a discussion between analysts Benedict Evans and Michael Gatenberg. They both figured out how to properly pluralize the iPad Pro tablet. The options featured iPads Pro and iPad Pros. Phil Schiller intervened in the dispute, who explained to the ignorant that the names of "apple" devices do not have plurals.
In his mini-lesson, Schiller separately mentioned that the use of the sentence "I have three Macs" is incorrect. It would be correct to say, "I have three Macintosh computers." And the same goes for the iPhone and iPad. For example, Mr. Evans has two iPad Pros. "
However, vigilant users found an example of a violation of these rules in a press release from Apple itself. In it, "illiterate" authors dared to form the plural from the word iPhone - iPhones.
The plural of nouns in English is not a difficult topic, however, there are also some nuances that need to be paid attention to. Let's thoroughly analyze all the rules for the formation of the plural in English.
Special cases of plural formation
In English, there are nouns that form a plural without the ending -s, since they change their root vowel:
Nouns used only in the singular
There are a number of nouns that are used exclusively in the singular - these are uncountable nouns. Uncountable nouns include:
Names of substances and materials:
- Silver - silver
- Air - air, atmosphere
- Iron - iron (element), etc.
Some products:
- Salt - salt
- Sugar - sugar, etc.
Abstract concepts:
- Love - love
- Bitterness - bitterness
Disease names:
- Chickenpox - chickenpox
- Mumps - pig
- Rabies - lichen
- Rickets - rickets
Collective nouns:
- Furniture - furniture
- Luggage - luggage
- rubbish - rubbish
- fruit - fruit, fruit, etc.
Pay attention to the word fruit.
Typically, the plural is the same as the single: fruit - fruit. However, the plural fruits are used to denote different types of fruits.)
On the table there are apples, plums and other fruits.
Apples, plums and other fruits are on the table.
Languages: Chinese, French, English, Spanish, etc.
Note that the following nouns are also not plural.
Advice, information, progress, knowledge, weather
These nouns are used only in the singular.
She gave me some good advice. - She gave me some good advice.
They have very little information on this subject. - They have very little information on this issue.
Her knowledge of Italian is poor. - She has poor knowledge of the Italian language.
Exception:
Stable expression Inallweathers- In any weather
Nouns money(money) and hair(hair) is always used in the singular.
Mu money is on the table. - My money is on the table.
She has beautiful brown hair. - She has beautiful brown hair.
Note:
Hair(meaning hair) can be used in plural form.
Mu mother has lots of gray hairs. “My mother has a lot of gray hair.
Noun news(news, news) is always used in the singular.
What time is the News on the radio? - What time is the news broadcast on the radio?
The names of sciences and sports ending in -ics (mathematics, physics, phonetics, gymnastics, athletics, etc.) are used in the singular, although they are plural.
Athletics is my favorite sport. - Athletics is my favorite sport.
Note:
The words politics in the meaning of political views and statistics in the meaning, statistics are used with plural verbs.
The following sport games are also singular:
- drafts, checkers - checkers
- billiards - billiards
Plural only nouns
There are a number of nouns that are used in English only in the plural, although in Russian they are used in the singular:
- Arms - weapons
- Clothes - clothes
- Contents - content
- Customs - customs
- Dregs - sediment
- Embers - hot ash
- Outskirts - outskirts
- Premises - premises, house (with adjacent buildings)
- Proceeds - revenue
- Stairs - stairs
- Wages - wages, etc.
The following nouns are used exclusively in the plural that do not have the s / es ending
- Police - police
- Cattle - cattle
- Poultry - poultry
- People - people
- Clergy - clergy
The name of many paired items used, as in Russian, only in the plural:
- Scissors - scissors
- Trousers - trousers
- Spectacles - glasses
- Scales - scales
- Tongs - tongs,
- Jeans - jeans,
- Pajamas - pajamas
But, if they are used with the expression a pair of, then the verb and other determinants are put in the singular:
I need a new pair of trousers - I need new trousers (new pair of trousers).
Special cases of the use of the number of nouns
It is necessary to separately stipulate some cases of the formation of the plural of English nouns:
Noun penny(penny) has two plural forms:
- Penny - rence(when it comes to the amount of money)
- Penny - pennies(when referring to individual coins)
It costs ten pence. - It costs 10p.
Pennies are made of bronze. - Pence (i.e. one penny coins) are made of bronze.
Nouns export and import used in the plural form exports, imports, when it comes to the quantity or value of exported or imported goods:
Poland exports to the Ukraine have greatly increased. - Polish exports to Ukraine, as well as Polish imports from this country, have increased significantly.
When referring to the process of export or import, then the singular forms export and import are used:
That company is engaged in the export and import. - This company is engaged in export and import.
Some collective nouns can be used with singular or plural verbs, depending on the shade of meaning.
With plural verbs, such nouns will be used if all members of a given group of people or structure are meant and the statement can be fully attributed to each member of the group.
Singular - if the group is treated as a whole.
These nouns are:
- Army - army
- Audience - audience
- Choir - choir
- Crew - team
- Crowd - crowd
- Family - family
- Government - government
- Public - public, society
- Staff - state
- Team - team
Our team is the best. - Our team is the best.
The team discuss strategy before every game. - The team discusses strategy before each game.
With countries in the plural, the verb and other qualifiers are always used in the singular.
The United States is situated in North America.
When it comes to about the amount of money, period of time, distance, etc. considered as a whole, plural nouns are used with the singular verb.
Three thousand pounds was too much to lose in a casino. “It was too much to lose three thousand pounds at the casino.
Note:
We also use the verb and other determinants in the singular when we count two of any parts as one, when they are connected. and:
Fish and chips... Fish and Chips (One Course) Fish and chips is very tasty. Fish and chips are delicious.
"War and Peace" is the longest book I’ve ever read. - “War and Peace” is the longest work I've ever read.
In expressions
- a two-week holiday - two weeks vacation,
- a three-year-old boy- a three-year-old boy
where cardinal numbers + noun are components of a compound adjective, they do not form a plural.
A dozen is a dozen, a score is twenty, a hundred is a hundred, a thousand is a thousand, a is a million million, when the number is in front of them have the same form for the singular and plural
I have three dozen eggs.
When the numeral is absent, the plural is formed according to the general rule.
Pack the pens in dozens, please. - Pack dozens of pens, please.
Hundreds of students came here. - Hundreds of students came here.
I hope you have learned all the rules for forming the plural, as well as the special uses of numbers in English.
You can check yourself in the rules of plural formation by following these
Hello everyone. We suddenly discovered that our blog did not have a full selection of fruits, vegetables and berries until then. It's time to fix it. Otherwise, how are you going to go to the supermarket or cook, not even knowing how to say "cranberry" or "plum" in English.
OK. We have divided today's selection into several blocks. Let's start finally!
Fruits
The word fruit in English has two plural forms: fruit and fruits. If we are talking about any kind of fruit in general, the word fruit is used.
For example, a shop called Fruit and vegetables(Fruits and vegetables). Or you can say: It's hard to buy fresh fruit now... It is understood that it is difficult to buy fruits in general, we do not specify which ones. If we mean various types of fruits, fruits are used. For example: I want to buy the tropical fruits of this island"I would like to buy tropical fruits from this island." There is a clarification here, so we say fruits.
The types of fruits themselves are countable and can be both singular and plural. For example, banana is one banana and bananas is many bananas.
apple- Apple
apricot- apricot
avocado- avocado
pineapple- a pineapple
banana- banana
bergamot- bergamot
durian- durian
grapefruit- grapefruit
kiwi- kiwi
lime- lime
lemon- lemon
loquat- lokva
mango- mango
melon- melon
nectarine- nectarine
orange- Orange
passion fruit- passion fruit
papaya- papaya
peach- peach
pear- pear
persimmon- persimmon
pineapple- a pineapple
plum- plum
pomegranate- Garnet
pomelo- pomelo
tangerine- tangerine
quince- quince
Berries
In English, the berry sounds like berry, berries - berries... Studying the names of berries, you should not only memorize their pronunciation and spelling, but also learn how to use them correctly in conversation. There is a significant difference between the plural and singular of berries in Russian and English.
In Russian, we say "strawberry", this can mean either one strawberry or a bucket. You just say, "I ate strawberries for dinner." The word strawberry itself has no plural. You can only specify "a bucket of strawberries". As for the English language, all berries can be used both in the singular, which is one berry, and in the plural, which is a collective image - the type of berries. Strawberry is one berry, strawberries are a collective image.
All berries in English can be in singular and plural: blackberry (one blackberry) - blackberries (collective image - blackberry), buckthorn - buckthorns and so on.
barberry- barberry
blackberry- blackberry
black chokeberry- chokeberry
blueberry- blueberries, blueberries
buckthorn- sea buckthorn, buckthorn
cherry- Cherry
cloudberry- cloudberry
cowberry (lingonberry)- cowberry
cranberry- cranberry
currant- currant
date- figs
dogwood- dogwood
elder- elderberry
fig- wine berry, figs, fig
grape- grape
goji berry- Goji berries
gooseberry- gooseberry
raspberry- raspberries
ros hip- rose hip
rowan- Rowan
strawberry- Strawberry
sweet cherry- cherries
viburnum- viburnum
wild strawberry- wild strawberry
watermelon- watermelon
Complete topics in the online simulator:
Vegetables
As well as root vegetables, herbs and beans.
asparagus- asparagus
beans- beans
beet- beet
broccoli- broccoli
brussels sprouts- Brussels sprouts
cabbage- cabbage
carrot- carrot
cauliflower- cauliflower
celery- celery
chili- chilli
chinese cabbage- Chinese cabbage
corn- corn
cucumber- cucumber
daikon- daikon
eggplant- eggplant
garlic- garlic
green bean- green beans
kale- collard greens
lettuce- lettuce
okra- okra
onion- onion
parsley- parsley
pepper- pepper
peas- peas
potato- potato
pumpkin- pumpkin
radish- radish
spinach- spinach
tomatoes- tomatoes
turnips- turnip
Nuts
acorn- acorn
almond- almonds
beechnut- beech walnut
cashew- cashew
chestnut- chestnut
coconut- coconut
hazelnut- hazelnut
nutmeg- nutmeg
peanut- peanuts
pecan- pecan nut
pine nut- pine nut
pistachio- pistachio
walnut- Walnut
Phrases are also formed from frkuts, berries and vegetables. Fruits and berries also form phraseological units... Let's consider the most common:
- like a sucked orange- used when a person is too tired and feels like a squeezed lemon
- to pick the plum- skim the cream, select the best
- plum job- a profitable place, a good position
- Big apple- Big Apple (nickname for New York)
- apple of discord- apple of discord
- apples and oranges- apples and oranges (something different, like apples from oranges)
- apple of one "s eye- the apple of your eye, when you take good care of someone, you don’t cherish a soul
- lemon- a defective vehicle that is no longer in motion
- banana skin (or banana peel)- went from the expression "slip on a banana peel", is used to discuss a slippery situation
- pear-shaped- pear-shaped (about the figure)
- not give a fig - not show interest in anything, remain indifferent
- hard nut to crack- toughie
- cool as cucumber- cold-blooded, calm like a boa constrictor
Cereals and cereals
Groats in English sounds like "groats", and porridge (semolina, oatmeal, and so on) - cereal. The cereals themselves in English will sound like this.
barley- barley
buckwheat- buckwheat
cornflakes- corn flakes
flour- flour
lentil- lentils
millet- wheat
oatmeal- oat groats
pearl-barley- pearl barley
rice- rice
semolina- semolina
soya- soy
wheat- wheat
We learn the names of fruits and berries at school age, and all the subtleties regarding the use of the singular or plural are encountered much later. How to learn words at school age in order to memorize them for a long period? Here are some options:
- Use flashcards to learn words.
- Create unusual stories in your head with the name of the fruit.
- Associate with the name of the fruit in English and some object that is familiar to you.
- Listen to songs and watch cartoons with fruits in English.
Save word sets, learn and expand your vocabulary. And then the next time, looking abroad in a fruit shop, you can easily buy at least green beans, even figs. Keep learning!
EnglishDom # inspire to learn
The Plural of Nouns in English (The Plural) is formed according to simple rules: in most cases, an ending is added to the base of the noun -es... For example:
🔊 brush - 🔊 brush es (brushes).
But there are exceptions to words ending in a consonant and -y, the plural form of which is formed by replacing -y on -i and adding an ending -es... For example:
🔊 fl y- 🔊 fl ies (flies).
Summary table of the rules for the formation of the plural of a noun
| Noun ends in -s, -sh, -ch, -x, -z | The noun ends in a consonant and -y | The noun ends in a consonant and -o | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The rule | Add the ending -es | Change y to i and add -es | Add the ending -es |
| Examples of | 🔊 bu s- 🔊 bus es(buses), 🔊 wat ch- 🔊 watch es(clock), 🔊 bo x- 🔊 box es(boxes) | 🔊 cit y- 🔊 cit ies(cities), 🔊 country - 🔊 countr ies(country) | 🔊 tomat o- 🔊 tomato es(tomatoes), 🔊 potat o- 🔊 potato es(potatoes), 🔊 her o- 🔊 hero es(heroes) |
Note: if a noun ends in -o , but this word is a proper name, abbreviation or borrowing, then only the letter is added -s :
🔊 Eskimo - 🔊 Eskimo s
(Eskimos),
🔊 kilo - 🔊 kilo s
(kilograms),
🔊 tango - 🔊 tango s
(tango).
Pronunciation rules for plural endings
There are some nuances here too. Which? The pronunciation of the ending of the plural depends on the final sound in the singular form (see Table 2 below).
| A noun ending in a vowel or voiced consonant | The ending reads like [z] | 🔊 game - 🔊 games, 🔊 tree - 🔊 trees |
|---|---|---|
| The noun ends in a voiceless consonant | The ending reads like [s] | 🔊 cat - 🔊 cats, 🔊 clock - 🔊 clocks |
| A noun ends with the sounds [ʤ], [ʧ], [ʃ], [s], or [z] | The ending reads like [ɪz] | 🔊 orange - 🔊 oranges [ˈɒrɪn dʒ- ˈɒrɪn dʒɪz], 🔊 vase - 🔊 vases |
Nouns that form a plural not according to the rules
The plural of nouns in English may not be formed according to the rules. These nouns are the so-called exceptions. Below in the tables I will acquaint you with them in detail.
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🔊 man | 🔊 men | 🔊 wolf | 🔊 wolves |
| 🔊 woman (woman) | 🔊 women | 🔊 mouse | 🔊 mice |
| 🔊 child | 🔊 children | 🔊 louse (louse) | 🔊 lice |
| 🔊 tooth | 🔊 teeth | 🔊 penny (cent coin) | 🔊 pence |
| 🔊 foot | 🔊 feet | 🔊 person | 🔊 people |
| 🔊 goose | 🔊 geese | 🔊 sheep | 🔊 sheep |
| 🔊 ox (bull) | 🔊 oxen | 🔊 deer (deer) | 🔊 deer |
| 🔊 leaf | 🔊 leaves | 🔊 fish (fish) | 🔊 fish |
Nouns of Latin origin that do not form the plural ending according to the rules
Nouns used only in the plural or only in the singular
Uncountable nouns (both real and abstract) are used only in the singular:
- 🔊 There is no snow on the ground.
- 🔊 The news was very interesting.
Nouns in the singular in Russian, in the plural in English
Nouns denoting paired objects and ending in -s, always used in the plural
Groups of nouns that are used only in the singular
Nouns with different meanings in the singular and plural
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
| 🔊 air | 🔊 airs (arrogant manners) |
| 🔊 ash (ash) | 🔊 ashes (dust) |
| 🔊 content | 🔊 contents |
| 🔊 custom | 🔊 customs |
| Damage | 🔊 damages (losses) |
| 🔊 drawer | 🔊 drawers (chest of drawers) |
| 🔊 fund (stock) | 🔊 funds cash |
| 🔊 glass (glass, glass) | 🔊 glasses |
| 🔊 hair | 🔊 hairs (wool, individual hairs) |
| 🔊 look | 🔊 looks (appearance) |
| 🔊 pain (pain) | 🔊 pains (effort, suffering) |
| 🔊 scale | 🔊 scales |
| 🔊 spectacle (spectacle, sight) | 🔊 spectacles |
| 🔊 step | 🔊 steps (ladder) |
| 🔊 work | 🔊 works (factory) |
| 🔊 saving | 🔊 savings |
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