Writing Blog Number 2

20240413 Plurals

Plurals

Okay, another request.

Plurals! How do we pluralise words?

We add and 's'. That's all, right?

I wish. This is going to get technical, and those who hate grammar rules are going to hate this blog entry, but I am a grammar nerd, and this is the way things are... technically. I know many ignore them, and that is their choice, but I like to stick up for English as she is.

So, most words, yes, add an 's' to make a plural.
         dog -> dogs
         planet -> planets

However, if a word ends in -s, add an '-es'
         boss -> bosses
         biceps -> bicepses (yes, biceps is the singular, because of the Greek basis)

If a word ends in -y after a consonant, drop the -y and add '-ies'.
         butterfly -> flies
         sky -> skies

If a word ends in a vowel, then a 'y', just add -s.
However, in US English, if a word ends in -ey, drop the -ey and add '-ies'.
         honey -> honies
         money -> monies
Remember, In the UK, Australia and other places that use that form of English, it would be:
         honey -> honeys
         money -> moneys

If a word has two or more syllables, ends in -us and is from a Latin base, drop the -us and add '-i'.
         cactus -> cacti
         hippopotamus -> hippopotami
Oh, quickly, virus technically has virus as the plural because it is fourth declension, not second... but that's a Latin thing. Just remember viruses is allowed, but virus can be its own plural.

Latin originated words that end in -is, drop the -is and add '-es'.
         crisis -> crises
         metamorphosis -> metamorphoses
Technically, the plural of Elvis would be Elves (pronounce the second "e" - el-vays - or else it's the plural of 'elf').

Latin words that are singular and end in an -a, add an '-e'.
         formula -> formulae
         stela -> stelae

Bus is an interesting one. It is an abbreviation of the Latin word "omnibus" which means "for everything/for all" and, as such, is already declined into a plural state (the singular is 'omnis'), so adding '-es' is all we can do.
         bus -> buses

Back to things that are their own plural, 'sheep' is its own plural, 'fish' is its own plural when speaking generically or about one single sort of fish, but fishes is allowed when referencing all manner of fish. 'Species' is its own plural; there is no 'specie'. Same with 'series'.

Back to the -us ending. If the word is taken from Greek, as opposed to Latin, drop the -us and add '-odes'.
         octopus -> octopodes
         platypus -> platypodes
However, in these cases, just adding '-es' is also acceptable (e.g. octopuses, platypuses).

If a word ends in -o, add '-es'.
         potato -> potatoes
         tomato -> tomatoes
The exceptions are if the word comes directly from Italian
         piano -> pianos
         cello -> cellos

If a word ends in -f or has an -f near the end, replace the -f with a -v
         calf -> calves
         knife -> knives
         life -> knives
The exceptions are if the -f comes after two vowels
         proof -> proofs
         reef -> reefs

Then there's the weird ones:
         goose -> geese
         mouse -> mice
         man/woman -> men/women
         foot -> feet
         tooth -> teeth
         louse -> lice
         ox -> oxen
         child -> children
         person -> people
         crux -> cruces

Now, false singulars:
Phenomena is the plural; the singular is phenomenon.
Data is the plural; the singular is datum.
Bacteria is the plural; the singular is bacterium.
Dice is the plural; the singular is die.

And I've probably forgotten or missed some, but that is the general way plurals work.