(d) SOME GAMES: billiards, bowls (esp BrE), darts, dominoes, draughts fireworks (but he let off a firework)

works (but he let off a firework) premises ('building')

(BrE), checkers (AmE), fives, ninepins funds ('money'; but a fund, 'a source quarters, headquarters (but the Latin
of money') quarter)
(e) SOME PROPER NOUNS: Algiers, Athens, Brussels, Flanders, goods (a goods train) regards (but win his regard)
Marseilles, Naples, Wales; the United and Nations the United greens remains
Sta,tes have a singular verb when considered as units. guts ('bowels!; but cat-gut) riches
heads (heads or tails?) savings (a savings bank)
holidays (summer holidays, BrE, but spirits ('mood'; but he has a kindly
Plural invariable nouns he's on holiday, he's taking a spirit)
holiday in Spain) spirits ('alcohol'; but alcohol IS a
4.33 letters (a man of letters) spirit)
lodgings stairs (a flight of stairs)
SUMMATION PLURALS
looks (he has good looks) suds
Tools and articles of dress consisting of two equal parts which are the Lords (the House of Lords) surroundings
joined constitute summation plurals. Countability can be imposed by manners thanks
means of a pair of: a pair of scissors, three pairs of trousers. means (a man of means) troops (but a troop of scouts)
oats tropics (but the Tropic of Cancer)
bellows tongs pants
odds (in betting) valuables
binoculars tweezers pyjamas (BrE),
outskirts wages (but he earns a good wage)
pincers glasses pajamas (AmE)
pains (take pains) wits (she has her wits about her;
pliers spectacles shorts
particulars (note the particulars) but he has a keen wit)
scales braces (BrE) suspenders
scissors flannels tights Note
shears knickers trousers
Cf also pence in 'a few pence ', 'tenpence', beside the regular penny � pennies.

Note
take the indefinite article, especially with
premo­ 4.35
(a] Many of the summation plurals can
: a garden· shears, a curling-tongs, etc; obvwus treatment as count nouns
dificatio n UNMARKED PLURALS
is not infr equent: 3everal tweezers.
[b) Plural nouns commonly lose the inflection
in premodification: a suspender belt. cattle police
clergy (but also singular) vermin
folk (but also informal folks) youth (but regular when ='young
4.34 gentry man')
IN -S people (but regular �!·hen = 'nation')
OTHER 'PLU RALIA TANTUM'

that only occur in the plural),

Among other 'pluralia tantum' (ie nouns
end in -s. In many cases, however, there are Variable nouns
the following nouns .
nce of meamng.
forms without -s, sometimes with differe
brain(s) ('intellect', he's got good 4.36
the Middle Ages
possible brains, beside a good brain)
amends (make every/all Regular plurals
clothes (cf cloths, /s/, plural of
amends)
annals
cloth) �
Variable n?uns ave t :vo f �rms, singular and plural, the singular being
the Commons (the House of Com- .
the Antipodes the form hsted m d1ctwnanes. The vast majority of nouns are variable
archives
mons) �n this way and no �mally the plural ( s suffix) is fully predictable both
arms ('weapons', an arms depot) contents (but the silver content of m sound and spelling by the same rules as for the -s inflection of
the coin) verbs. Spelling creates numerous exceptions, however.
arrears
ashes (but tobacco ash) customs (customs duty)
dregs (coffee dregs) (a) Treatment of -y :
auspices
earnings Beside the regular spy "" spies, there are nouns in -y to which
banns (of marriage)
entrails s is added:
bowels
79
78
 w1th proper nouns: the Kennedys. the two German s
!
Irregular plurals
after a vowel (except the u of -quy): days. boys, Journeys
4.38
in a few other words such as stand-bys.
Irregular plurals are by definition unpredictable and have to be learned
(b) Nouns of unusual form sometimes pluralize in 's:
as individual items. In many cases where foreign words are involved,
letter names: dot your i's it is of course helpful to know about pluralization in the relevant
numerals: in the 1890's (or, increasingly, 1890s) languages particularly Latin and Greek. Thus, on the pattern of
abbreviations: two MP's (or, increasingly, MPs)
analysis -+ analyses
(c) Nouns in •0 have plural in -os, with some exceptions having we can infer the correct plurals:
either optional or obligatory -oes: axis-+ axes basis -+ bases crisis -+ crises, etc
Plurals in -os and -oes:
.
archipelago, banjo, buffalo, cargo, commando, flammgo, halo, But we cannot rely on etymological criteria: plurals like areas and
motto, tornado, volcano villas, ir example, do not conform to the Latin pattern (areae,
Plurals only in -oes · villae).
echo, embargo, hero, Negro, potato, tomato, torpedo, veto
4.39

VOICING + -S PLURAL

Some nouns which in the singular end in the voiceles

4.37 s fricatives spelled
-th and -f have voiced fricatives in the plural, followed by /z/.
In
one case the voiceless fricative is fs1 and
Compounds the plural has /zlz/:
house "' houses.
Compounds form the plural in different ways, but (c) below is the
(a) Nouns in ·th
most usual.
There in no change in spelling.
(a) PLURAL IN FIRST ELEMENT With a consonant before the -th, the plural is
regular: berth,
attorney general attorneys general, but more usually birth, length, etc.
With a vowel before the -th, the plural is again
as (c) often regular,
notaries public as with cloth, death, faith. moth. but in a few cases the
notary public plural has
voicing (mouth, path), and in several cases there
passer-by passers-by are both regular
mothers-in-law, but also as (c) informally and voiced plurals: bath, oath, sheath, truth, wreath,
mother-in-law youth.
grant-in-aid grants-in-aid (b) Nouns in -/{e)
man-of-war men-of-war

}
coat of mail coats of mail Plurals with voicing are spelled -ves.
mouthful Regular plural only: belief. chief. cliff, proof. roof. safe.
mouthsful
but also as (c) Voiced plural only: ea/f. elf. half, knife, leaf. life, loaf, self,
spoonful spoonsful
sheaf, shelf. thief, wife, wolf.
Both regular and voiced plurals: dwmf. handkerchief. hoof, scarf,
wharf
(b) PLURAL IN BOTH FIRST AND LAST ELEMENT Note
The painting term still life has a regular plural:
still lifes.
gentleman farmer gentlemen farmers
manservant menservants
4.40
woman doctor women doctors
MUTATION
(c) PLURAL IN LAST ELEMENT (ie normal) Mutation involes a change of vowel in the following seven nouns:
assistant director assistant directors
foot "" feet man - men woman women
So also: boy friend, fountain pen, woman-hater, breakdown, tooth teeth louse "" lice luf ,, ,
grown-up, sit-in, stand-by, take-off, forget-me-not, etc goose "" geese mouse "" mice

80
81
Note
He always wanted to have hundreds/thousands of books and he
With -.mmanjll'omen, the pronunciation differs in the first syllable only, while postmanfpo ­r
_ has recently bought four hundred/thousand
men, Englishmanf-men, etc have no difference in pronunc1at10n at all between smgu ar
and plural.
Other quantitative and partitive nouns can be treated similarly, though
the zero plurals are commoner in informal or technical usage:
4.41
Dozens of glasses; tons of coal
THE -EN PLURAL He is six foot/feet (tall)
He bought eight ton(s) of coal
This occurs in three nouns:
Note
brother brethren brethren (with mutation) 'fellow members of
=
Plural measure expressions are normally singular
ized when they premodify:
a religious society'; otherwise regular brothers note, a ten-second pause. a fire-potmd
child children (with vowel change /ai/ -> /1/)
ox oxen
• 4.46

ZERO PLURAL
Nouns in - (e)s
4.42
A few nouns in -(e)s can be treated as singular or plural:
Some nouns have the same spoken and written form in both singu ar !
and plural. Note the difference here between on the one hand, m­ He gave one series/two series of lectures
: _ . too loud) or
variable nouns, which are either singular (Thzs mustc 1s
So too species. With certain other nouns such as barracks, gallows,
plural (All the cattle are grazing in the field), and, on the other,
headquarters, means, (steel) works, usage 'varies; they are sometimes
zero plural nouns, which can be both singular and plural (This sheep
treated as variable nouns with zero plurals, sometimes as 'pluralia
looks small; All those sheep are mine).
tantum'.

4.43
FOREIGN PLURALS
Animal names
Animal names 0ften have zero plurals. They tend to be used partly 4.47
by people who are especially concerned with animals, partly when the
animals are referred to as game. Where there are two plurals, the Foreign plurals often occur along with regular plurals. They are commoner
. in technical usage, whereas the -s plural is ·more natural in everyday
zero plural is the more common in contexts of huntm�, etc, eg:
We caught only a few fish, wher�as the regular plural IS. used to language; thus formulas (general) - formulae (in mathematics), antennas
denote different individuals or species: the fishes of the Medzterra11ean. (general and in electronics) - antennae (in biology).
Our aim here will be to survey systematically the main types of foreign
4.44 plurals that are used in present-day English and to consider the extent
The degree of variability with animal names is shown by the following to which a particular plural form is obligatory or optional. Most
lists: (but by no means all) words having a particular foreign plural orig­
inated in the language mentioned in the heading.
Regular plural: bird, cow, eagle, hen, rabbit, etc
. .
Usually regular: elk, crab, duck (zero only with th� wild b1rd)
4.48
Both plurals: antelope, reindeer, fish, flounder, hemng
Usually zero: pike, trout, carp, deer, moose
Nouns in -us (Latin)
Only zero: grouse, sheep, plaice, salmon

The foreign plural is -i, as in stimulus - stimuli.

4.45

Quantitative nouns
The numeral nouns hundred, thousand, and usually million have zero
plurals except when unpremodified; so too dozen, brace, head (of cattle),
yoke (rare), gross, stone (BrE weight).
Only regular plural (-uses): bonus, campus, chorus, circus, virus, etc
Both plurals: cactus, focus, fungus, nucleus, radius, terminus, syllabus
1
Only foreign plural: a/umnus, bacillus, locus, stimulus
Note
\ The usual plurals of corpus and genus are corpora,
genera .

82 .i
• 83
'
4.49 Both plurals: automaton
Only foreign plural: criterion, pheno
Nouns in -a (Latin) menon
Note
The foreign plural is -ae, as in alunma - alunmae.
Informally, criteria and phenome11a are sometimes used as singul
ars.
Only, regular plural (-as): area, awza, dilemma, diploma, drama, etc
Both plurals: antenna, formula, nebula. vertebra 4.54
Only foreign plural: alga, alwmw, /ana
French nouns

4.50 A few nouns in -e(a)u retain the French ·X as the spelling of the plural,
beside the commoner -s, but the plurals are almost always pronounced
Nouns in -um (Latin)
as regular, /z/, irrespective of spelling, eg: adieu, bureau, tableau, plateau.

The foreign plural is -a, as m curriculum - curricula

4.55
Only regular plural: album, chrysanthemum, museum, etc
Usually regular: forum, stadium, ultimatum
Some French nouns in -s or -x are pronounced with a final vowel
Both plurals: aquarium, medium, memorandum, symposium
in the singular and with a regular /z/ in the plural, with fio spelling
Usually foreign plural: curriculum
change: chamois, chassis, corps, faux pas, patois.
Only foreign plural: addendum, bacterium, corrigendum, desideratum.
·

erratum, ovum, stratum

4.56
Note
Nouns in -o (Italian)
Media with reference to press and radio and stwta with reference to society are
sometimes used infO£mally as singular. In the case of dalll, reclassification as a sin­
The foreign plural is -i as m tempo
gular non-count noun is widespread, and the technical si ngul ar datum is rather rare. - tempi.
Only regular plural: soprano
4.51 Usually regular plural: virtuoso, libret
to, solo, tempo

Nouns in -ex, -ix (Latin) Note

Graffiti is usually a 'pluralia tantum', confelli. spagh�lli
The foreign plural is -ices, as in index - indices. non·count singular.

Both regular and foreign plurals: apex, index, vortex, appendix, 4.57
matrix
Only foreign plural: codex Hebrew nouns
The foreign plural is -im, as in kibbutz - kibbutzim.
4.52
Usually regular: chemb, seraph
Nouns in -is (Greek) Only foreign plural: kibbutz

The foreign plural is -es, as in basis - bases

Gender
Regular plural (-iscs): metropolis
4.58
Foreign plural: analysis, axis, basis, cr1s1s, diagnosis, ellipsis, hypothesis,
oasis, parenthesis, synopsis, thesis English makes very few gender distin
ctions. Where they are made, the
connection between the biological catego
ry 'sex' and the grammatical
4.53 category 'gender' is very close, insofa
r as natural sex distinctions de­
Nouns in -on (Greek) termine English gender distinctions.
It is further typical of English that specia
The foreign plural is -a, as in criterion criteria. l suffixes are not gen­
erally used to mark gender distinctions.
Nor are gender distinctions
Only regular plurals: demon, electron, neutron, proton made in the article. Some pronouns
are gender-sensitive (the personal
Chiefly regular: ganglion he, she, it, and the relative who,
which), but others are not (they,

85