OXFORD LEARNER''''S GRAMMAR 10 docx

Irregular noun plurals

281 Introduction

Most coumable nouns have a regular plural in -s/-es.

hand ... hands date .... dales bus -+ buses

For details of spelling and pronunciation, > 276.

For the plural of compound nouns, > 131 B.

For the use of plural nouns, > L31 C.

Some nouns have an irregular plural.

maIJ -+ mell life -+ lives slimulus -+ stirnu/i

Irregular plurals ~lfe formed in a numher of different ways, for example by

changing a vowel or consonant sound or by adding ,m unusual ending.

282 Vowel and consonant changes

A Vowel change.s

Some plurals arc formed by changing the vowel sound.

fOOL -+ [eel goose -+ geese man -+ men mouse .... mice

tooth -+ [eelh womal1/'womanl -+ women I'wlnlln l

NOTE

We also ll!>e me" and IIlOmell In wo rds like Frcnclmwl1 and spOrrSulOlIJl!lI.

B The ending -en

There is an old plural form -en which has survived in these two nouns.

duld ItJatld l -+ children I'tStldmnl ox -+ oxen

C Consonant changes

With some nuuns we changefto v and add·s"/·cs.

calf -+ calves half -+ halves kmfe -+ knwes

life -+ lives louf -+ loaves shelf -+ shelves

wife -+ wives wolf -+ wolves

leaf -+ leaves

thief -+ lhieves

Some nouns ending in for fe are regular, c.g. helief'i, chief'i, cliffs, safes. 1\ few

C<l1l have either form, e.g. scarf -+ scarfs/scarves.

D Voicing

Sorne nouns ending in III have a regular written plural, but there are two

possible prollllilcianolls.

pallt,l pa:O I -> palilS Ipo:Ssl or I pa:<lzl

283 Nouns which do not change in the plural

The last two sO Llnds of paths are otten voiced. Other examples arc balhs,

mowhs, ,r/U!-ts, and YOllfhs (;;; young people) .

Some plurals in lhs are regular, e.g. birlhs, deaths, months. These (Jre

pronounced with 10s/.

There is alsl) voicing in the la5t syllable of hou.ses.

house Ihaosl -+ houses /'hauzJzl

E Penny, pence, and pennies

When we arc talking about an amount of money, we use pence as the plural

of penny.

Seventy-Jive pence, "lease.

Pennies arc individual penny coins.

J joulld an old lin with a lot o/pennies in it.

F Person, persons, and people

Person has two plurals: per,wns and people.

Authorized persons only may enter.

nJere were lots of people Oil. the SCreets.

People is more usual and less formal.

A people is a large group slich as a nation.

The Celts were a tall, fair-skinned people.

One day the peoples of this world will live in peace.

283 Nouns which do not change in the plural

Some nouns have the same form in the singular and the plural.

Singular: I heard an aircraft passmg low ollerhead.

Plural: J kept hearing aircraft passing low overhead.

These nOllns art:! aircrafl, hovercraft, ~fJacecrafl, etc; some animals, c.g. sheep,

deer, and some kinds of fish, e.g. cod, salmon.

For nouns ending in -s in both singular and plural, e.g. one means I variolls

m eans of transport, > 147C.

Some ll(Jfionaliry words ending in -ese can be Singular or plural, e.g. one

Chinese I several Chinese.

389

Irregular noun plurals

284 Irregular plural endings

390

There are a number of foreign words which have come into English, mainly

from Latin and Greek, arid these have plural endings which are less commOn

in English.

-a lal criterion ... criteria curriculum ... curricula

medium ... media phenomenon ... phenomena

-ae li:1 formula ~ formulaslformulae

-is ... ·es li:zl analysis .. analyses crlSlS -+ crises hypothesis -+ hypolheses

oasis -+ oases synthesis .. syntheses

-us .. -i lall cactus -+ cacti nucleus .. nuclei stimulus .. stimuli

The plural cactuses is also possible.

NOTE

a Not every nOlln ending in on, urn, or us has an irregular ending.

electron -+ electrons museum .. museums bonus .. bonLUeS

b In informal speech, words wilh the plural ending -a atc sometimes u~ed as if tht!y

were singular.

r don't believe what the media is telling us.

Many people would consider this to be incam.oct.

c The word dala is the plural of datum, which is little used. Data is also often used as

an uncountable noun.

Not enough dalu iJ/are available.

Users cun control how much data is sent ouer tl,e network.

285 Introduction

Irregular verbs

285 Introduction

A

Regular verbs

A regular verb can have these

endings: -s, -ing, and -ed.

Base form: look play

s-form: looks plays

ing-form: looking playing

Past tense: looked played

Past participle: looked played

Irregular verbs

An irregular verb can also have -s

and -ing, hut we do not simply add oed.

Base form: steal find

s-form: steals finds

ing-form: stealing finding

Past tense: swle foulld

Past participle: stolen found

The past tense and [he past / passive

participle are irregular.

Past tense: Someone stole the card.

Past participle: Who has stolen the card?

B Look. at these examples.

Regular verb:

Irregular verb:

I've painted the wall.

I've written the report.

I've repainted the wall.

I've rewritten the report.

A verb form such as painted (regular) or written (irregular) is not changed by

a prefix slich as reo, fore -, or m is-, For example, if tell is irregular, rhen so is

foretell.

286 List of irregular verbs

The more common verhs are in bold type.

Base form

A

arise/a'ra Izl

awake /a'weIkl

B

be I bi:1 > 65

bear/bea(rl l

beat I bi:tI

become / bI'kAm l

Past tense

arose l a'rauzl

awoke/a'waukl

was lwoz/ , were/W3:(r)/

bore I bJ:(r)1

beal I bi:!1

became IbI'keIm /

Pastl passive participle

arisen lar'Iznl

, awoken la'waokanl

bee n Ibi:n i

borne I bJ:nl

beaten I'bi:tnl

become Ibl'umi

391