KEEPING OR CHANGING THE ‘F’

If a noun ends in ‘f’ in some cases you will only need to add an ‘s’ as in the following:

brief	briefs	chef	chefs
chief	chiefs	cliff	cliffs
dwarf	dwarfs	handkerchief	handkerchiefs
muff	muffs	proof	proofs
roof	roofs	staff	staffs

Changing to ‘ves’

Other nouns require you to change the ‘f’ to V and add ‘es’:

calf	calves	half	halves
knife	knives	leaf	leaves
life	lives	loaf	loaves
scarf	scarves	sheaf	sheaves
shelf	shelves	yourself	yourselves
wife	wives	wolf	wolves

MAKING PLURALS

Making plurals of hyphenated words

A hyphen is a dash placed between two words that are closely linked. In most cases the ‘s’ is added to the second word as in the following:

back-bencher	back-benchers	by-law	by-laws
corner-stone	corner-stones	ear-ring	ear-rings
fun-fair	fun-fairs	hair-line	hair-lines
hair-style	hair-styles	head-dress	head-dresses
heart-break	heart-breaks	kick-off	kick-offs
knick-knack	knick-knacks	notice-board	notice-boards
post-mortem	post-mortems	press-stud	press-studs
set-up	set-ups	wage -earner	wage -earners
waiting-room	waiting-rooms

In the following words the ‘s’ is added to the first word because it is the most important:

court-martial	courts-martial	lady-in-waiting	ladies-in-waiting
passer-by	passers-by	mother-in-law	mothers-in-law
sister-in-law	sisters-in-law

When ‘ful’ is added to a word, the ‘s’ is usually placed after it:

bucketfuls

fistfuls

handfuls

pocketfuls

spoonfuls

Keeping the same word for the plural

In some cases the same word is used for both the singular and the plural as in the following:

deer

deer

sheep

sheep

Changing the word

Some words do not require an ‘s’ to form the plural: the word itself changes.

child	children	foot	feet
goose	geese	louse	lice
man	men	mouse	mice
tooth	teeth	woman	women

Using foreign words

As many English words are derived from foreign languages, particularly French and Latin, you will have to adapt the endings accordingly. Words ending in ‘eau’ usually derive from French and the plural has an ‘x’ added instead of an ‘s’:

bureau	bureaux	chateau	chateaux
gateau	gateaux	tableau	tableaux

Latin words which end in ‘um’ usually change to ‘a’ for the plural:

addendum	addenda	crematorium	crematoria
curriculum	curricula	datum	data
erratum	errata

’Is’ often becomes ‘es’:

analysis	analyses	axis	axes
basis	bases	crisis	crises
oasis	oases	metamorphosis	metamorphoses
parenthesis	parentheses	synopsis	synopses

’On’ often becomes ‘a’:

criterion

criteria

phenomenon

phenomena

’Us’ can become an ‘i’:

cactus

cacti

calculus

calculi

ALTERING A VERB

A verb is a ‘doing’ or a ‘being’ word. The ‘being’ verb is ‘to be’. To remind you, the past and present tenses of the verb ‘to be’ are set out below.

Present tense	Past tense
I am	I was
you are	you were
he, she, it is	he, she, it was
we are	we were
they are	they were

Some ‘doing’ verbs are: to bury, to dance, to play, to run, to spray, to write. As when making a plural, verbs also change their form when changing tense.

Coping with the ‘y’

Some verbs end in ‘y’ and sometimes, to change tense, you may have to add other letters. If there is a consonant before the ’y’, change the ‘y’ into an ‘i’ before adding the other letters. However, you need to keep the ‘y’ before adding ‘ing’ as a double ‘i’ is very rare in English spelling. Some verbs that follow this pattern are:

accompany	bury	copy	glory	marry
occupy	remedy	worry

Examples

—When will she marry?

—She was married yesterday.

—Did he copy the answers?

—He copied her work.

—We must bury the treasure before the enemy comes.

—They buried the treasure under the old oak tree.

—He will worry if I am late.

—She is worrying about her daughter.

If there is a vowel before the ‘y’, it is not usually necessary to change it. Add the letters after it.

Examples

—It was necessary to spray the crops.

—He sprayed the crops.

—She loves to play with her baby sister.

—She played with her baby sister.

—He is playing the piano.

Exceptions

As usual there are exceptions! The ‘y’ is sometimes replaced by ‘i’ as in the following examples:

pay	paying	but	paid
lay	laying	but	laid
say	saying	but	said

Other exceptions do the opposite! In the following cases where verbs end in ‘ie’, it is necessary to replace the two vowels with ‘y’.

die	dying
lie	lying
tie	tying
vie	vying

CHECKLIST

• A plural is usually made by adding ‘s’ to words ending in ‘e’ or a consonant.
• Change the ‘y’ into ‘I’ and add ‘es’ if a consonant precedes the vowel.
• Keep the ‘y’ if a vowel precedes it.
• In some cases T changes to V before adding ‘es’.
• Add the ‘s’ at the end of hyphenated words except in certain cases.

PRACTISING WHAT YOU’VE LEARNT

• 1.What is the plural of the following words?

  alley	ally	baby	chimney	company
  doctor	donkey	enemy	enquiry	file
  journey	key	lackey	niece	nurse
  pencil	pony	ruby	scene	sky
  spray	storey	story	ticket	tragedy
  tray	trolley	victim	whale	wheel
  whisk

• 2.Correct any mistakes in the following sentences:
  • a.The soldiers were told their court-martials were to be held the following day.
  • b.Comedians often make jokes about their mother-in-laws.
  • c.The passer-bys ignored the speaker on his soap-box.
  • d.All the farmers’ wifes cut off the mouses’ tails.
  • e.The thiefs took the knifes from the waiting-roomes.
  • f.The leafs turn brown in the autumn and the sheafs of wheat are harvested.
  • g.The wolfs chased the childs who were in fear of their lifes.
  • h.The sopranoes and the contraltoes were late for the concert because they couldn’t find their librettoes.
  • i.There were two tornados in quick succession.
• 3.Put the following sentences into the past tense:
  • a.  She (glory) in her misdemeanour
  • b.The examiner (remedy) the mistake.
  • c.The mother (worry) because her daughter was late home.
  • d.The victims of the plague were (bury) in a mass grave.
  • e.Her brother (accompany) her to the audition.
  • f.They were (marry) last year.