Plural

Hi there

Let me introduce myself, my name is Keren White and I am in charge of providing you with
interesting insights and anecdotes about the English Language.

This e-mail is only the first one out of a series of e-mails I’ll be sending your way.
I would be very happy to get your feedback with any comments or questions you might have.
Feel free to contact me at: keren@whitesmoke.com

Let’s get started with today’s topic…Plural Nouns!
Making plural nouns is simple: 1 computer - 2 computers. Pretty straightforward, right?

Wrong!

When it comes to making nouns plural, there are no clear-cut rules.

The exceptions to the rules exceed the rules themselves, for example:
If the plural of box is boxes, why is the plural of ox - oxen?
If the plural of safe is safes, why is the plural of wife- wives?

It gets even worse…
1 foot becomes 2 feet
1 man becomes 2 men
1 child becomes 2 children
If 1 goose becomes 2 geese, why doesn’t 1 moose become 2 “meese”?

Some nouns keep their singular form when they become plural:

1 fish – 2 fish
1 sheep – 2 sheep
Some plural forms are based on rules from foreign languages, and follow no rule whatsoever:
Basis – bases
Criterion – criteria

How do I know what the plural form of each noun is? You may wonder.
Memorizing them orlooking them up in the dictionary may be tedious work; WhiteSmoke
Writer, the most comprehensive English grammar, punctuation and style checker in the world today, will make your life a lot easier. WhiteSmoke Writer will automatically correct your plural forms in case they are incorrect.

Good luck,

Keren White

WhiteSmoke Team