Hello everyone, this is Andrew
from Crown Academy of English and today we are going to do
a grammar lesson and
we are going to discuss nouns in
the plural. So we are going to look at
some regular nouns and
some irregular nouns. So
let's get started! So,
we're going to start with the easy ones.
So let's look at the regular nouns
and
the basic rule is that we simply
add an "s" to the end of
the noun to make it plural. So
for example, house
in the singular is
houses in the plural.
So you can see here, we simply
add an "s" to the end of house.
And some other examples...
coat, coats
dog, dogs
ship, ships
okay.. road,
roads and...
many more examples. So
this is the basic rule. This is probably
... the majority of nouns in English
are just regular nouns and they follow this rule
where we simply add an "s" to the end okay.
Now since this lesson is
a grammar lesson and not a vocabulary lesson,
then I won't be defining
these words okay? So if you don't know
what these words mean, then
I suggest that you look in a dictionary okay?
That is not the aim of the lesson today.
The aim is to teach you the grammar rules not
to teach you the
vocabulary alright?
So the first exception to the rule.
So the first type of irregular noun is the group of nouns which end in
"ch", "sh", "s" (or an "s" sound), "x" or "z".
So for all of those nouns, in the plural,
we form the plural by adding "es" to the end.
So example: church, churches.
dish, dishes.
bus, buses.
box, boxes.
buzz, buzzes and many more.
So these are... these all have the same rule.
So we simply take the singular form and in the plural, we add "es".
So there is an extra syllable when we pronounce it.
So you should be able to hear it.
In the singular, there is one syllable "church" and in the plural, it's "church -es"
So 2 syllables: churches, dishes, buses, boxes, buzzes.
So it is important that we hear the extra syllable when you pronounce it.
So, now nouns which end in
the letter "y". First of all,
if the noun ends in
first of all in a consonant and then the letter "y",
then,
in that case, we change the "y" to an
"i" and then we add
"es" to the end. So
an example: lady,
ladies. So you can see here,
in the singular, the end of
it has a consonant. So the letter "d" is a consonant,
followed by the letter "y" and so we follow the rule:
We change this "y" to an
"i" and then we add "es".
So city,
cities. baby,
babies. ferry,
ferries and...
there are many more... ok?
Now, there is another
case here, there is another example of...
we can also have nouns that
end in a vowel
and then the letter "y"
And here this is just like a regular noun.
So we add a letter "s"
to the end.
So a reminder: a vowel
is the letter a, e, i,
o or u ok?
So boy, boys
day, days
key, keys
OK? And again, there are many many more.
So this is not...
these are not the only ones. This is just a very small
sample. There are many more examples here.
So the rule when the noun ends in "y" -
If it is a consonant and then the letter "y", then we must
add... we must change the "y" to "i"
and add "es" and for all the other cases when it
ends in a vowel first, then we just add the letter "s".
Ok... and this time we are going to look
at nouns which end in
a letter "f" or "fe"
at the end. Ok...
so there are a list of nouns now
that I am going to give you which you must learn
because these are irregular. So
the nouns which you're going to see now... the rule
is that we change...
we replace the letter "f" or if it is
"fe", we replace that with "ves". Example:
leaf, leaves
shelf, shelves
And listen to the pronunciation ok? The pronunciation - we...
we must hear the letter "v" in the plural.
life, lives
wife, wives
calf, calves
elf, elves
half, halves
knife, knives
loaf, loaves
self, selves
thief, thieves
wolf, wolves
Alright, so in all of
these examples that you can see here,
this... they follow this rule. So
we changed the "f" to... "ves"
Or if it ends in "fe" like here...
"knife" then the "fe"
changes to "ves" and we say
knives.
So...
these are the exceptions,
and for most of the other nouns,
okay, so pretty much the rest of the nouns
which end in "f" or "fe"
then they are just regular nouns...
and we just add "s" to the end.
So just two examples:
roof, roofs
and giraffe, giraffes
and many more ok?
So my advice for you, for nouns
ending in "f" or "fe",
my advice is for you to learn this list here
at the top. These are the most
common examples of nouns
where you have to change the "f" (or "fe")
into "ves" okay? So
if you learn this list
at the top, then you know
all the other nouns are just regular
okay? So this list at the top
is the exceptions okay?
These are the ones where you have to change it to "ves"
and all the others, or most of the others
we just add an "s" ... okay?
Let's carry on.
Now, nouns ending in the letter
"o" This is a little bit more
complicated. So we'll start with the
easy part first. So the easy part
is the nouns which end
in a vowel and then the letter "o"
So, those are the vowels..
and this is easy. We just add the letter
"s" to the end. So we
... we treat them like a regular noun.
So just a couple of examples here. There aren't many examples of this
so we have radio and
this becomes radios in the plural. So we just
add an "s". So we can see here -
The end of the noun
has a vowel. The vowel is the letter "i"
followed by the letter "o"... and so we follow this rule. We
add a letter "s". So radio is
radios
and zoo
is zoos in the plural
So again, the letter "o" is a vowel
followed by an "o" and so we just add a letter "s"
There are a few
other examples of this but there aren't very many
to be honest with you.
The important one is nouns
ending in
the letter "o" with a consonant.
So a consonant plus the letter "o"
We have, first of all, we have some
irregular nouns...
and for the list that you're going to see
we add "es" to the end.
So you must remember this list okay? You must
learn this list of nouns.
So potato, potatoes
So the pronunciation is the same. There is no difference in their pronunciation.
It is the same pronunciation as
if there was just an "s" at the end.
tomato, tomatoes
hero, heroes
echo, echoes
veto, sorry veto,
vetoes
or veto / veto. Yes it's pronounced veto in fact
and vetoes. torpedo,
torpedoes
embargo,
embargoes
buffalo,
buffaloes
domino,
dominoes. mosquito,
mosquitoes.
Alright, so
just before we carry on, so all of these
nouns on the left, again
you must learn this list okay?
These are the exceptions. These
are the irregular nouns
which end in the letter "o". So
for all the others, okay.. so for
all the other nouns - Some of them...
some of the others... we must
just add a letter "s". So
some up the others... they are just regular.
We just add a letter "s" ... and
some of the others, we can choose to
either add a letter "s" OR
"es" okay? So both
would be correct. Either would be correct.
So since both would be correct,
then to make it
easy for us, then
we are just going to add
an "s" for all the others because that makes it more
easy ok? So for example:
casino,
casinos. photo,
photos. solo,
solos. volcano,
volcanos. tornado,
tornados
and
many more ok? So
again, just to summarise, learn
this list on the left okay... so that you know
these nouns here, in this list,
in the plural, you have to add "es"
and in all
the other cases... in all the
other nouns, then just
add the latter "s" ok? That makes it easy for you. Just
add a letter "s". And
in fact these words here, this list
will always stay the same because these are quite
old words in the English
language. All new nouns,
all new words which
end in "o" in the English language,
they follow this rule
on the right. So we will always
add "s" to new nouns
which end in "o". So all you need to do is just to learn
this list and any other nouns,
just add an "s" to.
Now in the English language, there are
sometimes... we have a few words which come from
Latin and in fact
Greek as well. So we have to...
they have a slightly different rule in the plural.
So there are some
Latin nouns which end in "us"
and for those
nouns, the plural...
it is a Latin plural. And
the Latin plural, we add a letter "i"
So we change the "us" to "i"
And there are a few examples here:
So nucleus,
is nuclei
cactus, cacti
fungus, fungi
radius, radii
stimulus, stimuli
Whoops! So you can see there again,
we change the "us",
and we change it to "i"
There are maybe... maybe a few other examples but
these are probably the most common
ok? So just a reminder - These
are English words but they have
a Latin origin to them. So
we use the Latin rules to make the plural.
And we also have another
group of foreign words
which end in "is"
in the singular. And for those words,
the plural, we change the "is"
to "es".
So example: axis,
becomes axes. So we pronounce it EES
at the end. axis,
axes.
analysis sorry! analysis,
becomes analyses.
crisis, crises
diagnosis,
diagnoses
hypothesis, hypotheses
thesis, theses
Again, these are... these are NOT very
common words. So
do not panic! Do not worry too much
about these but it is important that you
you know thats these words,
in the singular, when it is "is",
that they become "es". It's..
it is useful if you see these words written,
that you know for example, if you see the word...
analyses ("es"),
that you know it has come from the word analysis
("is") in the singular. And
all of these are Greek except the top one.
This axis is Latin and all the others are
... Greek in fact. They have a Greek origin to them.
And finally for the foreign nouns,
we have some nouns which
in the singular end in "ix"
or "ex"...
and in those cases, we change the
"ix" or the "ex"
and we replace it with "ices".
So for example: appendix,
appendices. So you can see here the
"ix" here. We have
removed that and we have replaced it with
"ices".
Listen to the pronunciation
matrix, matrices
So "ices" We pronounce it "ices" matrices
index, indices
vertex,
vertices
So again, do not worry!
These are not very common words.
Well, perhaps index - that is probably the most common.
And again these are Latin
words. They are from the Latin language
and so we follow the Latin grammar rules in the plural
for these words.
There are perhaps a few other examples as well,
but these four are the most common.
There are maybe another four or five examples
in the English language...
but nothing too important okay?
And irregular nouns.
So there are some nouns in English which
do not follow any rules at all...
and you simply just have to learn these nouns.
They are completely irregular.
So foot,
feet. child,
children
man, men
woman,
women. goose,
geese. mouse,
mice. person,
people. tooth,
teeth.
ox, oxen
Again, there is nothing
really that I can explain here.
There is no logic or
rules here. You simply have to learn this list ok?
So again, look in the dictionary
if you want to know the meaning of these words.
And a lot of these words... these words are actually very common....
ok... apart from...
ox is an animal and it's not very common
but the rest are
very common words in fact. So this list is important.
Okay I recommend that you learn this list.
And...
finally there are some nouns
in English which are exactly the same
in the singular and the plural. Okay it's quite a
unique situation but there are a few.
So:
aircraft. We can say one aircraft
or three aircraft.
it's the same. spacecraft
one spacecraft, three spacecraft.
hovercraft, hovercraft.
So you can see here, any word which
ends in craft, craft,
craft. It is the same in the singular
and the plural. sheep,
sheep. So one sheep
or three sheep. It's the same. fish,
fish. So you never say
fishes for example, and you never say sheeps.
"Sheeps" - that would be wrong ok? one sheep, two sheep.
One fish, two fish. deer,
deer. So these are all animals.
We've got sheep, fish, deer. moose,
moose. Okay
so... I'll just go back very quickly... so
again there are a few others here that
exist as well but these are the most common.
These are the most common nouns which are the same
in the singular and the plural.
So that is the
end of the lesson. There,
in the lesson, we have seen probably ninety percent
of all the rules for how we form
the plural for nouns okay? So we have seen
ninety percent of the most common examples...
and the other 10 percent
aren't very important so ...
if I had to explain all of them, then
the lesson would take hours and hours and hours!
But that is most of the examples.
So there we are. That is the
end of the lesson I hope you have enjoyed it.
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So there we are. That is the end of today's
grammar lesson. I hope you enjoyed it.
Thank you very much for watching. My name is Andrew
from Crown Academy of English.
Thank you very much. Bye bye and I'll see you next time :)