Page 24 - New Grammar with a Smile 7

♦ Some nouns remain the same in its singular and plural forms. For example,

sheep deer offspring

aircraft salmon software

♦ Some nouns exist only in the plural form. For example,

series species oats

scissors tongs tweezers
♦ In compound nouns, the plural ending is added to the main noun. For example,

attorney general— daughter-in-law— passer-by—passers-by
attorneys general daughters-in-law

maid-of-honour— spoonful—
she-wolf—she-wolves
maids-of-honour spoonfuls

♦ Words borrowed from Latin that end in us, form their plural by changing us
to i. For example,

alumnus—alumni fungus—fungi syllabus—syllabi

♦ Words borrowed from Latin that end in um, form their plural by changing um
to a. For example,

curriculum—curricula stratum—strata erratum—errata

♦ Words borrowed from Latin that end in a, form their plural by adding e.
For example,

antenna—antennae vertebra—vertebrae formula—formulae

♦ Words borrowed from Latin that end in on, form their plural by changing on
to a. For example,

criterion—criteria phenomenon—phenomena
♦ Words borrowed from Latin that end in ex, form their plural by changing ex to
ic and adding es. For example,

vertex—vertices vortex—vortices

♦ Words borrowed from French that end in eau, form their plural by adding x.
For example,

bureau— bureaux tableau—tableaux

♦ Nouns ending in is become plural by changing is to es. For example,

oasis—oases axis—axes crisis—crises

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