English plural nouns

In order to change a singular noun to its plural form in English, you usually add "s". For example, the
plural of book is books. The plural of table is tables. These are regular plurals.
But there are many nouns which don't follow this rule. For example the plural of fish is fish. The plural of
tooth is teeth. These are irregular plurals

Regular plurals:
Form:
Add "s" to the noun:
Noun

+S

While many plural nouns follow this rule, the spelling sometimes differ.
Examples:
Singular

Plural

snake

snakes

window

windows

box

boxes

boy

boys

lorry

lorries

potato

potatoes

knife

knives

Spelling of plurals:
The plural form of most nouns is created simply by adding the letter "s".

more than one snake = snakes

more than one girl = girls

more than one window = windows

Nouns that end in -ch, x, s, z or s-like sounds, however, will require an es for the plural:

more than one witch = witches

more than one box = boxes

more than one gas = gases

more than one bus = buses

more than one kiss = kisses

Nouns that end in a vowel + y take the letter s:

more than one boy = boys

more than one way = ways

Nouns that end in a consonant + y drop the y and take ies:

more than one baby = babies

more than one lorry = lorries

A lot of nouns that end in o take es in the plural:

more than one potato = potatoes

more than one hero = heroes

o becomes oes
echo
echoes
embargo
embargoes
hero
heroes
potato
potatoes
tomato
tomatoes
torpedo
torpedoes
veto
vetoes
Some nouns ending in o break the above rule and get os in the plural form:o becomes os
auto
autos
kangaroo
kangaroos
kilo
kilos
memo
memos
photo
photos
piano
pianos
pimento
pimentos
pro
pros
solo
solos
soprano
sopranos
studio
studios

tattoo
video
zoo

tattoos
videos
zoos

Other nouns ending in o get either os or oes i the plural forms:

o becomes os or oes
buffalos/buffaloes
cargos/cargoes
halos/haloes
mosquitos/mosquitoes
mottos/mottoes
nos/noes
tornados/tornadoes
volcanos/volcanoes
zeros/zeroes

buffalo
cargo
halo
mosquito
motto
no
tornado
volcano
zero

Plurals of nouns that end in f or fe usually change the f sound to a v sound and add s or -es.

more than one knife = knives

more than one leaf = leaves

more than one hoof = hooves

more than one life = lives

more than one self = selves

more than one elf = elves

Irregular plurals:
There are several nouns that have irregular plural forms.
Singular

Plural

fish

fish

sheep

sheep

barracks

barracks

foot

feet

tooth

teeth

goose

geese

tooth

teeth

goose

geese

child

children

man

men

woman

women

person

people

mouse

mice

Other irregular plural forms include the following:

Some foreign nouns retain their plural. (Note that some of them adapted the s of the English plural form!)
Singular
alga
amoeba
antenna
formula
larva
nebula
vertebra

Foreign plural
algae
amoebae
antennae
formulae
larvae
nebulae
vertebrae

English plural
amoebas
antennas
formulas
nebulas

Nouns ending in us get a, i or the s of the English plural:

Singular
corpus
genus
alumnus
bacillus
cactus
focus
fungus
nucleus
octopus
radius
stimulus
syllabus
terminus

Foreign plural
corpora
genera
alumni
bacilli
cacti
foci
fungi
nuclei
octopi
radii
stimuli
syllabi
termini

English plural

cactuses
funguses
octopuses

syllabuses

Nouns ending in um get a, i or the s of the English plural:

Singular
addendum

Foreign plural
addenda

English plural

bacterium
curriculum
datum
erratum
medium
memorandum
ovum
stratum
symposium

bacteria
curricula
data
errata
media
memoranda
ova
strata
symposia

curriculums

memorandums

symposiums

Nouns ending in ex or ix get ices or get the s of the English plural:

Singular

Foreign plural

English plural

apex

apices

apexes

appendix

appendices

appendixes

cervix

cervices

cervixes

index

indices

indexes

matrix

matrices

matrixes

vortex

vortices

Nouns ending in is becoming es in plural:

Singular

Plural form

analysis

analyses

axis

axes

basis

bases

crisis

crises

diagnosis

diagnoses

emphasis

emphases

hypothesis

hypotheses

neurosis

neuroses

oasis

oases

parenthesis

parentheses

synopsis

synopses

thesis

theses

Nouns ending in -on becoming -a:

singular

plural

criterion

criteria

phenomenon

phenomena

automaton

automata

Nouns that are always singular:

A handful of nouns appear to be plural in form but take a singular verb:

The news is bad.

Gymnastics is fun to watch.

Economics/mathematics/statistics is said to be difficult.

Some nouns never take the s of the plural and are always singular:

your luggage / baggage is so heavy

I'd like to buy new furniture for the house

you can find more information in our website.

What is the correct plural of the word?

1. These (person)

are protesting against the president.

2. The (woman)

over there want to meet the manager.

3. My (child)

hate eating pasta.

4. I am ill. My (foot)

hurt.

5. Muslims kill (sheep)

in a religious celebration.

6. I clean my (tooth)

7. The (student )

8. The (fish)

three times a day.

are doing the exercise right now.

I bought is in the fridge.

9. They are sending some (man)

10. Most (houswife)

work more than ten hours a day at home.

11. Where did you put the (knife)

On the (shelf)

to fix the roof.

12. (Goose)

like water.

13. (Piano)

are expensive

14. Some (policeman)

15. Where is my (luggage)

came to arrest him.

In the car!
Write down the correct form of the plural:
1. city -

2. house -

3. boy -

4. family -

5. life -

6. photo -

7. phone -

8. sandwich -

9. nurse -

10. elf -

11. phenomenon -

12. criterion -

13. village -

14. toy -

Cazul substantivelor
Cazul este o categorie gramatical care stabilete i indic raporturile dintre substantiv si celelalte pr i de
vorbire. Pe scurt, cazul marcheaz funcia sintactic a unui substantiv. Ca o clasificare foarte simpl,
putem spune c nominativul este cazul subiectului, acuzativul este cazul complementului direct, dativul al
complementului indirect, genitivul este cazul atributului iar vocativul nu marcheaz nici o func ie
sintactic.
n limba englez, raporturile sintactice (cazurile) pot fi realizate prin:

topic (ordinea cuvintelor ntr-o propoziie): My father (N) is reading the

newspaper. (Ac)

desinen: the fathers newspaper (G)

prepoziie: I bought the newspaper for my father.

CAZUL GENITIV
Genitivul este cazul posesiei (exprim ideea de posesie) i marcheaz funcia sintactic de atribut. n
limba englez exist dou tipuri de genitiv, fiecare marcat printr-o modalitate: genitivul sintetic (marcat
prin s apostrof urmat de s) i genitivul analitic, marcat prin of.
Genitivul sintetic

Regul general: genitivul sintetic se formeaz prin adugarea unui s (apostrof i s) la sfritul
substantivului respectiv: my sisters cat, the neighbours house.
Excepii:
1. la forma de plural a substantivelor regulate se adaug doar apostroful, fr s: the
parents meeting, the boys team
2. la substantivele proprii terminate n s se adaug apostroful cu sau fr s: Dickenss
novels sau Dickens novels. n limba englez modern se prefer a doua variant
(fr s). n ambele cazuri ns, se citete cu [iz]: [dikinsiz]
Utilizarea genitivului sintetic

Ca o regul simpl (i nescris), genitivul sintetic se folosete n general cu substantive nume de persoan
i cu personificri. Dar lista este mult mai lung, aadar putem spune c genitivul sintetic se folosete:

cu substantive nume de persoane: her mothers car, the teachers glasses

cu nume de animale mari: the seals eyes

cu nume proprii: Bills books

cu substantive colective cu referire la persoane: peoples freedom

cu personificri: the natures call

cu unele denumiri de instituii: our schools policy

cu anumite uniti de msur, mai ales pentru timp i spaiu: a miles walk, an hours
lecture

cu pronume nehotrte ca other, neither i pronumele compuse cu -body, -one, no-,

every-: anybodys business, the others reply

cu unele expresii fixe: a needles eye, a birds eye view

pentru a numi anumite locuri i localuri: the barbers (shop) frizerie, frizer, the
bakers (shop) brutrie, brutar, St. Pauls (Cathedral)

n genitivul dublu: a poem of my friends o poezie de-a prietenului meu

OBSERVAII:

dou substantive legate prin and pot primi s astfel:

1. dac amndou reprezint posesorii aceluiai obiect/persoan, etc., s se adaug la

al doilea substantiv: Mike and Toms brothers fraii lui Mike i Tom (Mike i Tom sunt
frai la rndul lor)
2. dac fiecare are cte ceva, s se pune la ambele substantive: Mikes and Toms
brothers fraii lui Mike i ai lui Tom (Mike i Tom nu sunt frai, fiecare are ali frai)

la substantivele compuse genitivul sintetic se adaug la sfritul sintagmei: his

brother-in-laws clothes

dac substantivul determinat este unul ca house, museum, shop, place, acesta poate
lipsi: I dropped by my friends (house). She visited M-me Tussauds (museum).

Genitivul analitic

Genitivul analitic se formeaz cu particula of i st dup substantivul determinat: the house of his
neighbour. Genitivul analitic se folosete n urmtoarele situaii:

cu numele de obiecte/fenomene ale naturii/etc. dac nu este vorba de personificri:

the door of the car

cu nume de animale mici: the nest of the cuckoo

pentru ntrirea unei situaii: The departure of his mother upset him.

cu denumiri geografice care conin un nume propriu: the City of London

cu nume de persoane:

1. dac sunt mai multe substantive proprii legate prin and: This is the friend of Jane, Bill
and Jennifer.
2. pentru subliniere: the plays of G.B. Shaw
3. dac substantivul nume de persoan are articol nehotrt sau un adjectiv
demonstrativ: the life of a soldier, a book of this poet
4. dac substantivul propriu este fromat dintr-un grup de cuvinte: the period of Stephen
the Great

n afar de cele dou tipuri de genitiv, unele gramatici includ i genitivul dublu i genitivul implicit.
Genitivul dublu

este de fapt o combinaie ntre genitivul sintetic i cel analitic. Genitivul dublu poate fi confundat cu
genitivul analitic n anumite situaii. Comparai:

a painting of Grigorescus o pictur de/de-a lui Grigorescu /pictat de Grigorescu

a painting of Grigorescu o pictur cu/un portret al lui Grigorescu (care l nfieaz

pe Grigorescu)

Genitivul implicit

este un grup de cuvinte din care a disprut marca genitivului: team building, student lounge.

CAZUL DATIV
Cazul dativ este cazul complementului indirect si este marcat prin trei procedee:
1. prepoziia to: Give it to your sister.
2. prepoziia for: She brought the book for her friend.
3. topic (ordinea cuvintelor): I gave her my pen.

Dativul este folosit n general dup:

verbe intranzitive: They came to my father. It happened to our teacher.

verbe tranzitive ca deny, read, give, offer, tell, mpreun cu un complement direct
(substantivele in dativ sunt urmate de prepoziia to): She gave the book (Ac) to her
father (D). I read a story (Ac) to my little sister (D).

OBSERVAIE 1: Dac substantivul n dativ este nlocuit de un pronume, acesta va sta imediat dup verb
i va fi urmat de complementul direct (n Ac):
She gave the book (Ac) to her father (D). dar She gave him (D) the book (Ac).
I read a story (Ac) to my little sister (D). dar I read her (D) a story (Ac).
OBSERVAIE 2: Unele verbe sunt urmate obligatoriu de dativul cu prepoziia to: announce, say,
communicate, address, explain, speak, reply, talk, lie.

verbe tranzitive ca do, choose, make, save, buy urmate de complement direct i un
complement indirect introdus prin prepoziia for: I bought the CD (Ac) for my brother
(D).

adjective care stabilesc o comparaie: equal, similar, inferior, superior, adequate: She
is equal to her brother (D) in languages.

alte adjective ca: cruel, kind, affectionate, etc. He is kind to his little sister (D).

Pentru o lista mai cuprinztoare consultati cuvintele urmate de prepozitie obligatorie.

CAZUL ACUZATIV
n general, cazul acuzativ este cazul complementului direct. m limba englez modern poate fi marcat
doar prin locul substantivului n propoziie (topic), urmnd regulile de mai jos:

1. cnd exist un singur complement n propoziie, de obicei acesta este aezat imediat
dup verb i este complement direct: Close the door, would you?
2. cnd exist dou complemente n propoziie, se pot ntlni dou situaii:

ambele complemente sunt directe n cazul acuzativ: She asked meAc a questionAc.

unul este complement direct (n Ac) i unul este complement indirect (n dativ): Mary
told meD a storyAc.

Verbe ca envy, ask, forgive, save sunt urmate de dou acuzative, iar verbe ca pay, read, tell, lend sunt
urmate de un dativ i un acuzativ.
ATENIE: Majoritatea prepoziiilor din limba englez cer cazul acuzativ, aadar substantivele de dup
ele sunt n cazul acuzativ.

Acuzativul intern

n general, verbele care accept un complement direct se numesc verbe tranzitive. n unele cazuri, verbele
intranzitive (care nu accept acest complement) pot fi urmate de aa-numitul acuzativ intern sau
complement direct intern un substantiv nrudit semantic cu verbul (adesea format din aceeai rdcin
cu verbul): to fight a long fight, to sing a song.

CAZUL NOMINATIV
n limba englez, substantivele n cazul nominativ au urmtoarele funcii sintactice: subiect, nume
predicativ i apoziie. Indentificarea unui substantiv n cazul nominativ se face cu ajutorul topicii (ordinii
cuvintelor n propoziie):

The book is on the shelf. SUBIECT

These are my friends. NUME PREDICATIV

The manager, an old, elegant man, made a good impression at the meeting.
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